VPN Shelf

Marcus Hadley

Writes for VPN Shelf

About

Senior software engineer, Seattle, 38. I started paying actual attention to VPNs in 2023, after my employer sent out a data breach notification. Nothing dramatic. But it was the thing that made me stop treating a VPN as a "maybe I should have one of those" checkbox and start treating it as something worth understanding.

I had one subscription I barely used. I cancelled it, started over, and got methodical. I ran speed tests on the same servers at the same times of day for two weeks straight. I read through privacy policies more carefully than any reasonable person should. I cancelled a second subscription when I noticed the price had gone up at renewal without any notice. I ran into a support chat that took four days to resolve a billing issue and documented it. I ended up with a spreadsheet of test results that my partner describes as "a lot."

Two years and over a dozen paid subscriptions later, that's still roughly how it works. I retest on a recurring basis because providers change things (sometimes without announcing them), and I update reviews when something material changes. Each review includes where the tests were run, what the actual numbers looked like over time, and what broke or surprised me.

No formal cybersecurity training. No networking certifications. Just a dev who reads threat model discussions for fun and gets annoyed by marketing copy that can't be verified. My view on VPNs is the same as my view on most tech: pick the thing that holds up under actual use, and be honest when it doesn't.

Recent posts by Marcus Hadley

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