Originally Posted by
burnabull
1. Yes.
2. What uses your IP? The VPN or Blizz? If the VPN, then yes and no - you still connect to the internet via your normal ISP/IP, but the VPN acts as a tunnel that shrouds your real IP.
3. ExpressVPN is OK - I prefer proxy.sh, but for simplicity sake, I'd say Incognito, PureVPN or Incognito.
A GM explained to me a while back that accounts can get banned using VPNs not for any action they are doing or ToS they might be breaking as you might guess. VPN's can have thousands+ of IPs at their disposal, but there is always an upper limit (HMA currently has the most IPs, but also the most blacklisted/"marked" IPs because of the typical clientele). So if you happen to connect to WoW on an IP that has a history of abuse in any way, your account can risk being attached to that IP and any issues that may have come from it or may come from it eventually.
Free services (like Express) are magnets for hackers, trolls, jerks etc (anyone who wants to "hide' themselves so they can be as douchey as they please), and the chance of you using an IP that has a history of abuse is pretty damn high. Services like HMA more or less facilitate shady activity through their branding. So companies like proxy.sh, PureVPN etc, are a good way to go. High speeds, many thousand IPs, low marketing profile and marketing that DOESNT gear towards trolls are generally going to be a safer bet.
That being said, run a VPN at your own risk. I've heard of bans to VPN users being revoked, and i've heard of them sticking to their guns with a ban. Hard to say the number of VPN users vs. the number of users banned FOR using a VPN, but it absolutely is a concern. If you want to use a VPN, i strongly suggest getting on the phone as well as email with Blizz, asking this same question - both to get an official "verdict" as well as to tie your account to the idea that you will be using a VPN because of connection issues between blizz and your ISP. Should a ban come down the line later, it might be helpful to have that set as a precedent. Until Blizz either fixes their issues between battle.net and outside ISPs (*sigh* good luck) or comes up with a mutually beneficial solution to said issues, this one's gonna be a head-scratcher.