Is this what you call "Tor over AirVPN"?

[resettler 0]

Hi guys,

 

I am still confused after reading some of the posts here on this forum.

 

Here's what I usually do if I wish to use Tor:

 

1. Connect to one of AirVPN's gateways/nodes using TCP protocol (I was told that Tor only uses TCP, not UDP)

2. Once my PC is connected to AirVPN's server, I launched Tor executable.

 

Below are my questions:

 

A. Is this what you call "Tor over VPN"?

B. Are data packets carried by Tor tunneled through the VPN connection as well?

[Staff 9972]

Hello!

 

A. Yes

B. Yes

 

Note: in this case you can use UDP as well for OpenVPN. The fact that a socks proxy does not support UDP is irrelevant, because it's TOR over OpenVPN, not OpenVPN over TOR (in which case yes, TCP would be mandatory).

 

Kind regards

[JamesDean 10]

A good way of keeping this straight, is, whatever you connect to first, your ISP can see (but not read), whatever you connect to second, can see your traffic unless it's SSL/TLS.

 

Connecting to AirVPN first, hides you from the Tor entry node and conceals Tor use from your ISP, but an evil Tor exit node could read your traffic unless it's SSL/TLS.

 

Connecting to Tor first, hides you from AirVPN AND protects you from an evil Tor exit node.

 

I like #2 better, but if Tor use is not welcome in your jurisdiction, #1 may be better.

[JamesDean 10]

PS: I think the term "Through" should replace "Over"

[Baraka 32]

Connecting to AirVPN first, hides you from the Tor entry node and conceals Tor use from your ISP, but an evil Tor exit node could read your traffic unless it's SSL/TLS.

 

That is, unless you're connecting to a hidden service in which case your connection would be encrypted from end to end. Exit nodes only apply when you're connecting to the regular, clear internet. FYI.

[resettler 0]

I like #2 better, but if Tor use is not welcome in your jurisdiction, #1 may be better.

 

JD

 

But Tor is super slow. My browser takes minutes to load web pages.

[Staff 9972]

PS: I think the term "Through" should replace "Over"

 

JD

 

Hello,

 

just a "curiosity" side note, technically "over" is the correct term of common usage, while "through" may be confusing in some contexts. It's not that packets headers and payload are "pasted through" other packets headers, see also here to understand why "over" is preferred to avoid confusion:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunneling_protocol

 

So, for example, "OpenVPN over SSH" is a clear definition, while "OpenVPN through SSH" might cause ambiguity, it could be unclear whether it means "SSH over OpenVPN" or "OpenVPN over SSH" or even something else.

 

Kind regards