ANSWERED Stop running Tor servers behind AirVPN

[ishap 4]

I'm interested also in knowing in you found out a way to avoid those issues.

As of now thetvdb and trakt.tv also blocked traffic coming from AirVPN servers (at least for both GB Nunki and Germany Tauri...)

Same here, I'm having to look into another provider and have had to withdraw my air recommendation from the forums I go on. Hope they find a work around soon, air has been my fav for years.

[giganerd 865]

had to withdraw my air recommendation from the forums I go on

 

You say this like it's a triumph..

.. not taking into consideration that it's not AirVPN's fault.. why?

Why don't you curse the ones who seem to apply those restrictions? The exit relay runners? The webpages blocking TOR?

 

Freedom rules here. In a system like that everything can happen.

[ishap 4]

 

had to withdraw my air recommendation from the forums I go on

You say this like it's a triumph..

.. not taking into consideration that it's not AirVPN's fault.. why?

Why don't you curse the ones who seem to apply those restrictions? The exit relay runners? The webpages blocking TOR?

 

Freedom rules here. In a system like that everything can happen.

Not a triumph, a disappointment. How can one recommend a service for a specific task if one can no longer perform the task with that service. As I stated, this is my favourite VPN service because of its privacy measures and services but if I can't use it due to blocks, I can't keep telling others to.

 

I understand others use it for different purposes and should be able to. However just as they would have a problem if their service stopped working, I also feel that way.

 

It's not Airs fault, true. I didn't say it was but they provide the service and if I can't use that service anymore what choice do I have.

[NaDre 122]

...

How can one recommend a service for a specific task if one can no longer perform the task with that service. As I stated, this is my favourite VPN service because of its privacy measures and services but if I can't use it due to blocks, I can't keep telling others to.

...

 

I think you are assuming that the only use for a VPN service is to access sites in other countries that have geo-blocks in place.

 

I and may others here (maybe even most) care little about that. We are doing things where the people we connect to are happy to let us connect to them. We just want to be able to make the connections anonymously. And we want to reciprocate by letting them connect to us (without the set up for incoming connections being a nightmare).

 

In the near future, as companies like Netflix get serious about blocking VPN access, many VPN-s may give up on the anti-geo-block side of the business.

 

Before you give people advice about what VPN to use, perhaps you should first ask them what they want to do with it.

[ishap 4]

 

...

How can one recommend a service for a specific task if one can no longer perform the task with that service. As I stated, this is my favourite VPN service because of its privacy measures and services but if I can't use it due to blocks, I can't keep telling others to.

...

I think you are assuming that the only use for a VPN service is to access sites in other countries that have geo-blocks in place.

 

I and may others here (maybe even most) care little about that. We are doing things where the people we connect to are happy to let us connect to them. We just want to be able to make the connections anonymously. And we want to reciprocate by letting them connect to us (without the set up for incoming connections being a nightmare).

 

In the near future, as companies like Netflix get serious about blocking VPN access, many VPN-s may give up on the anti-geo-block side of the business.

 

Before you give people advice about what VPN to use, perhaps you should first ask them what they want to do with it.

I wouldn't assume that VPN services are for accessing sites in other countries, since I only connect to servers in my home country but I presume lots of people do for the reason you state.

 

My own use case is for me to know, but regardless, my point was if I can't do what I have been doing for years with this service, I can't recommend it to others to do a specific task if I can no longer do that task myself.

 

In terms of advice I give regarding VPN providers. If you are in a forum entitled what VPN would you recommend for doing xxxxxx task. It's implied my recommendation would be in regard to doing said task.

 

Its not like I'm going to stop subscribing to air, it has many use cases that I love. But if you read my first post on this I was only commenting that specific blocks were causing me a specific problem, and I could no longer recommend it for the specific case on the specific forum I had been recommending it on. I should have obviously been much clearer in my meaning.

[Visentinel 12]

hey guys, would just using tor cause the issue ? like torbrowser.

[sheivoko 185]

hey guys, would just using tor cause the issue ? like torbrowser.

 

 

No, only Tor relays (especially exit relays) are the cause of these issues.

[Visentinel 12]

thanks. i thought so but just asking to be very sure wont hurt.

[airact 3]

Almost all tor exit nodes are controlled the the us govt.Read about how they raid people who run tor exit nodes.I say tor is 100% compromised

[zhang888 1055]

Almost all tor exit nodes are controlled the the us govt.Read about how they raid people who run tor exit nodes.I say tor is 100% compromised

 

Next time when you bump a 2 years old thread, maybe you can add some proof instead of spreading FUD.

Many of us here have been running Tor middle and exit nodes for years without any affiliation to any government.

 

https://airvpn.org/mission

[tehhellhound 8]

Well since it has been bumped, I am sometimes known to run a non-exit relay. That is kosher right? I never ran an exit relay because of blacklisting and potential legal liability. I see a non exit relay as a way to help without all of the exposure so long as the computer running it is secure.

[giganerd 865]

Relays are fine.

 

I must also say, since we posted this the number of TOR-related access restrictions we get to know via forums went down significantly. Thank you all for honoring this rule of thumb.

[SDBF 22]

Ok, just so I'm clear.  It's ok to connect to AirVPN and then Tor?  Or do I have this mixed up?  I rarely use Tor but when I do I connect to AIR and then Tor and go from there, but its very rare.  So if I'm fucking things up, please let me know.  I do it this way to hide Tor from my ISP.

[giganerd 865]

Tor usage on its own (Tor browser, Orbot, whatever) is encouraged.

Configuring the Tor bundle for example as a relay node is allowed.

Configuring it as an exit node is discouraged.

[NotTheOne 6]

Ok, just so I'm clear.  It's ok to connect to AirVPN and then Tor?  Or do I have this mixed up?  I rarely use Tor but when I do I connect to AIR and then Tor and go from there, but its very rare.  So if I'm fucking things up, please let me know.  I do it this way to hide Tor from my ISP.

 

Can someone definitively answer SDBF's question on how to use Tor with or without AirVPN? Some of the "answers" are not very clear at all.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

1. Question. Do I startup Eddie, connect to an AirVPN server, and then start up Tor Browser?

 

Answer 1. Yes, this is how to do it.

 

or 

 

Answer 2. No, this is NOT how to do it.

 

 

2. Question. I don't startup Eddie and don't connect to an AirVPN but I do start up the Tor Browswer?

 

Answer 1. Yes, this is how to do it.

 

or 

 

Answer 2. No, this is NOT how to do it.

[ZPKZ 91]

1. Question. Do I startup Eddie, connect to an AirVPN server, and then start up Tor Browser?

 

 

YES

 

 

I start Eddie then the Tor browser.

 

TLDR;  Eddie+Tor browser=

[NotTheOne 6]

Thanks for the reply ZPKZ!

[LZ1 635]

Hello!

 

Pinning this and marking giganerds answer as the "solution" for convenience, as it's important we make as many people as possible aware of the issue of running exit nodes in this fashion.

 

Further interesting and clarifying messages include:

 

From giganerd:

 

 

Tor usage on its own (Tor browser, Orbot, whatever) is encouraged.

Configuring the Tor bundle for example as a relay node is allowed.

Configuring it as an exit node is discouraged.

 

One of a few Staff posts:

 

Hello!

 

Some additional considerations on the whole discussion. It seems somehow paradoxical that some of our customers explicitly ask for Net Neutrality violation when they look exactly for a service capable to respect Net Neutrality with no discriminations against any protocol. As soon as Net Neutrality respect brings inconveniences created by third-parties, we are somehow invited to send such respect into the trashcan. We tend to think that it would be more appropriate and honest to focus energy and protests against those services whose administrators actively contribute to destroy the open Internet, with Tor indiscriminate bans, huge blacklists which block millions of IP addresses just because they are 'used as NAT' or because they are used to operate dedicated servers. It seems unquestionable that the concept behind such actions is an Internet where end-to-end principle and privacy are deemed as negative features to be fought.

 

Remember our philosophy and mission: banning a server of ours because it's a source of problems appears as a very questionable action.

It is the same error that some services do with Tor: to hit someone, they ban innocent users who love their privacy or who are forced to use Tor to bypass censorship in their country.

 

If our servers or a Tor node are performing vulnerability scan, service needs to fix the vulnerability, not blame who caught it red handed.

If our servers or a Tor node are wasting a service resource, service operators need to learn how to configure well their systems.

If a service can't afford a method to manage spam, it should close the discussion system, it would be better for all.

 

For all of the above, AirVPN will never violate Net Neutrality, and so we'll never commit any action to help "incompetent services".

 

Kind regards

AirVPN Staff

Hopefully that'll help make more people aware of the issue. Locking for now, as I believe most of what could be said, has been said already.