Private Internet Access VPN

Renzore101

Member
CF,

Does anyone have any experience with the use of a VPN service? Is it more secure to mask your public IP address at all times? I experience connectivity issues at times with the various VPN servers that I go through, however it seems to work fine at other times. I also have been playing with the configuration and the levels of encryption. I would like a connection that will not cripple my speeds.
 

Geoff

VIP Member
When are you using these VPN's? Typically they are used to either secure a public/guest network, or to access content available in other countries. If you are using this on your home network, why do you want to use a VPN? I'd be more cautious about what is at the other end of that VPN, especially if it's one of the lesser known free VPNs.
 

Renzore101

Member
I am paying a yearly subscription for the service with private internet access vpn. Currently I am using the VPN with the intent on encrypting and anonymizing my web traffic from my ISP, however I hope that they are not throttling my connection due to this. Currently the way I have the VPN configured if I lose the VPN connection it will automatically kill my ethernet adapter until the VPN client can reconnect. I get a marginal performance hit at times when browsing specific sites it seems like however I can game on bf4 with seemingly lower ping times than before I started using VPN on some servers.
 

Geoff

VIP Member
I am paying a yearly subscription for the service with private internet access vpn. Currently I am using the VPN with the intent on encrypting and anonymizing my web traffic from my ISP, however I hope that they are not throttling my connection due to this. Currently the way I have the VPN configured if I lose the VPN connection it will automatically kill my ethernet adapter until the VPN client can reconnect. I get a marginal performance hit at times when browsing specific sites it seems like however I can game on bf4 with seemingly lower ping times than before I started using VPN on some servers.
Where is the VPN server you're using located? Have you ran a speed test before and after using your VPN to compare speeds?
 

Renzore101

Member
Sounds like a shit VPN service. Which one are you using?

Make sure webrtc is off. https://www.browserleaks.com/webrtc#webrtc-disable

Make sure your VPN provider doesn't allow port forwarding. Otherwise it's senseless to use a VPN.

Check out VPN.AC

I tested webrtc and on the site my VPN server IP address is displayed and not my ISP IP, which is a plus. I will have to look into port forwarding, it appears that port forwarding can be set in the configuration, however I do not currently have it enabled. The VPN service that I am currently using is Private Internet Access, it looked like they had decent reviews and also an editors choice rating from PC mag so I figured it's a decent service. I will check out VPN.AC in the meantime.
 

Renzore101

Member
Where is the VPN server you're using located? Have you ran a speed test before and after using your VPN to compare speeds?

Geoff,

After testing with speedtest.net I have determined that the connection speeds are comparable:

Before VPN connection:

acd7564b-0cf7-4c53-a185-ae7bd6a3179d_zpszvpixn96.png


After:

e304d07e-5665-4eb5-8873-3adf5783e111_zpstnhe5m3u.png


Also, I have been connecting automatically with the VPN, and it typically automatically connects to VPN servers in the New York City area, however I am in the midwest. I will try to connect to a midwest server and run speed test again to see if the results differ.
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
You're VPN speed looks fine man.

I will have to look into port forwarding, it appears that port forwarding can be set in the configuration, however I do not currently have it enabled.

You DON'T want a VPN provider that allows port forwarding. Doing so means your IP is exposed.
 
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DMGrier

VIP Member
Private Internet Access is a fine VPN, uses OpenVPN for the client (pretty much a standard these days), pipes everything over the VPN (not all of them do) and offers you the choice of 128 or 256 bit encryption. Reality is if you want a VPN that is better the only way to achieve this is through building your own virtual private server (VPS) that runs the openVPN server service and build the desktop config yourself. Some would argue it is worth it but I would say this depends on what you are doing.
 

Renzore101

Member
Private Internet Access has port forwarding.
Can anyone else vouch for this? Does this create additional security holes due to it being an option that can be toggled on and off in the vpn client? If so maybe I should look into alternatives...

Private Internet Access is a fine VPN, uses OpenVPN for the client (pretty much a standard these days), pipes everything over the VPN (not all of them do) and offers you the choice of 128 or 256 bit encryption. Reality is if you want a VPN that is better the only way to achieve this is through building your own virtual private server (VPS) that runs the openVPN server service and build the desktop config yourself. Some would argue it is worth it but I would say this depends on what you are doing.
This sounds really interesting to me, I may throw my own VPS together solely for the experience of doing so. Trying to weasel my way into the network security space anyway, that will definitely be a resume item if I configure one correctly.
 
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Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
Can anyone else vouch for this? Does this create additional security holes due to it being an option that can be toggled on and off in the vpn client? If so maybe I should look into alternatives..


https://torrentfreak.com/huge-security-flaw-can-expose-vpn-users-real-ip-adresses-151126/

I just wouldn't use PIA or any VPN that has port forwarding at all. I use VPN.AC and they don't have port forwarding.

VPN.AC uses AES 128, AES 256, XOR and ECC. I use port 443 with ECC so it looks like normal SSL encryption.
 

Renzore101

Member
https://torrentfreak.com/huge-security-flaw-can-expose-vpn-users-real-ip-adresses-151126/

I just wouldn't use PIA or any VPN that has port forwarding at all. I use VPN.AC and they don't have port forwarding.

VPN.AC uses AES 128, AES 256, XOR and ECC. I use port 443 with ECC so it looks like normal SSL encryption.

Hmm, yeah that is some shady crap going on with PIA Ovpn.to and nVPN, that article however is published on torrentfreak.com and nearly a year old, I wonder if there is any more recent updated info on this issue.
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
I said check out VPN.AC. And the acronym is ISP, not IPS.

I would try their demo first, use their approved torrent P2P connections and see how it goes. Use the UDP protocol, never TCP.
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
OpenVPN will not slow down your speeds at all
As a blanket statement that is false. Piping traffic through another medium will limit your connection to what's available at the remote end. There's also CPU overhead for encryption/decryption of the traffic, leveraging OpenVPN on a router or similar will enormously impact available bandwidth.
 
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