Trouble Connecting

[Lyar 0]

Hello,

As you have already guessed, I am currently having difficulty connecting with the AirVPN client from here in the Middle East. I have tried to connect to a wide variety of servers, using all 6 available port/protocol combinations but all that happens is that I sit stuck at the "connecting" screen.

I recently changed service providers in my home here. With my past service provider I had no trouble connecting to any server under any mode, but I was forced to change providers due to wildly inconsistent connectivity. However, it was reported in press releases that this new service provider actively tries to block VPN connections, and hence this leads me to believe that my ISP may be the cause of my woes. Once in a blue moon, I have had some luck in managing to connect to a server, but most days I sit looking at "connecting" screens, occasionally shifting servers and modes.

At this point I don't know what options I have available to me to be able to reliably connect, but I am hoping that someone has a solution.

Note: openVPN refuses to let me copy its logs, and for some reason this page doesnt want to let me upload a screenshot, but I will type by hand the bit where it keeps failing.

TLS: Initial pack from xx.xx.xxx.xxx:xx, sid=[random alphanumerics]

TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to occur within 60 seconds (check your network connectivity)

TLS Error: TLS handshake failed

Fatal TLS error [check_tls_errors_co], restarting

Thank you,

Lyar

[Staff 9972]

Hello!

As a general rule, a so-called Internet Service Provider which does not provide Internet access should be left without customers. These crooks survive because they are allowed to be called "Internet Service Provider" even though they don't provide Internet access but above all because people continue to give them money.

That said, first of all try connections to all available ports (53 UDP, 53 TCP, 80 UDP, 80 TCP, 443 UDP and 443 TCP) and let us know whether a connection can be established to one (or more) of them.

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

Thank you for assisting me!

I have tried again to connect from all 6 available ports to a server in NA, EU and Asia but with no luck.

I agree with what you say about the ISPs. However, when you live in a country where there are only 2 legally operating ISPs, which are both majority government owned and run, your choices are limited. I would go back to the other ISP, but the reason I left was because it was so wildly unreliable, leaving me without internet for weeks at a time, with no answers from the ISP. So therefore, I am stuck with this ISP since it is reliable at least in terms of a 24/7 connection, and hence I have come here to find a way to make it work.

Lyar

[Staff 9972]

Thank you for assisting me!

I have tried again to connect from all 6 available ports to a server in NA, EU and Asia but with no luck.

I agree with what you say about the ISPs. However, when you live in a country where there are only 2 legally operating ISPs, which are both majority government owned and run, your choices are limited. I would go back to the other ISP, but the reason I left was because it was so wildly unreliable, leaving me without internet for weeks at a time, with no answers from the ISP. So therefore, I am stuck with this ISP since it is reliable at least in terms of a 24/7 connection, and hence I have come here to find a way to make it work.

Lyar

Hello!

Ok.

Before anything else, do you know whether you are behind a proxy?

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

I am not.

[FPyro 2]

Jesus, what kind of country is that? Only 2 ISPs and one of them not even working regularly!? Sounds like you should consider leaving there for good. If you speak german, I'm sure you'd be welcome here with some computer skills

[Staff 9972]

I am not.

Hello!

Ok, so let's determine whether your ISP disrupts OpenVPN connections through Deep Packet Inspection. OpenVPN fingerprint is slightly different from a "classic" SSL/TLS connection and this difference can be exploited to discern, via DPI, OpenVPN connections from (for example) https.

Are you able to connect to https web sites?

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

If these websites count, then yes. I can connect to all of them

https://www.google.com/

https://www.paypal.com

https://www.chase.com/

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

Edit: I just noticed that I am also connected to this website via https.

[Staff 9972]

If these websites count, then yes. I can connect to all of them

https://www.google.com/

https://www.paypal.com

https://www.chase.com/

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

Hello!

Yes, they count, so it is a hint that only OpenVPN connections are disrupted (assuming that you have already ascertained that connections toward port 443 TCP do not succeed).

Next step, are you able to use TOR? Are you able to connect some application (try your browser, but do not use a socks proxy to send or receive unencrypted sensitive data) over some socks proxy?

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

I downloaded TOR and started up the Tor Browser but I get the message "Establishing a Tor Circuit failed (done)" with a whole bunch of warnings in my message log.

Unfortunately, I really have no idea what you are talking about in the sentence following the "Next step, are you able to use TOR?".

[Staff 9972]

I downloaded TOR and started up the Tor Browser but I get the message "Establishing a Tor Circuit failed (done)" with a whole bunch of warnings in my message log.

Unfortunately, I really have no idea what you are talking about in the sentence following the "Next step, are you able to use TOR?".

Hello!

So it appears that also TOR is disrupted by your ISP.

Before proceeding further, can you please check that your system date and clock are correct? TOR needs an accurate timing to establish a circuit, and OpenVPN may fail TLS authentication as well if your system date is not correctly set. Please send us also the TOR logs to verify.

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

Previously I was getting stuck at the "Establishing a TOR circuit" part, then I got connected and got this error from the log below. Now I tried another time and I managed to connect and use the TOR browser, but it is painfully slow.

Also my system time is correct.

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Tor v0.2.3.25 (git-17c24b3118224d65) running on Windows 7.

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Tor can't help you if you use it wrong! Learn how to be safe at https://www.torproject.org/download/download#warning

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Read configuration file "C:\Users\Richard\Downloads\Tor Browser\Data\Tor\torrc".

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Initialized libevent version 2.0.21-stable using method win32. Good.

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9050

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Opening Control listener on 127.0.0.1:9051

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] Parsing GEOIP file .\Data\Tor\geoip.

Feb 12 20:46:19.543 [Notice] This version of OpenSSL has a known-good EVP counter-mode implementation. Using it.

Feb 12 20:46:22.888 [Notice] OpenSSL OpenSSL 1.0.1c 10 May 2012 looks like version 0.9.8m or later; I will try SSL_OP to enable renegotiation

Feb 12 20:46:22.888 [Notice] Reloaded microdescriptor cache. Found 3096 descriptors.

Feb 12 20:46:22.888 [Notice] We now have enough directory information to build circuits.

Feb 12 20:46:22.888 [Notice] Bootstrapped 80%: Connecting to the Tor network.

Feb 12 20:46:22.888 [Notice] New control connection opened.

Feb 12 20:46:23.761 [Notice] Heartbeat: Tor's uptime is 0:00 hours, with 4 circuits open. I've sent 0 kB and received 0 kB.

Feb 12 20:46:24.416 [Notice] Bootstrapped 85%: Finishing handshake with first hop.

Feb 12 20:50:29.962 [Notice] Bootstrapped 90%: Establishing a Tor circuit.

Feb 12 20:50:38.752 [Notice] Tor has successfully opened a circuit. Looks like client functionality is working.

Feb 12 20:50:38.753 [Notice] Bootstrapped 100%: Done.

Feb 12 20:52:41.739 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:41.739 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.741 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.742 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.742 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.742 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.742 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:52:42.742 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:443. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:53:16.740 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:80. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

Feb 12 20:53:16.740 [Notice] Tried for 120 seconds to get a connection to [scrubbed]:80. Giving up. (waiting for circuit)

[Staff 9972]

Hello!

Quite puzzling... either your ISP tries to block TOR intermittently, or there is something here that we're missing. Does OpenVPN to port 443 TCP connections continue to fail?

Can you try a connection over a publick SOCKS proxy with your browser?

Instructions for Firefox:

http://www.wikihow.com/Enter-Proxy-Settings-in-Firefox

Unverified list of available socks proxies (do NOT use them to send or receive sensitive unencrypted data, this is just for testing purposes):

http://sockslist.net

Please try proxies which accept connection to port 80 and 443, if they fail proceed to test proxies on different ports.

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

sockslist.net is censored

Furthermore, I have been unable to find another web based proxy in the past that I could use to go to that site.

Frankly, I am suprised that this website isn't already blocked. They block most VPN related websites.

[Lyar 0]

Soooo, I just managed to connect to a server on OpenVPN...

I've been trying all day but now it finally went through on 443 TCP.

Its done this in the past. Sometimes I will get lucky and it will work, then when I try and reconnect it doesnt let me for a few days.

[Staff 9972]

Soooo, I just managed to connect to a server on OpenVPN...

I've been trying all day but now it finally went through on 443 TCP.

Its done this in the past. Sometimes I will get lucky and it will work, then when I try and reconnect it doesnt let me for a few days.

Hello!

A part of the team is working to provide OpenVPN over SSL and OpenVPN over SSH directly in our infrastructure in a very near future. This solution should let you connect to our servers even when OpenVPN connections are disrupted.

Furthemore, if your ISP decides to block access to airvpn.org, we have very many solutions to circumvent the censorship, write to us at info@airvpn.org if/when you need them.

Kind regards

[Lyar 0]

Thank you for your help!

So until this project is completed, do I have any options to connect to the VPN servers consistently, or am I stuck Insha'Allah VPNing?

Also, may I inquire as to how soon is the very near future? I am actually moving to the USA in May at which point I hope the openVPN will be all that I need.

Sincerely,

Lyar

[Baraka 32]

Sounds like the Philippines. That would be my first guess. Or somewhere in Africa, second.

Lyar, it would be instructive to know where you are located, if you're willing to divulge that information.

Jesus, what kind of country is that? Only 2 ISPs and one of them not even working regularly!? Sounds like you should consider leaving there for good. If you speak german, I'm sure you'd be welcome here with some computer skills