Some questions from a new AirVPN family member

[Kayn 0]

Hi guys, I'm a new member of the family Right now everything is working like a charm and this VPN is by far the best VPN that I've ever used. Now I've just few questions for you:

1) I managed to make OpenVPN working in LibreELEC 9.0.0 thanks to a guide that I've found here (https://airvpn.org/topic/28540-how-to-get-openvpn-working-in-kodi/?hl=+openvpn +kodi).
My question is: does OpenVPN choose the best server ? I mean OpenVPN everytime chooses a server that's different from the one that Eddie picks...

2) Eddie opens the web pages with Safari even if Firefox is the default browser. There's a way to change this behaviour ?

3) For streaming purpose (Netflix ecc.) is better to sort servers by speed or latency ?

Thanks for your help

[LZ1 672]

Hello!

 

Welcome to AirVPN!

1. I don't know how OpenVPN does it, but Eddie is an OpenVPN wrapper and does it like so.
2. Not in Eddie, AFAIK.
3. I'm actually not sure if it makes much of a difference.

[TomT 0]

when openvpn is installed you need to go to airvpn website to config generator in the client area select operating system and for LibreELEC it is Linux next select the protocols you would like to use now next choose you device/connection next choose a server you would like openvpn to connect to accept the terms of service and click generate then download the ovpn file then copy that file to the root directory of LibreELEC in the downloads folder then go to openvpn settings then select import openvpn configuration file once done go to openvpn app and try running the vpn hope this helps 

 

for choose you device/connection you will have to go to devices/keys in the client area and select add new key and name it this is the device you will choose for device/connections part this must be done so you can use multiple connections (this must be done before going to config generator)  

 

to find the best latancy open eddie go to servers and look to see witch has the best latancy and speed for me i find the best speed on Netherlands and uk servers and the best for latancy are uk servers 

[Kayn 0]

when openvpn is installed you need to go to airvpn website to config generator in the client area select operating system and for LibreELEC it is Linux next select the protocols you would like to use now next choose you device/connection next choose a server you would like openvpn to connect to accept the terms of service and click generate then download the ovpn file then copy that file to the root directory of LibreELEC in the downloads folder then go to openvpn settings then select import openvpn configuration file once done go to openvpn app and try running the vpn hope this helps 

 

for choose you device/connection you will have to go to devices/keys in the client area and select add new key and name it this is the device you will choose for device/connections part this must be done so you can use multiple connections (this must be done before going to config generator)  

 

to find the best latancy open eddie go to servers and look to see witch has the best latancy and speed for me i find the best speed on Netherlands and uk servers and the best for latancy are uk servers 

 

Thanks for your tips, but as I said in my first post: I managed to make OpenVPN working with LibreELEC   Also the devices/keys configuration is not hard to do, I've no problem with that. My question was about how OpenVPN chooses the best server to connect to, not about how to make OpenVPN work with LibreELEC

 

In other words, let's say that I set OpenVPN to choose from all the European servers, how does it chooses the best server ? I mean Eddie is cristal clear: you have all the pings, the users per server, the used bandwidth; so it's easy to understand how it's able to choose the best server based on your needs (speed or latency). OpenVPN instead doesn't show anything, is a totally hidden process. I asked this question beacuse I hoped that someone here maybe could have explained this to me...

[TomT 0]

for me i have always found that openvpn would just pick a server at random from the list and the server would not all ways be one of the best and it would be a different server every time i connected so now i use eddie to find the best servers for me and add them to the config file and that works well for me and this makes sure you are connecting to one of the better servers all the time 

[Staff 9972]

In other words, let's say that I set OpenVPN to choose from all the European servers, how does it chooses the best server ?

 

 

Hello and welcome aboard!

 

Have a look here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/14378-how-can-i-get-vpn-servers-entry-ip-addresses/

 

Now, every server has a rating which is based on a formula which takes into consideration ISP reputation, round trip times between a server and all the other ones, load and available bandwidth. Once a "best" server is computed for EACH zone (country, continent or planet) the various entry-IP addresses are entered into the proper DNS records. Records are updated every 5 minutes while *.airdns.org TTL is 1 hour.

 

Kind regards

[NaDre 157]

... Once a "best" server is computed for EACH zone (country, continent or planet) the various entry-IP addresses are entered into the proper DNS records. Records are updated every 5 minutes while *.airdns.org TTL is 1 hour.

 

Kind regards

 

If I connect using a country config file for the same country from two different client locations, I assume that there is some risk of a collision, both attempting to connect to the same server?

 

Will an existing connection stay in place? So the new one keeps trying and failing?

 

Or will the first connection get bumped by the second one? And then they swap roles, repeatedly bumping each other?

 

Thanks.

[Staff 9972]

If I connect using a country config file for the same country from two different client locations, I assume that there is some risk of a collision, both attempting to connect to the same server?

 

Will an existing connection stay in place? So the new one keeps trying and failing?

 

Or will the first connection get bumped by the second one? And then they swap roles, repeatedly bumping each other?

 

Thanks.

 

Hello,

 

if your devices end up to the same OpenVPN daemon of the same VPN server you will have a conflict and the last device on the same daemon will cause a disconnection of the previous one, if you use the same certificate/key pair on all devices, thus triggering a loop of connections/disconnections to each device in case all the devices are assigned the same OpenVPN daemon repeatedly.

 

You can't know in advance which OpenVPN daemon you will connect to. Each daemon lives in its subnet and its CPU core and only the VPN server load balancing system decides, for each new OpenVPN connection, which daemon must welcome a client, according to the lowest load.

 

For such purposes, i.e. every time multiple connections to the same VPN server are required, you should take care to use different client certificate/key pairs on each device. Our accounts control panel makes pairs management fast and easy. Please check also here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/26209-how-to-manage-client-certificatekey-pairs/

 

Kind regards

[Kayn 0]

 

In other words, let's say that I set OpenVPN to choose from all the European servers, how does it chooses the best server ?

 

 

Hello and welcome aboard!

 

Have a look here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/14378-how-can-i-get-vpn-servers-entry-ip-addresses/

 

Now, every server has a rating which is based on a formula which takes into consideration ISP reputation, round trip times between a server and all the other ones, load and available bandwidth. Once a "best" server is computed for EACH zone (country, continent or planet) the various entry-IP addresses are entered into the proper DNS records. Records are updated every 5 minutes while *.airdns.org TTL is 1 hour.

 

Kind regards

 

Thanks for your complete answer. Now, Eddie rates for me always servers from Belgium or from Netherlands as the best ones, so there's a way to create a ovpn file to sum up those two location ? Because if I choose Europe then, I don't know why, the VPN Manager for openVPN sometimes chooses server from Norway or Switzerland that give me very poor speed...

[Staff 9972]

Thanks for your complete answer. Now, Eddie rates for me always servers from Belgium or from Netherlands as the best ones, so there's a way to create a ovpn file to sum up those two location ? Because if I choose Europe then, I don't know why, the VPN Manager for openVPN sometimes chooses server from Norway or Switzerland that give me very poor speed...

 

 

Hello!

 

Yes, you have plenty of options. Some suggestions. First, see the documentation here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/14378-how-can-i-get-vpn-servers-entry-ip-addresses/

 

Then consider how the "remote" OpenVPN directive works.

 

An ovpn configuration file with the following directives, for example:

 

 

remote-random
remote nl3.vpn.airdns.org 443
remote be3.vpn.airdns.org 443
 

 

 

might meet your needs, by connecting your client machine to the entry-IP address 3 (port 443) of the "best" server either in the Netherlands or Belgium.

 

You can edit any ovpn file with a text editor, or enter custom directives while you use the Configuration Generator itself.

 

Kind regards

[NaDre 157]

...

if your devices end up to the same OpenVPN daemon of the same VPN server you will have a conflict and the last device on the same daemon will cause a disconnection of the previous one, if you use the same certificate/key pair on all devices, thus triggering a loop of connections/disconnections to each device in case all the devices are assigned the same OpenVPN daemon repeatedly.

 

You can't know in advance which OpenVPN daemon you will connect to. Each daemon lives in its subnet and its CPU core and only the VPN server load balancing system decides, for each new OpenVPN connection, which daemon must welcome a client, according to the lowest load.

 

For such purposes, i.e. every time multiple connections to the same VPN server are required, you should take care to use different client certificate/key pairs on each device. Our accounts control panel makes pairs management fast and easy. Please check also here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/26209-how-to-manage-client-certificatekey-pairs/

 

Kind regards

 

This avoids the infinite bumping loop. But you may still get the message "Warning: Two or more sessions are connected to the same server. The same IP+Port can't be mapped to multiple destination." on the "Forwarded ports" page. I just did.

 

No way around this, I think. Unless forwarded ports can be associated with a device key? Thanks.

 

EDIT:

 

Since servers have multiple entry IP addresses, does each entry IP address corresponds to its own exit IP address?

 

So if for example I use "nl.vpn.airdns.org" from one device and "nl2.vpn.airdns.org" from the other, will that guarantee that each device gets a different exit IP address? Even if the same server is assigned?  Then even if the same server is assigned, there will be no port forwarding conflict?

 

I suspect not because I was using "nl.ipv6.vpn.airdns.org" from one device and "nl.vpn.airdns.org" from the other when I got my warning message.

[Kayn 0]

Hello!

 

Yes, you have plenty of options. Some suggestions. First, see the documentation here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/14378-how-can-i-get-vpn-servers-entry-ip-addresses/

 

Then consider how the "remote" OpenVPN directive works.

 

An ovpn configuration file with the following directives, for example:

 

 

remote-random
remote nl3.vpn.airdns.org 443
remote be3.vpn.airdns.org 443
 

 

 

might meet your needs, by connecting your client machine to the entry-IP address 3 (port 443) of the "best" server either in the Netherlands or Belgium.

 

You can edit any ovpn file with a text editor, or enter custom directives while you use the Configuration Generator itself.

 

Kind regards

 

Thanks. Last question: why you've suggested the entry-IP address 3 ? What's the difference with the "standard" entry-IP address ?

[Guest]

 

Hello!

 

Yes, you have plenty of options. Some suggestions. First, see the documentation here:

https://airvpn.org/topic/14378-how-can-i-get-vpn-servers-entry-ip-addresses/

 

Then consider how the "remote" OpenVPN directive works.

 

An ovpn configuration file with the following directives, for example:

 

 

remote-random
remote nl3.vpn.airdns.org 443
remote be3.vpn.airdns.org 443
 

 

 

might meet your needs, by connecting your client machine to the entry-IP address 3 (port 443) of the "best" server either in the Netherlands or Belgium.

 

You can edit any ovpn file with a text editor, or enter custom directives while you use the Configuration Generator itself.

 

Kind regards

 

Thanks. Last question: why you've suggested the entry-IP address 3 ? What's the difference with the "standard" entry-IP address ?

 

Entry 3/4 uses tls-crypt and provides IPv6 support which was added a while back. You can of course pick any from 1-4 but only 3/4 have those features if they are required.

[kbps 29]

for me i have always found that openvpn would just pick a server at random from the list and the server would not all ways be one of the best and it would be a different server every time i connected so now i use eddie to find the best servers for me and add them to the config file and that works well for me and this makes sure you are connecting to one of the better servers all the time 

 

Can confirm this behavior when using openvpn on android.  I use the config file for the Netherlands, it connects to a different Netherlands server each time randomly.

[Kayn 0]

I resume this conversation so I don't need to open another topic.

 

Recently I'm experimenting with AirVPN servers aiming to find the best server location for my streaming service and for the p2p.

The server that I use to watch streaming content is located in Switzerland; Eddie rates with 0 stars all the Switzerland servers as concering speed and with 5 stars as concerning ping. On the other end for the p2p I use mainly Belgium or Netherland servers because the are rated with 5 stars regarding speed.

 

I've tried to test, during the day, servers from these coutries and I've discoverd that I get the same download/upload speed from a Switzerland server that I get from a Belgium or Netherland one and moreover the Switzerland servers have also better ping.

 

Now the question is: how it's possible that a server that Eddie scores with 0 stars and one that it scores with 5 stars, regarding speed, gives the same speed test results ?

 

I mean if I had trusted Eddie I would never choose a Switzerland server for download/p2p purpose because they seems not good for this kind of job, but as a matter of facts they are on the same level of the other ones that Eddie rates with 5 stars...