Transparent Proxy

[Philiberti 9]

Hi,

    I connected to a UK server (Nunki) and ran IP/DNS Detect which didn't show a DNS Address Detection (see first screen cap below). The result showed that no forwarded IP was detected and if I was using a proxy it was a transparent one. I looked up this term to find out what it meant regarding detected IP addresses and I came across an entry on xroxy.com stating that Transparent proxy servers do not hide your IP address and provide anyone with your real IP address and do not hide any information about you and your reading interests (see screen caps below).

I am pretty certain this can't be true of any AirVPN servers and would appreciate it if anyone could confirm this and assure me that my real IP address remains secret when using UK or US servers via the client (I did repeat the excercise with a few UK and US servers and got the same transparent proxy result).

It is entirely possible that the explanation given by xroxy.com is completely wrong, but I need to be assured of this (my technical understanding of all this is very limited)

 

Regards

 

 

 

[InactiveUser 188]

1. Whatever you read about proxies does not apply to VPNs, they operate in a different way.
VPNs operate on data link / network layer, making it possible to:

• use them as a network tunnel for your whole internet traffic (that's how you use AirVPN!)
• access remote network resources (think of a company's intranet remotely accessed by employees via a VPN)

Proxies on the other hand (at least the kind of proxy these websites are talking about), work on the application layer:

• configure a browser to establish HTTP connections through an HTTP proxy

2. There is no clear definition for the term "transparent proxy".

Most common definition
A proxy that's transparent to the user. The user has not configured a proxy but their connections transparently go through a proxy server at some point of the route. Such a proxy might be run internally by your ISP for caching purposes, for example to cache and speed up DNS requests.

IPLeak.net's definition
IPLeak.net is unable to determine whether your connection is going through a proxy - meaning if you're indeed using a proxy, it is "transparent" to IPLeak.net.

xroxy's definition
... is not even worth talking about, it's a terribly incorrect website.
What they mean by proxies "that provide anyone with your real IP address": Some HTTP proxies modify your HTTP headers to include your real IP in the "X-Forwarded-For" field.

Again, you don't have to concern yourself with that, AirVPN's servers aren't HTTP proxies.

[eyes878 43]

Summarising the previous post:

You will not suffer any of the troubles that comes with using a proxy while using a VPN. The screenshot you provided of your ipleak.net details are good, it detected your IP as the exit IP of the 'Nunki' server as you can see.

[Philiberti 9]

Hi,

    My thanks to the above two posters for replying so quickly and putting my mind at ease. For someone like me who has limited technical knowledge it is a great comfort to know that AirVPN has so many people who will spare the time to answer what at times must seem like basic questions. AirVPN rocks!

 

Regards