VPN basics

I_have_spoken

Just out of interest in signed up for 1 month of NordVPN(*) and configured my Asus router to be the initiator, so every device in the house automatically used the VPN.

Issues I found -

1) Random 5-10 second 'pauses' in the traffic so web pages time out and YouTube videos buffer. This was to a UK server, classic sign their infrastructure is overloaded as the issues go away if I drop the VPN (50Mbps Virgin ISP)
2) Must use their DNS, can't use OpenDNS so don't get the benefit of automatic blocking of advertising banners etc.
3) Some web sites won't accept posts to forums even if you've logged in

On the plus side, torrent sites that my ISP blocks due to copyright infringement became available.

For everyday use, my experience of NordVPN is it's unacceptable. If you're a big torrent user, then go ahead!

(*) I immediately cancelled the repeat payment schedule on Paypal.

bluesnake

agrinnall wrote: »

....?
3. Can I install it in such a way that one browser uses it while another doesn't?

If you use a router for vpn, then no, but you can put another tunnel through the VPN tunnel like running TOR, or Epic security browser



Using a client: also as above, but... you have two live network adapter paths: the vpn virtual nic interface route which usually handles dns and all traffic by default. This gets pushed down your current wifi/nic adapter. The vpn binds to ONE and only once to one the default adapter, vpn s/w chooses the one to bind to, it cant be changed dynamically and you will start to hemmorage information, if your system looses the nic vpn and turns to wifi, or vice versa and this could easily and regularly happen and happens seamless. You physically have to right click and disable the other adapter within windows.

Your old nic is still present, and within a few applications it allows you to choose different network paths, so software could take control of which nic it wants to use. Also some software could be set up to use the unprotected path, or default path rather than the encrypted one. This is true of some torrent software and only the virtual nic should be allowed to communicate, but by default it is also able to use the unencrypted path http://www.ghacks.net/2016/03/23/qbittorrent-block-transfers-vpn-disconnect/

And the answer to your original question, but be aware of dns. The software now works on newer versions of windows http://www.howtogeek.com/117890/how-to-force-an-application-to-use-a-specific-network-card/

You need a good IP/dns provider checker as
https://ipleak.net/
https://www.doileak.com/

Even if you have a VPN, TOR still is handy.

You do get free VPNs. These often have a limitations, so no free buffet here. The free ones may log, limit bandwidth and data caps. Their configuration can be often found on youtube and probably more preferable than nothing or numerous agencies of varied interests inspecting your traffic.

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.
Cardinal Richelieu

agrinnall

Thanks for all the responses - I think I'll need a bit of time and research to fully digest/understand bluesnake's comprehensive posts!

Strider590

The only real issue I have with VPN is that some sites block traffic coming in from VPN IP addresses. In fact i'm fairly sure this very forum blocks a couple of my VPN options (using privateinternetaccess vpn).

The reason for this is not because they've had issues with attacks from VPN IPs, rather a lot of people use a software firewall to block known malicious IPs, this software uses a list of unknown origins (much the same as the ISPs censorship lists) and as a result the authorities are able to add VPN service IPs to that list.

All this censorship and monitoring concerns me greatly, not because I have anything to hide, but because it only really affects the 95% of the population who don't know how to bypass it, the "criminals" it's supposed to stop, they'll find ways around it and it'll make detection of illegal activity almost impossible.

BT openly censor (via cleanfeed) certain websites and when they do you get a warning on screen, but they also censor other websites silently, throwing a back a message that appears to show the server as being down. So it really has started, censorship of free speech, censorship of the freedom of information and perhaps even the censorship of opposing political ideas, how long before (for example) our choice of online shopping is censored so to drive small businesses under and allow the massive corporate entities to grow a total monopoly? It could all happen, nobody knows who exactly controls the filters, but you can be damn sure that with a large enough "donation" it would be possible to have the competition websites added to that list.

Get a VPN by all means, but be prepared to turn it off for certain websites to work.

agrinnall

Strider590 wrote: »

Get a VPN by all means, but be prepared to turn it off for certain websites to work.

Thanks Strider, your reasoning is much the same as mine for wanting to get one.

Turning it off for some websites was the primary reason for question 2, I knew that this site might be problematic, as are the BBC news and iPlayer sites, and the National Lottery.

Fightsback

Welcome to the law of unintended consequences. Expect a raft of criminals offering VPN services only to steal data and login credentials.

I can't think of a more stupid, unjust and down right sinister law written onto the statute books in living memory.

bluesnake

I have spoken,
1. think it is your isp. You do not have people saying they have a great throughput, then you come along and NordVPN specifically nobble you?:) I had abysmal throughput with NordVPN too and ditched them. My isp was SKY. Many people using VPN view films hosted overseas, culling revenue to the isp, so they tweek and traffic managed to stop it from happening, as the buffering is not on their side . Try PIA - cost effective and quite good and you may wish to go to an ISP that does not supply film and other services.
2. You can often chose another dns provider, but i would stay with the one provided by the vpn, but think DNS ptovider can be changed via the tap windows adapter (virtual nic)
3. Yes, get used to it. Get used to you tube telling you "video not available in your country" but the fix is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge6sOdvkwJY

Also you fill in some forum pages, then find it actually will not post. The trick is a second browser like eclipse security browser, and turn on its proxy. If you are a firefox user then get Lazerus addon to stop retyping.

Gmail may lock you out, and ask you to verify yourself.

Ebay has its quirks too. BBC.co.uk local news is not visible outside the uk but bbc.com is. On the plus side is that there is less verboten sites as UK has one of the most restrictive blocking regimes, and that little thing called privacy.

It is not smooth sailing.

bluesnake

Fightsback wrote: »

Expect a raft of criminals offering VPN services only to steal data and login credentials.

Na, far easier and more productive to sit in McD etc with a high level of throughput and do a man in the middle attack and harvest account and passwords

Strider590

bluesnake wrote: »

BBC.co.uk local news is not visible outside the uk but bbc.com is. On the plus side is that there is less verboten sites as UK has one of the most restrictive blocking regimes, and that little thing called privacy.

It is not smooth sailing.

BBC news is twisted to fit their own political agenda, no real loss if you can't access it.

Does anyone know about the recent biker protest in London? The one regarding the upsurge of bike theft in the nations capital (including thugs stealing bikes using angle grinders in broad daylight and throwing acid at anyone that tries to intervene).

BBC didn't report on this protest at all, in fact there was almost a complete media blackout across all the UK media. Some have now started doing backdated stories on it, but nobody is ever going to see them.

What you can access through VPN is the (some UK blocked) foreign news websites where you can learn of things happening in this country which the UK media and authorities don't want you to see, sites you can normally only get to when your on holiday.

Roland_Sausage

agrinnall wrote: »

Thanks Strider, your reasoning is much the same as mine for wanting to get one.

Turning it off for some websites was the primary reason for question 2, I knew that this site might be problematic, as are the BBC news and iPlayer sites, and the National Lottery.

No need to keep turning the VPN on and off. If you're using OpenVPN (PIA and NordVPN support this, and plenty of others will too) then you can edit the provided config file (the .ovpn file) and add a line like this for each site that gives you problems:

route forums.moneysavingexpert.com 255.255.255.255 net_gateway

This will exclude this domain from being routed through the VPN, i.e it won't be encrypted and the site will see the traffic coming from your normal IP address.