Internet Kill Switch

[Philiberti 9]

I came across an off topic discussion about VPNWatcher which has stopped working with AirVPN (I have recently had the same problem). The reply mentioned that the next version of AirVPN client would have a built in kill switch - is this rumour or reality?

I know other VPN services already have this in their client but I love AirVPN and have found it to be the best of the bunch as far as privacy and service are concerned. The addition of the kill switch would just about make AirVPN perfect as far as i'm concerned - when could we expect such an improvement?

[Staff 9973]

I came across an off topic discussion about VPNWatcher which has stopped working with AirVPN (I have recently had the same problem). The reply mentioned that the next version of AirVPN client would have a built in kill switch - is this rumour or reality?

I know other VPN services already have this in their client but I love AirVPN and have found it to be the best of the bunch as far as privacy and service are concerned. The addition of the kill switch would just about make AirVPN perfect as far as i'm concerned - when could we expect such an improvement?

 

Hello!

 

Confirmed, this feature is under development in the new client. Anyway this feature is largely overrated, remember that you can anyway secure your system against leaks in case of unexpected VPN disconnection in just a few seconds.

 

Kind regards

[dd79 15]

Then it will be an easier setup for everyone

[Philiberti 9]

I know AirVPN has rules for Commodo firewall that would block traffic if the VPN went down but I, like many others, don't use Commodo. I have Kaspersky and I tried to configure KIS firewall with help from Paolo a while back but was unsucessful (I am a newbie and was walked through it step by step - great support and much better than I have found elsewhere). As dd79 says it will be much easier and straightforward for everyone - especially people like me.

[Ace3342 0]

@ Staff, 

 

can you share a rough timing for a new improved client release?

 

Thanks.

[Husari77 2]

Hey!

How is this feature overrated?!

I too have Kaspersky and no idea how to configure it like comodo, I doubt that's actually possible. While comodo is good, I prefer Kaspersky at the moment and wouldn't want to switch just for this, since I also paid for a year. A kill switch, if actually working as intended, would solve that problem!

Other clients have this feature working fine, I don't get why it's taking so long?! Just ask them how they implemented it, if it's so hard?! Any good software developer should be able to implement it, seeing that the concept behind it is very simple!

I actually stopped using AirVPN because the client doesn't have this and other nice features, like DNS leak prevention.

Well, good luck guys.

 

Kind regards

[amnesty 18]

Hey!

How is this feature overrated?!

I too have Kaspersky and no idea how to configure it like comodo, I doubt that's actually possible. While comodo is good, I prefer Kaspersky at the moment and wouldn't want to switch just for this, since I also paid for a year. A kill switch, if actually working as intended, would solve that problem!

 

Seems overrated to me because I just run 2 cmd to kill the connection if vpn drops (1 cmd to kill and 1 cmd to restore).

Actually, I don't run them, they use the Preconnect/Connect/Disconnect feature of OpenVPN.

 

To prevent any leak:

https://airvpn.org/t...routing-router/

 

Other clients have this feature working fine, I don't get why it's taking so long?! Just ask them how they implemented it, if it's so hard?! Any good software developer should be able to implement it, seeing that the concept behind it is very simple!

I actually stopped using AirVPN because the client doesn't have this and other nice features, like DNS leak prevention.

 

Maybe you can give Microsoft a nudge and get them to implement DNS right.

 

2 cmd (run automatically) to prevent dns leaks. (1 to kill and 1 to restore).

 

To prevent DNS leaks:

https://airvpn.org/t...e-cons/?p=11501

[Husari77 2]

Yea, I know you can do it manually, but it's annoying and should be included in the client. Especially if you're right and it's so easy as you say.

[amnesty 18]

Yea, I know you can do it manually, but it's annoying and should be included in the client. Especially if you're right and it's so easy as you say.

 

I use OpenVPN GUI and Tunnelblick. I don't need to do it manually. I suppose if you use another app you might need to run a batch file or shell script. However that's pretty painless.

 

Your posts have a confrontational tone (to me). It's not really necessary. I saw some of your other posts and appreciate you might be a bit frustrated but you might get better results by asking again or giving us a nudge.

 

If you decide to use your AirVPN account and need a hand setting it up, let me know.

[Husari77 2]

Hi

 

Thanks for your concern, I didn't mean to be rude. I did make a bad experience in the past though, which cost me a lot of money. I forgot to reconnect to the VPN or it dropped the connection and some anti-filesharing companies caught my real IP and threatened to sue me if I didn't recompense them for their losses... That is when I realized how important such a feature is and that anything done manually is too risky since it can be forgotten or executed wrongly. I was also using utorrent which doesn't allow you to bind to the VPN adapter directly.

I'm happy with my current vpn right now, but if the Air client gets some nice upgrades, or there is a straight forward, easy way to automatically execute the required commands, I'd gladly switch again.

 

Kind regards

[Royee 10]

VPNcheck pro is another option.

 

Works with any openvpn and just about all vpn companies use it. Air does also.

 

Has options to kill not only the internet connection it can also cut off torrent or any app like firefox.  I tried the demo and it was pretty good and worked firefox and Vuze cut off straight away once Air got disconnected.

 

I think its cheap also like 25 dollars or something like that.

[Royee 10]

I have attempted to follow Airvpns Comodo guide but was unable to follow it even on step 3 sadly.

 

I found the guide is out of date and incomplete and seems to skip many settings,  I managed to find the options and settings for most of it but was then lost with all the rules and allow rules etc

 

I think since Comodo firewall has changed the interface and options it really does require a complete updated guide with the new comodo firewall version.

 

It would be really fantastic if Air or Air user could update the comodo firewall guide but detail each and every click and step of the way?

[kvmjohan 4]

Will we automatically get a notice here somewhere on the forums should a new client emerge from this great company?

 

Me personally, I am very interested in having a client with a built in easy to set kill switch (or an automatic one).

[brmail 1]

I use VPN on Windows 7 running as virtual computer under Hyper-V. So turn off main network connection is not an option for me. Instead of it I use  VPNetMon as "application killer" in case of VPN connection lost. Will be great to have such option directly in AirVPN Client - close selected application in case of connection lost - in .NET it's just few lines of code, Hope this "to do" request will not be hard to implement

 

[puff-m-d 31]

Hello,

 

Will we automatically get a notice here somewhere on the forums should a new client emerge from this great company?

 

I was wondering the same thing. I did some searching and they used to announce new releases/updates her on this sub-forum up until version 1.6 (currently on 1.9). I could not find anything posted since version 1.6. I would also like to know how we are informed of new releases/updates...

[Staff 9973]

Hello,

 

the section "News & Announcements" is dedicated to that.

 

Kind regards

[NaDre 157]

...

I know other VPN services already have this in their client ...

 

And are you sure it works? How did you test it?

 

What approach do they take?

 

Do they attempt to detect that the VPN has gone down and stop a list of running programs? I have seen posts about programs that attempt to do this failing.

 

Or do they automatically make changes to the routing table (and perhaps the IP configuration)? For example see:

 

https://airvpn.org/topic/9787-the-pros-and-the-cons/?do=findComment&comment=11501

 

Or some other method?

 

If you are only worried about certain programs, then why not just firewall the programs you are worried about instead? For example see:

 

https://airvpn.org/topic/9549-traffic-splitting-guide-to-setting-up-vpn-only-for-torrenting-on-windows-thanks-to-nadre/

 

You only need to do the stuff in the section "Set Up for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security", if you are not interested in using the VPN only for torrents. You may also want to look at the section "Checking That the VPN Is Working" for a way to test that access for those programs stops when the VPN is stopped.

 

People keep asking for this "kill switch", without explaining what they actually expect it to do (other than give them a warm and fuzzy feeling).

[brmail 1]

 

People keep asking for this "kill switch", without explaining what they actually expect it to do (other than give them a warm and fuzzy feeling).

Personally I asking for send WM_CLOSE message for one-two named application in case of disconnection. Or in the worst case run specified in settings application, and this application will do the job: try to close programs or even shut down box

Currently I use VPNetMon, but don't like it. It's test all available network adapters once per second and trying to close application really slow.  

[NaDre 157]

 

People keep asking for this "kill switch", without explaining what they actually expect it to do (other than give them a warm and fuzzy feeling).

Personally I asking for send WM_CLOSE message for one-two named application in case of disconnection. Or in the worst case run specified in settings application, and this application will do the job: try to close programs or even shut down box

Currently I use VPNetMon, but don't like it. It's test all available network adapters once per second and trying to close application really slow.  

 

But "WM_CLOSE" may just inspire the program to ask you to confirm that it should quit. Not stop immediately.

 

And indeed, scanning interfaces continuously is not a great idea. Neither is cancelling running processes without a human making the decision. Hokey really.

 

From https://airvpn.org/topic/10862-drop-connection-if-vpn-fails/:

Hello,

 

as we said this feature will be implemented on the next client version. We're very near to a first alpha-release.

 

Under a technical and security point of view it's a bad defect, not a good thing, that you must rely on a proprietary software from the same provider of the VPN service you use. You should always be able to choose to connect to a service with some software that does not come from the service provider itself. It's also not true that you need script files to prevent leaks, you can just use one (ONE) command that you can issue in 2 seconds or configure carefully firewall rules (which is a task that has some very important, good side effects on your network know-how).

 

Kind regards

 

And what if the method used does not satisfy some people? Will they then consider learning enough to do something for themselves that they are happy with? The information has long been available in these forums.

 

EDIT:

 

I decided I should google to see if I could find where this "kill switch" idea comes from. I found this:

 

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1861/how-to-test-the-internet-kill-switch/p1

 

Apparently it is impossible to test! You just have to believe! Or maybe if you make it "fail" in just the right way.

 

Any strategy relying on "detecting" failure before taking some action is (IMO) fundamentally flawed.