Hello,
I have a WiFi router provided by my ISP that runs on closed-source firmware. My question is, does using a VPN service (specifically Mullvad) ensure that my internet activity remains private and secure from my ISP? Thank you.
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If the connection starts downstream closer to your PC, probably. Your connection eventually routes through your ISP regardless.
Maybe I haven’t been exposed to much in this space around routers but my issue with these devices is usually the lack of features in the firmware or some other limitation.
Thanks for the reply. 
Welcome to the forum!
Usually the ISP provided routers are extremely cheap and cannot competently connect and route multiple devices. They may even cheap out on the LAN ports and give you a non-full duplex port. Yes it can do gigabit transfers but only in one direction and cannot upload and download simulaneously at 1 gigabit. Or worse yet, give you 4 LAN ports with a shared connection and all 4 ports can only do a total of a gigabit speed at any one time. This is enough for non-power users but probably not enough for tech savvy people like us.
Get a router you own and control (like a Protecli) then connect it to the ISP via a VPN that tunnels all your traffic.
You can also connect directly to ISP provided router and use the VPN on top of the OS but if you are using iOS and MacOS, they dont like that you are using a VPN and will undermine it and connect directly to its Apple servers. I personally do not like that and would not want to wrestle with the computer that I own. It should repect my preference so I force it to a VPN tunnel outside its OS that it cannot control.
You can use other OS but you risk exposing your WiFi/LAN ports MAC Address. This is less of an issue if you are using a privacy oriented device (like GrapheneOS) that can randomize MAC on a per connection (or even per session setting).
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Thank you for your response and welcome to the forum! 
Unfortunately, I’m currently stuck with a MacBook for now, and it’ll likely take a few years before I can afford to buy a new PC.
I was confused by your statement that ‘if you are using MacOS, they don’t like that you are using a VPN and will undermine it and connect directly to their Apple servers.’ Could you please clarify what you meant by this?
Furthermore, I have a few questions:
How can I tell if my MacBook is connecting directly to Apple servers and not Mullvad’s?
Is there anything I can do to prevent MacOS from connecting to Apple servers and instead route all internet traffic through Mullvad VPN only?
Lastly, I don’t understand how my IP address can be showing as from Singapore (Mullvad VPN location) but my traffic is through Apple’s servers. I don’t understand how this is possible. Can someone explain this to me? I’m a total beginner when it comes to this stuff, so feel free to explain it in detail.
You can just boot another OS, no need to replace a functioning computer.
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Is there anything private and safe besides Asahi Linux? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for me since my main screen is broken, and the MacBook Pro M1 2020 lacks HDMI output for an external display, which I confirmed on GitHub via the Asahi Linux documentation wiki."
Few years back (2020) this happened:
They’ve since then fixed this but at this point they’ve shown that when you are running iOS/MacOS your preferrence isnt really respected and they would still put themselves above you.
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I wish I had known about all this earlier; I want out badly. I don’t even use any of Mac’s apps—19 out of 21 that I use often are open source, while the remaining two, Spotify and Obsidian, are closed source.
I could switch to Linux with minimal issues, but I feel stuck. I need a Linux machine or wish Asahi Linux starts working with external display for my Mac.
If you really want out badly, is there any prospect of selling your Macbook and buying something like a refurbished business-class PC laptop secondhand to replace it and using Linux on that? I don’t use Apple stuff myself but I have the impression it does hold its value pretty well, and a business dealing in secondhand Apple stuff will probably not find it a huge job to replace the screen before reselling.
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Thank you for replying.
On paper, that sounds great, but for me, it’s too much work. I already thought of this before posting my last comment and dismissed it. However, I still hope that Asahi might work well enough for me on my Mac."
I recommend Asahi all day, it’s my main machine. But a broken screen of course, that could very well be an issue. DisplayLink is the only thing that comes to mind which could be a work-around. Just not sure if that works well enough to be able for you to go through system setup.
I’m familiar with installing software on Asahi, having done so previously. My method involves connecting a wireless mouse, navigating the installation using my Mac’s closed screen, and utilizing an external display.
Whenever keyboard input is required, I position the cursor over the relevant button or field, lift up my Mac’s screen, enter the necessary information, and then repeat this process until Asahi Linux is successfully installed.
However, upon completion of the installation, the system fails to display on my external screen, which is unsupported by Asahi for my MacBook Pro M1 13-inch 2020 model. Could you kindly provide instructions on implementing the DisplayLink work-around?
You are allowed to connect keyboards.
However, upon completion of the installation, the system fails to display on my external screen, which is unsupported by Asahi for my MacBook Pro M1 13-inch 2020 model. Could you kindly provide instructions on implementing the DisplayLink work-around?
Yes, I’m not talking about the initial installation steps on macOS. I was saying that after booting into Asahi, then going through installation and setting everything up so that DisplayLink works, that would be the tricky part, as you don’t have any screen output. Generally DisplayLink is just a product from Synaptics that lets you connect special adapters to your computer and then you can get display output through USB, without needing special hardware support. Just need to install a proprietary driver, and you’re good to go. That’s why these adapters work even without HDMI support. But for you it would be probably almost impossible to install the driver etc.
Edit: If your laptop has an HDMI port (as in built-in HDMI, not just via adapter) then it might work Asahi Linux: "With the latest kernel update for Fedora Asahi, w…" - Treehouse Mastodon
Thanks for the info