Can I stop OpenVPN (Linux) from connecting to certain country servers?

[DarkKman 2]

Hi folks,

I use QNAP with a UDP OpenVPN config file for Europe however I find, whether its an issue with AirVPN or QNAP that I get disconnected and occasionally reconnect to a country that for some reason has a lot of latency (I mainly use the VPN to allow Internet access to Plex). Is there a way in the config file configuration (or otherwise) I can restrict a certain country?

Hope this makes sense and someone can help offer some advice (on either restricting connecting to a country or why the VPN drops and reconnects to another server)?

[Staff 9972]

Hello!

For the selection problem, please consider this potential solution in your ovpn configuration file:
 

remote-random
remote <country>3.vpn.airdns.org
remote <another country>3.vpn.airdns.org
...
remote <yet another country>3.vpn.airdns.org

where you list only the ISO codes of the countries you want to connect to. Please see also here:
https://airvpn.org/faq/servers_ip/

About the connection instability you experience have you examined the OpenVPN log to check whether packet errors are reported (hinting to bad line or MTU size related problems)? If the device is connected via WiFi, try to change channel and/or get a stronger signal. If you suspect that the problem is MTU related, try the following directive (in the ovpn configuration file) and check whether it mitigates the problem:

mssfix 1280

Kind regards
 

[DarkKman 2]

6 hours ago, Staff said:

For the selection problem, please consider this potential solution in your ovpn configuration file:
 

remote-random
remote <country>3.vpn.airdns.org
remote <another country>3.vpn.airdns.org
...
remote <yet another country>3.vpn.airdns.org

This is great - thank you so much - and all appears to be working. I assume that the 'remote-random' command is just that; it will select a random server from the list given below? If so, is there a way to give the country list a priority instead? Or do I need to use the 'remote-random' at all? - again my assumption would be that if not used, it would then select the first in the list and failover to the next etc etc?

Thanks again for the help. AirVPN is top notch!

[Staff 9972]

14 minutes ago, DarkKman said:

Thanks again for the help. AirVPN is top notch!

We're glad to know that this solution meets your needs. Thank you very much for your choice and your great feedback!

Kind regards
 

[benfitita 39]

 

Quote

I assume that the 'remote-random' command is just that; it will select a random server from the list given below?

Exactly.
 

Quote

If so, is there a way to give the country list a priority instead?

Not exactly, see below.
 

Quote

Or do I need to use the 'remote-random' at all? - again my assumption would be that if not used, it would then select the first in the list and failover to the next etc etc?

Again, good intuition. That effectively prioritizes the first country. In reality, it's very rare that all servers from a country fail at the same time, unless it's a country with a very small number of servers. You might end up never connecting to other countries.

Here's a link to the official OpenVPN 2.6 docs: https://openvpn.net/community-resources/reference-manual-for-openvpn-2-6/
To learn about `remote` search for `--remote`.

[DarkKman 2]

Thank you @benfitita - that is great! I think I'll see how I get on with the remote-random and see how Plex manages that (as mentioned, the reason for the request was some countries, when selecting europe3 seem to suffer from some latency when streaming. Much appreciation to you and AirVPN

[Quallian 26]

Hi! A nice bash script by @gzoido https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/47513-script-update-your-airvpn-configuration-with-working-ips-sorted-by-ping/
I'm not sure whether QNAP Linux based operating system includes bash and fping. If so, the script is fine. If you replace the domain name with europe3.vpn.airdns.org europe3.all.vpn.airdns.org you will get the server IP 3 in Europe with the quickest ping, so you cut out the slow ones. Maybe it's overkill for what you need and adds complexity, but it may come handy for other similar tasks.
 

[DarkKman 2]

3 hours ago, Quallian said:

Hi! A nice bash script by @gzoido https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/47513-script-update-your-airvpn-configuration-with-working-ips-sorted-by-ping/
I'm not sure whether QNAP Linux based operating system includes bash and fping. If so, the script is fine. If you replace the domain name with europe3.vpn.airdns.org you will get the server IP 3 in Europe with the quickest ping, so you cut out the slow ones. Maybe it's overkill for what you need and adds complexity, but it may come handy for other similar tasks.
 

Wow... This is great! I don't mind a little overkill and suspect this will just fast forward me a little. Thanks for the share! 

[Quallian 26]

13 hours ago, DarkKman said:

16 hours ago, Quallian said:

Hi! A nice bash script by @gzoido https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/47513-script-update-your-airvpn-configuration-with-working-ips-sorted-by-ping/
I'm not sure whether QNAP Linux based operating system includes bash and fping. If so, the script is fine. If you replace the domain name with europe3.vpn.airdns.org you will get the server IP 3 in Europe with the quickest ping, so you cut out the slow ones. Maybe it's overkill for what you need and adds complexity, but it may come handy for other similar tasks.
 

Wow... This is great! I don't mind a little overkill and suspect this will just fast forward me a little. Thanks for the share! 

You're welcome! I was wrong though, europe3.all.vpn.airdns.org is the correct name you can enter when you edit the script. With the other name I wrongly gave you the script would have only one address to consider so it wouldn't help at all. With this name the script can calculate the ping to all Europe server entry 3 addresses.

[DarkKman 2]

1 hour ago, Quallian said:

You're welcome! I was wrong though, europe3.all.vpn.airdns.org is the correct name you can enter when you edit the script. With the other name I wrongly gave you the script would have only one address to consider so it wouldn't help at all. With this name the script can calculate the ping to all Europe server entry 3 addresses.

I haven't had a chance to test this out so no harm done  And thanks again for sharing the script and the domain to use... Very much appreciated. I'll report back with my QNAP findings once actioned!