Server selection

[mith_y2k 6]

I see there are a number of forum topics on the same subject, but not quite what I was thinking so I guess I will start a new thread

 

I just started using airVPN a few days ago, I have Eddie on a couple of computers and openVPN on my phone.

 

On the computer I like the idea of automatic server selection, but I understand I can pick manually. I live in the US on the West Coast, almost every single time I let Eddie select the server it picks a Canada server on the West coast (with 5 stars) even if I have a number of US servers that have a lower latency and a lot of available bandwidth.

 

Similarly, I generated a VPN configuration for my phone to pick the "best server" in North America and I noticed it always ends up being in Canada.

 

What I'd like to understand is how is the server picked in both cases. I saw other posts talking about best latency, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Western Canada has low latency for me, but never as good as some US servers.

 

Is there a way that as users we can influence the star rating?

 

How is the openVPN client picking the server when on a phone? Can we influence that selection too? 

[mith_y2k 6]

AH! I just figured out how the server selection AND the star system works on Eddie. So never mind my question about Eddie.

 

 

How does the openVPN client with the automatically generated configuration select the best server? Based on connection speed?

[go558a83nk 362]

AH! I just figured out how the server selection AND the star system works on Eddie. So never mind my question about Eddie.

 

 

How does the openVPN client with the automatically generated configuration select the best server? Based on connection speed?

 

The north american configuration file will connect you to the least busy server in north america at the time you connect.  It can't take anything else into account because it doesn't know your location or your latency to VPN servers. 

[mith_y2k 6]

In case anyone else is wondering about this I solved this creating TWO configuration files for iOS. One is configured to connect to a server in the "Americas", I use this when I just want clean and fast connection. Then I created another configuration file for "United States" and I use that when I want to make sure I appear to come from the US.

 

I downloaded the two configuration files and they appear as 1 entry in openVPN Connect. While you are not online click on the airVPN profile and you get to pick which configuration you want to use.