Ex Eddie User thinking of returning

[Terry Stanford 11]

hi all. I was a huge fan of AirVPN for many years. I made a switch after a lot of troubles with eddie on my older OS Mac (I detest Apple and won't upgrade beyond Mojave, Linux will be my next OS when this becomes unusable). I have been using VPN.ac since I left AirVPN but I have big problems with their app too, the kill switch doesn't work. I need more than 5 connections now too as my two oldest sons need it on their devices and I have a few machines in my office plus my wife's laptop, so I will need two AirVPN accounts and being pretty broke, that has put me off until now. It's still a problem but I can't live with a failing kill switch. That's one thing eddie always handled well I think. 

So I guess my question is... in the past 2-3 years, has Eddie been good and stable on Mac OS? Have their been any major changes/updates?

Thanks for any comments

[OpenSourcerer 1435]

There were little troubleshooting posts with macOS as the poster's OS in the past year or so. It could either mean a small number of users, or a small number of problems. I think you'll need to rely on whoever answers after this.

[Terry Stanford 11]

Thanks OS

[OpenSourcerer 1435]

I'm not an OS, but you're welcome.
Welcome back, by the way, even if you're still wavering.

[Terry Stanford 11]

haha. you're the most efficient OS I've never known, and no hidden telemetry like Mac OS
If i had the money, I'd be back on Air, it's just that I need two accounts. i will get some cash soon and definitely be a proud member again. I still rave about AirVPN to anyone who asks me about VPN stuff. The ethos is the main reason. 
 

[sebi 4]

I'm using different devices with AirVPN and Eddie, and one of them is an Intel Macbook running latest Ventura.
Two issues come to mind, which I admit I didn't report yet:
- shutting down with active eddie connection does not shutdown Eddie cleanly, I end up force-killing it.
- resuming vpn after OS-resuming is kind of unstable with different symptoms (one reason I didn't report yet, but rather annoying), however just recently it seems to work without problems.
Otherwise it's pretty stable. I've had stalling issues during videoconferencing twice or thrice but I didn't blame the client for it.

I'm not using Eddie for long yet, now and then I consider using hummingbird and see if that will do some good.

As for the pricing, you probably are aware, there are seasons with good discounts..

Hope that helped.

[Terry Stanford 11]

Thanks Sebi, very helpful. 
Sadly it sounds like Eddie hasn't changed much at all, your first two problems are exactly the reasons I left in the first place, several years ago. Those force quits got very tiresome. Having said that, I still love AirVPN enough that I might just come back anyway, once I have the cash! 

[sebi 4]

Hi Terry, that's very interesting and at the same time kind of sad that apparently little has changed. However I saw improvement when updating to experimental channel and now using 2.22.2 version, so there is good work being done

It's not easy to find a good VPN service and Air seems to be the best fit for me so far.

I activated debug logging to file and am now more determined to actually report the issues. 🧐 Who knows, maybe that will be fixed once you join the club again 🙂

[Terry Stanford 11]

Yes maybe. I should have mentioned I am using Mac OSX 10.14.6 Mojave. I refuse to upgrade any further for privacy reasons, probably moving to Linux as soon as I can find the time to learn enough to do it smoothly and convert my work over to a Linux OS. I suspected my issues might have been due to my old OS but apparently not. 
Air is certainly one of the very 'best' out there, and I have tried/researched LOADS of VPNs. "Best" for me means above all TRUSTWORTHY, then speed and reliability, then price. I haven't tried the expensive ones like ExpressVPN as I can't afford it anyway. I'm sure I'll be using Eddie again soon, and will try the beta versions, thanks

[sebi 4]

I also have Linux running, Eddie alone doesn't work nicely with SELinux on my Fedora because it accesses some devices directly that userspace tools usually are not supposed to touch. Again, on my TODO is to check if it works better with Bluetit that works as a helper daemon for theses kinds of system access requirements. Fortunately there is also the option to use OpenVPN configs directly. However I found the info at ipleak.net was different when using either Eddie or OpenVPN via NetworkManager and I wasn't sure what to expect (right behavior) or what role my browser plays in it (Chrome-based vs. other).

So since Sunday I reported 6 issues, 3 of which are already confirmed and partially fixed. (This really was triggered by our conversation!) Force-killing Eddie for MacOS shutdown is now also officially reported

What I value most in AirVPN is that I feel the people know exactly what they are doing and trustworthy, software is open and using standards that allow me to even use other tools (no vendor lock-in) and there is responsive non-bullshit support, which is not a given. As it is often with using e.g. Linux or Open Source, there is some extra price to pay in time and effort but you get something in return you don't get otherwise.

Edited ... by sebi
clarification

[Terry Stanford 11]

Yes, totally agree especially regarding support. You sound like you know your stuff, I am yet to try using LInux. Been on Mac OSX for more years than I care to remember, and scared to switch. Ok for personal stuff, but for business/work stuff, I sit here 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, so I have total confidence in my ability to use Mac, to start from scratch on LInux scares me a bit. I actually bought a Macbook Pro 2013 (i do like the hardware, especially that model) which I have never touched since buying it used. It was bought with intention of putting Fedora on! I have just haven't grown the balls yet!