General Site blocked despite using vpn

General Maximus · 21-08-2014, 21:03

I have just setup a vpn connection for the first time ever and have had a little play with it to see how things have changed. I ran a speed test before and after and through the vpn I only get about 70mbits whereas without I am getting 123mbits.
The interesting thing is this, even though I am using the vpn and google's dns servers, if I try to go to a restricted site such as www.thepiratebay.se I still get VM blocking page. How on earth does that happen when VM aren't supposed to be able to see where I am going and what I am doing? It isn't because the page is cached or anything because I haven't tried using that url since it was blocked over 2 years ago. I am very confused. I have run a trace route to the BBC to see is happening and the paths are completely different even though the vpn server is actually quite close to me geographically.

Before the admins start getting in flap I am not seeking assistance in circumventing court orders, I am merely seeking to understands the networking principles behind the technology because I don't understand why I am being re-directed to a VM page when I am supposed to be using an encrypted tunnel. I am more than happy to test other sites if somebody wants to give me a url.

madmax215 · 21-08-2014, 21:38

Most likely is that the piratebay is being blocked on the vpn, I just checked mine and there both ok, try a differnt vpn. ghost vpn is quite good.

General Maximus · 21-08-2014, 21:55

qasdfdsaq · 22-08-2014, 05:09

It'd be helpful if you actually did a traceroute to the site in question.

General Maximus · 22-08-2014, 11:06

all I am going to say is

With VPN

Without VPN

Kushan · 22-08-2014, 11:48

You're not routing through your VPN, that's why. What VPN are you using?

EDIT: To clarify, mon general, here's a test I just did. On the same machine, on the left is routing through my work's connection, on the right is AFTER I connected to my VPN at home. Notice that when connected to the VPN, you don't see any trace of the network you're on:

The issue is your VPN, it's not set up right and you're not actually routing through it.

General Maximus · 22-08-2014, 11:58

Strong VPN and I am going through it because the first hop in that trace is the ip address of the vpn server I am connected to. For some reason it looks like it is bouncing the traffic back through VM. In the traces above to the BBC, you can see that the normal connection is routed through VM's network and the second one doesn't touch it, it goes through the VPN and onto BT's backbone. I am going to run another trace without the vpn and see what the difference is.

Kushan · 22-08-2014, 12:08

Which setup did you use, General? PPTP or "Open"?

General Maximus · 22-08-2014, 12:12

I set the connection up manually and it is SSTP

Kushan · 22-08-2014, 12:26

Hmm, very odd. You definitely shouldn't be seeing any Virgin hops there. Try changing to one of the other VPN types, just to see? I'm not familiar with SSTP so I can't really say much else.

General Maximus · 22-08-2014, 19:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

. Notice that when connected to the VPN, you don't see any trace of the network you're on:

I know and that is why I did a trace route to the BBC for comparison and that worked like a charm. I am wondering whether the company(s) that run the vpn service have a blacklist of some sort and when somebody tries to go to one of the sites the company routes the traffic back to the isp and lets them deal with the site block.

That being said, I have just done a trace to this site and this is what I get:

I am very confused

I have just run traces to BBC again and Google and they don't through VM.

qasdfdsaq · 22-08-2014, 20:12

Umm, occam's razor again. The explanation turns out to be the first and simplest thing I thought of yesterday. The company you're using for your VPN use Virgin Media (and BT) for their internet connectivity.

General Maximus · 22-08-2014, 20:14

I have already used whatismyip.com several times and each time it comes back with the ip address of the vpn server. If you want to pm the details on a route print and packet dump I'll be more than happy to comply.

---------- Post added at 19:14 ---------- Previous post was at 19:13 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Umm, occam's razor again. The explanation turns out to be the first and simplest thing I thought of yesterday. The company you're using for your VPN use Virgin Media (and BT). for their internet connectivity

qasdfdsaq · 22-08-2014, 20:19

P.S. I was going to run a neighbour/reachability trace on their ASN but it turns out googling "cwcs virgin media" was easier:

https://www.cwcs.co.uk/dedicated-servers/technology/

Quote:

Our connectivity is delivered through two separate providers (BT NET and Virgin Media), enabling CWCS Managed Hosting to guarantee redundancy and high availability.

bubblegun · 22-08-2014, 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Umm, occam's razor again. The explanation turns out to be the first and simplest thing I thought of yesterday. The company you're using for your VPN use Virgin Media (and BT) for their internet connectivity.

But surely they don't filter all IP traffic across their network? Even if it's just passing through from somewhere else going to somewhere else? Why would the traffic go out of the UK (I don't know if it does from the tracert) then back to the UK then over to Sweden or wherever TPB is hosted just now?