VPN General Info


Before using VPN, you need to ask yourself, do you really need one? :think:

VPNs scare people into thinking, that if you connect to a public WiFi, you are doomed. When you connect to encrypted (SSL) webpages like banks, they are already encrypted, so even if you are on the same network as a hacker, he can not do much, as long as your apps and OS is updated. He can not see your password, nor control your phone. VPN basically provides an additional encryption on top, while it can be beneficial, it can cause a slow down and VPN provider can see to what domains you are connecting.

You can just use an encrypted DNS to improve your security.

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Overview - Quad9 Documentation

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TairikuOkami said:
You can just use an encrypted DNS to improve your security.
Click to expand...
However, encrypted DNS and a VPN do two different things.

It all depends on what your "goal" is...

Encrypted DNS hides the names of websites you look up from the ISP, while a VPN encrypts your Internet traffic and hides your IP.
 

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TairikuOkami said:
You can just use an encrypted DNS to improve your security.
Click to expand...

Banjoman301 said:
Encrypted DNS hides the names of websites you look up from the ISP
Click to expand...
Sorry.. encrypted DNS will not hide what websites you visit from the ISP.. it is like TairikuOkami said, it improve the security only... the SNI will still be in clear text for the ISP to see.
 

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Marie SWE said:
Sorry.. encrypted DNS will not hide what websites you visit from the ISP.
Click to expand...
Re-read the post...

Encrypted DNS will hide the web sites you look up...
 

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Banjoman301 said:
Re-read the post...

Encrypted DNS will hide the web sites you look up...
Click to expand...
yeah and i still wonder in what situations do you do a DNS query without connecting to the website?
 

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Point?
Marie SWE said:
yeah and i still wonder in what situations do you do a DNS query without connecting to the website?
Click to expand...
LOL...who said anything about DNS without connecting to a website?
Banjoman301 said:
However, encrypted DNS and a VPN do two different things.

It all depends on what your "goal" is...

Encrypted DNS hides the names of websites you look up from the ISP, while a VPN encrypts your Internet traffic and hides your IP.
Click to expand...
 

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Banjoman301 said:
Point?

LOL...who said anything about DNS without connecting to a website?
Click to expand...
Yeah i do missing the point.. why do you want to hide the DNS query from the ISP if they can see the SNI anyway.. its kind of pointless.. isn't it?

edit:
its kind of arguing with another carowner on the parking lot and you say.. I'm not going to tell you which car is mine.. and then you open the door on your car in front of the other one and drives away so he sees your car anyway
 

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Not quite the same...
 

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mrmatt said:
Hello all :)
This is maybe the wrong forum to ask, but as someone as a novice who doesn't know very much I'm wondering if someone could point me in the right direction please.

I'm looking just for a general introduction to VPNs, as I don't know much about them, and may need to in the future ? (such as when I'm away from home, and using public wi-fi, for example public libraries).

If anyone could give me any suggestions please (yes I have tried using G**g**, although there's loads of websites out there and I'm quite clueless).

Thank you.
Click to expand...

have you considered Cloudflare Warp
developers.cloudflare.com

Download Cloudflare One Client stable releases

Reference information for Download Cloudflare One Client stable releases in Zero Trust.
developers.cloudflare.com developers.cloudflare.com

you can install it on your computer and/or your phone
i use Cloudflare Warp on both mine and my wifes systems and phones

easy to install and set up and you can use UDP / HTTPS / TLS
all my systems are set to use HTTPS, DNS and Traffic.
best of luck Steve
 

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For a start - I'd have a VPN that supports "Tunnelling" i.e you can exclude specific applications and your local network shared drives from under VPN control when using the VPN.

Many decent one's are available - don't bother with the free ones -- I've used NordVPN for years on Windows and Linux hosts and on an amazon firestick TV plugin. You can get some good deals on VPN. It's fast, works and I have no trouble with it.

(Incidentally for users thinking of getting an amazon firestick - the very latest ones don't allow "sideloading" of apps unlike the previous versions where you can get into developer mode -- plwnty of those still available but beware when you buy if you want to sideload apps such as vpn / kodi / vlc etc on them as you won't be able to !!!).

Note also in MOST jurisdictions using a VPN is NOT ILLEGAL - loads of rubbish about this on google etc - particularly on reddit - the WORST source of info ever dreamt up whether on the internet or elsewhere !!!. What you access with it etc such as accessing pirated copyright material from various torrent sites might be - but that's another issue entirely.

cheers
jimbo
 

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jimbo45 said:
Note also in MOST jurisdictions using a VPN is NOT ILLEGAL
Click to expand...
(y)
if they ban VPN a lot of people have to stop working from home. 😅
 

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