A VPN is still a good choice, in fact if you setup your own VPN on a VPS that is an even safer choice because then you (sorta) control the certificate used for encryption. True, your hosting provider could still obtain that cert if they really wanted to, and they still have the data on your IP using it and for how long / how much, but it would make obtaining your data a targeted attack.
But there are cons to setting up your own, such as misconfiguration exposing you, or just the setup time in general.
What are the alternatives? I feel tor might be good, but I don’t want to overload the n/w with 1080p FreeTube videos.
A VPN is still a good choice, in fact if you setup your own VPN on a VPS that is an even safer choice because then you (sorta) control the certificate used for encryption. True, your hosting provider could still obtain that cert if they really wanted to, and they still have the data on your IP using it and for how long / how much, but it would make obtaining your data a targeted attack.
But there are cons to setting up your own, such as misconfiguration exposing you, or just the setup time in general.