Is it something you should always use or is it just kinda overkill? When I have secure core enabled, I get way less servers to connect to and almost none of them are US servers.
Depends on your needs. If you’re coming from a country with broad surveillance powers, secure core is a good idea since it acts similar to Tor and bounces you around a few different servers. Of course this will reduce bandwidth.
Secure core also has extra protection, ProtonVPN own the servers, so compromise is less likely. They also only host secure core on networks where privacy is high, making it less likely ISP’s will weaken security. So in short, it’s a good idea for maximum protection, not not essential for low risk traffic.
If you want to be absolutely sure (after first placing your trust in the vpn) that you want to be extra safe from prying eyes, then yes it should be used. There will be a drop in speeds though. Without secure core too the servers are generally secure. I use secure core for browsing only. No streaming etc.
I havent paid for the functionality, but if I ever upgraded I would only use it for things that deserve the extra security.
For example, using the secure core to avoid a geoblock will just add pointless latency and a speed drop.
They should add split routing for some software or ips to use the core and others to not. Similar to how you can make some applications use or not use the VPN.
I figured if I’m paying for the extra security I might as well use it regardless of what I’m doing.
If you really care about security then secure core is good but sacrifice speed for extra protection. Normal servers should be enough for basic use.
Would it be better to use secure core, or to use a server with the tor label? Which one is more secure?
It’s less bandwidth it impacts, but rather that it hugely increases latency.