Re: VPN
 

No, it's a flaw, caused by bad design.

It absolutely does not need the machine's real IP and has no business using it. It works just fine with a correctly configured VPN IP.

Throwing your hard drive in a furnace is "doing exactly what its meant to do" - i.e. erasing the data - but that does not mean it's a good way to do it.

Personally I would class it as a bug and/or faulty implementation.

Regardless, vulnerabilities are flaws.

---------- Post added at 18:42 ---------- Previous post was at 18:41 ----------

This is why I've always recommended anyone requiring absolute privacy, they should use a VPN hardened by a VM container. That makes it impossible for anything, including the OS itself to know any IP other than your VPN endpoint IP even exists.

To be fair anyone not using a "lazy" VPN and just using what we in IT used to consider as a 'normal' VPN would not be affected anyway. Sounds like it's really just a proxy vulnerability. Normal VPNs would prevent a browser being able to send any internet traffic outside the configured VPN tunnel without resorting to some exotic hacks.

Re: VPN
 

And Torrentfreak has updated their who's-who of VPN providers: http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vp...w-2015-150228/

Re: VPN
 

thanks for the update, PIA still sounds very good.

Re: VPN
 

Please define VM container, lazy VPN and Normal VPN please?
In simple speak if possible!

Dont like the bit where PIA say " we encourage users to create an anonymous e-mail when signing up" , why if they keep no logs?

Re: VPN
 

Because they'll need to keep your email on file for registration / account purposes. How else are you going to create an account with them?

Re: VPN
 

Fair enough but what harm is there in using your real email address if they keep no logs and can link no usage back to you?

Also it appears that theres no anonymous way to pay if your in the UK and dont use / understand bitcoins. Ive called into several local paypoint / payzone stores and none of them sell pre paid credit cards, they only top them up and so you have to buy them online giving your name, address etc. The voucher cards they do sell such as Ukash and Paysafe are not accepted by PIA.
Use paypal and they will have your email anyway and if you pay using your own credit / debit card then you may as well give them your real email.

So other than bitcoin which i know nothing about and dont really care to, how could one pay anonymously from within the uk :confused:

Re: VPN
 

Because sometimes the very fact that you have a VPN may be incriminating enough, in certain situations/countries.

As the technology develops, this will become easier. If your privacy is that paramount, you'll invest the time in to understanding how to use it.

Re: VPN
 

Privacy - what's that again?

Yes I've just watched CitizenFour.

Re: VPN
 

I think ive finally decided to go with PIA and wondered if anyone can answer me a couple of questions.

If i install the PIA client on my laptop and set up the Kill Switch will i still be able to go onto the internet without going through the VPN as i dont wish to do everything through the VPN?

If the VPN goes down will the kill switch stop any torrents that were running at the time?

I notice PIA also include a Socks Proxy, can this be used in a torrent client at the same time as the VPN as a back up incase the VPN disconnects. Are there any real advantages / drawbacks to doing this?

Any help is much appreciated!

---------- Post added at 17:58 ---------- Previous post was at 17:56 ----------

Just googled it, will be watching it when ive got time, thanks!

Re: VPN
 

Reduced performance, inability to accept incoming connections, and this is also the exact sort of setup that makes you vulnerable to the type of 'leaks' described above.

Re: VPN
 

Are you talking about using a socks proxy behind VPN or just a socks proxy on its own?

Are you saying using the two together makes you more vulnerable:confused:

Heres another question ive been pondering about VPN with shared ips.
If some ******* is on the same shared ip as you and he does something naughty, could this potentialy put you in the frame along with alot of other people of course?

Re: VPN
 

in the context of your home network you would expect your family to be relatively well behaved. If you are living with friends then that is a different story and the burden of proof with rest with the authorities as to who did what. You have got to remember though that this only applies if it is a shared machine. The vpn connection is from a specific machine in your premises to another machine elsewhere, it isn't for your VM connection and every device automatically connects to it. So unless you have a shared machine you are thinking of then you don't have to worry about being held responsible for other people's behaviour. The device you are using for the vpn connection with have a wan ip address not associated with VM at all and it will be provided by the hosting provider. All other devices in your house will have a local address provided by your shub/router and will share the VM wan ip address.

Re: VPN
 

Either really.

Yes.

---------- Post added at 21:26 ---------- Previous post was at 21:24 ----------

That may be the case from a legal point of view but most websites aren't run by law enforcement. If your VPN endpoint IP is abused by someone else it's quite possible, if not even common, for said IP to be banned from certain websites or servers. Some even mass-ban entire subnets.

Re: VPN
 

Anyone having problems with VPN provider PIA.
I can't get any speeds over 2 Mbps on any of the US servers this afternoon.
I'm on 100 Mbps.
Thanks

Re: VPN
 

I see what you mean. I have only ever used the UK servers and I have just done some speed tests on different servers around the country and I can't get more than 4mbits (and I am on 152). I'll do some more tests tomorrow and Monday and see if it improves. I never get full speed normally but it has always been between 50 and 60mbits.

Re: VPN
 

I'm not on a virgin connection anymore as moved house but getting near my SKY FTTC max speed im on 40/10 at the moment.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/04/24.png

So doesn't look like there is anything wrong at least not on the .nl server I was using.

Re: VPN
 

I must of tried 10 different vpn providers including PIA and all but 2 have horrendous speeds on servers outside of the UK i think this is a virgin media issue not that they will admit it

Re: VPN
 

I use ipvanish I go thru the Dutch servers the US ones are really slow.

Re: VPN
 

I'm using AirVPN for purely privacy reasons. It's not that I've much to hide, but I don't want anyone else snooping around.

From London, I usually connect to one of their Manchester servers. I have 100mbps down, 6mbps up. The Superhub is in modem mode connected to a D-Link DIR-655 (five years old but rock solid). Here is a typical speed:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/04/15.png

Connection to a Chicago server gives this:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/04/16.png

Re: VPN
 

Don't worry too much about speedtest.net as the quality of the servers is highly variable ime. I can get a result around 3Mbps but then fire up an Ubuntu torrent and hit 18MB/sec without issue. AirVPN are probably the best VPN provider out there, I honestly don't know why PIA are so popular; closed-source client, no support for most GNU/Linux distros, no BSD support, no router support, no pfSense support and if they can't answer your question from a script they send you to the forums to ask other customers for help instead lol.

AirVPN will debug any issues (on ANY os) in real time with users, and their client is not only FOSS but runs on Windows, OS X, and all Linux distros. It comes as rpm, deb and portable so you can run it anywhere and development is rapid. It also gives the options of running openvpn over SSH, SSL or TOR. PIA meanwhile? Nope.

You will never speak to a script monkey at Air, you speak to someone who runs the VPN and knows how to write shell scripts on the fly to help resolve your issues. They brought out THREE new versions of their client in a single afternoon last week, in response to customer feedback on the forum. PIA meanwhile have been promising to 'work night and day' on a proper platform agnostic binary for over a year now and it's gotten to the point where they literally ignore any mention of it lol

Air shows how a VPN service should be run imho. Add in the geo-location DNS routing where you can connect to NL but watch US Hulu/Netflix or BBC iPlayer without jumping nodes, and it's a great package.

I have subscriptions to both PIA and AirVPN btw, as well as a couple of others I'm keeping to myself (sorry :p). So I'm not trying to swipe at the 'competition' in saying the above, it's just a fact.

---------- Post added at 23:00 ---------- Previous post was at 22:42 ----------

If you haven't already, try with your SH in modem mode. There SH2 especially is either purposefully crippled or else buggy for OpenVPN connections, and you'll struggle to get more than 3MB/sec through it. Switch to modem only mode (I bridge through a custom built pfSense box) and boom - full speed. Thought it might be worth mentioning for you just in case it's part of your problem.

At 100+Mbps speeds though you are right, not many true non-logging VPN providers can or will keep up. AirVPN, PIA, VPN.ac and one or two others seem to be OK but after that it's a lottery.

Re: VPN
 

I've been using AirVPN for a few weeks. Reliability is very good, the only problem is that their DNS address (10.4.0.1) remains in the TCP/IPv4 adapter setting if I don't disconnect their client prior to shutting down my Windows 7 PC.

On speed: although I get close to my 6mbps upload, I find that I consistently lose about 70%-80% of my 100mbps download.

Re: VPN
 

You can change the way Eddie handles DNS in the advanced settings. Are you using v2.8? The new 2.9 experimental introduced a lot of improvements so maybe give it a whirl. To be fair though if you're shutting down the PC with Eddie still connected then it sounds like network lock is just doing its job. Better to keep the VPN settings when WAN drops (even if you did initiate it) than risk a leak.

As for the speed, I find I don't lose much at all even on 152 (I get closer to 160 in reality). Are you speed testing reliably? Try an Ubuntu torrent in a properly set up client for example. If you're going through a SH then as per my previous post you'll find they are abysmal at routing VPN traffic. Go modem mode with a proper router (preferably home built if you know how). You'll soon see proper throughput.

If not speak to Air, they're good at resolving stuff like this.

Re: VPN
 

My SH is in modem mode and my router is the D-Link DIR-655.

I'll have a look at the 2.9 experimental.

Re: VPN
 

I'm presuming you must be using Windows as you've not said differently, but what version? Have you tried different servers and protocols? The default 443 UDP tends to be best, but anything over TCP or TOR will be slow.

Have you disabled your AV and any third party firewall and then re-tested to rule out issues? How are you actually speed testing? Best to make a post in Air's forum as we're a friendly bunch and between the staff and members you'll soon get sorted I'm sure.

EDIT: It would also be helpful to remove the D-LINK from the equation. Ideally I would connect the SH in modem mode directly to a modern PC running a Linux live USB (better networking). Then reboot the SH and once you've got a connection on the Linux machine connect to Air and run some decent tests. You may well find the D-Link is bottlenecking you.

Re: VPN
 

Been using PIA for about a week now but cant get speeds above 10mb on any server. Anyone else having speed issues with them?

Re: VPN
 

No issues on PIA, AirVPN or others here. Make sure you're connected to your SH via ethernet and put it in modem mode, reboot it and then try again. How are you connecting to the VPN? If using PIA's software ensure it's whitelisted in your AV (I'm presuming you're running Windows because you didn't say differently). Connect over 8080/UDP and try to download an Ubuntu torrent (or an Ubuntu ISO from their site, or a Steam game). See what difference it makes.

Superhubs are crippled and restrict openvpn speeds. Modem only mode helps.

Re: VPN
 

Ok heres what ive tryed so far re-installed Windows7, reset Superhub2 back to factory settings, connected to hub via ethernet in modem mode tryed all PIA UDP & TCP port combos.

Out of all the above only one thing made a difference and that was connecting via TCP this upped my speeds to between 30-40mb but i then had issues with the vpn status constantly changing from connecting to connected to connecting over and over again.
So i had to change back to UDP and while this is stable i still cant get speeds above 10mb.

Any other suggestions?
Thanks!

Re: VPN
 

Sorry, I don't call here often and only just saw your reply. It could be a TAP adapter issue. PIA's software is patchy at best and their support even worse. IIRC the latest updated TAP they provided is borked and people on their forum had rolled back to the earlier version.

Things to try:

To save messing with your Windows setup too much, I'd highly recommend you first burn a Linux live USB (eg Linux Mint 17.1 or Ubuntu 15.04) and test the VPN that way. You may be surprised. At least if you get great speeds you can rule out your network or whatever and focus on what may be wrong in Windows. Do run the tests with the SH in modem only mode, as otherwise you'll find your speeds crippled regardless.

If testing from Windows, get the SH back into modem only mode, and test using OpenVPN GUI with the .ovpn file for their NL server (they're in the client support area). It would also be useful to try changing the openvpn send and receive buffers, as they're pretty screwy on Windows, and changing them can give a pretty dramatic speed increase. You'd need to change the buffers by adding parameters to the .ovpn file (Google will help here).

10Mbps is way too low though even for Windows. I only run Linux and BSD these days but when I tested Win7, Win8.1 and Win10 they all worked fine.

It would also be helpful to uninstall completely the PIA software before trying the above. You may also wish to buy a cheap VPN trial from a company like AirVPN or VPN.ac to rule out issues with PIA directly. They're only a couple of quid for 3 days / a week / whatever.

Re: VPN
 

If you are having issues with the PIA vpn client you can always set up the windows VPN to use PIA services.

You need to go to the web page to get a slightly different username/password to use with the PPTP vpn setup. I had to do it to my partners laptop as the client just never seemed to work on her windows 8.1 machine whereas my two seven always connects and work.

Re: VPN
 

I use BTGuard on my 152mb / EA8500 combo and more then does the job for torrenting! :)

Re: VPN
 

OpenVPN Install / Setup on a £2 VPS - This will more than do the job, plus you are in full control of what is been logged at the other end.