AirVPN vitally needs to rotate exit IP addresses

[bumpy 1]

• I've used AirVPN for years.

I understand the exit IP addresses stay the same for each server.

That is ok for a while, but the IP addresses have been the same for years and are blocked all over the place.

The exit IPs should be rotated regularly (every 3 months?)

I've been mostly happy with AirVPN but I am running into blocks so often now (multiple times per day) that I am going to have to switch soon in order to just be able to continuing doing day to day tasks online.

 

Examples of blocks in just the last day:

• Bank #1 prevents log-ins using some exit servers. It reports incorrect username/password error until switching to an exit server that is allowed.

Bank #2's online banking responds with a maintenance error message for some exit servers. Works fine after switching to an exit server that is allowed.

Can't even log into order food online from most exit servers. Food ordering site says incorrect username/password until switching to an exit that is allowed.

Ticketing site gives a 403 Forbidden error until switching to an exit server that is allowed.

And on and on, I continually find new sites that won't work until switching exit servers.

These are 100% repeatable blocks, not user error or temporary problems. Each one listed above has been the same for months. They are not geographic blocks based on my account information. In fact, the allowed exit servers are often much farther away than the blocked ones.

This is not a problem that can be addressed by working around each site. It's a problem that is inevitable when the exit IPs are the same for so long. Eventually each site experiences abuse and bans the exit IP.

 

"If we rotate exit IPs they will just block the new IPs"

 

My experiences show this is absolutely not true. All of the blocks I experience are for specific exit IP addresses. The exit IPs that are allowed are classified by MaxMind and others as VPNs. The sites are not blocking all VPNs. They are not systematically connecting to exits and figuring out the IPs and preemptively banning them. They are not using blacklisting services (or if they are, those services are not checking for all exit IPs). They are blocking IP addresses whenever they experience a case of abuse. After so much time using the same exit IPs, of course sites will experience an instance of abuse. There is no way for me to test, but given what I have seen, I doubt they are blocking entire subnets. They are reacting to abuse from specific IPs.

 

If the IPs were rotated regularly, the effect of a block would be short-lived and a minimal disruption to AirVPN customers. Instead, the current policy of effectively permanent exit IP addresses means a block is a permanent problem. I would really like to keep using AirVPN but I don't see how I can with the current state of affairs.

 

[zhang888 1065]

IP adresses cannot be just simply rotated upon request.

In fact, many users prefer them to be as static as possible for a variety of services.

Many new servers are added on almost a monthly or bi-monthly basis, there is a sure

solution for the issue you described.

 

Sorry for the disappointment, but the majority of users actually ask if IP addresses change,

if ever, and how they can prevent that.  More details can be found on the forums.

 

IPv4 allocation is a painful and expensive thing in 2017,  and it has always been.

If you don't wish AirVPN to end up like AirBerlin, the current state is the best option possible

[willowbrook 16]

Can this be solved with full implementation of IPv6 in the following years to come?

[go558a83nk 352]

I get a few services/sites blocking me from time to time, but never a problem with username/password.  It's always a clear "you're blocked because you're on a block list", or the site doesn't respond, or 403 error.

[NaDre 154]

...

If you don't wish AirVPN to end up like AirBerlin, the current state is the best option possible

 

I take this to be a reference to Air Berlin going bankrupt earlier this year? Probably a fair comparison.

 

...

In fact, many users prefer them to be as static as possible for a variety of services.

...

 

My guess would be far and away "most" users rather than "many". Certainly I would be gone. I think most customers of AirVPN are not here primarily because they want to browse geo-restricted sites. They want privacy for the connections they make to or receive from other willing participants. And they want to be connectable (via a forwarded port) at a consistent address for prolonged periods.

 

In the end, if sites with streaming media really want to block VPN-s they can do this very effectively. They could very easily redetermine the AirVPN exit addresses used to access their site once an hour if they wanted to. They have only just begun to take actions against well-known VPN-s. Ultimately a lost cause.

[dellawee 13]

Honestly nearly all the services that are blocked for me are streaming sites. My back, investment firm, ect have never had a problem with me logging in from a vpn (unless I'm logging in from another country). Services that want to block VPNs will and fighting against that by switching around ips is not a good solution imo. Tbh is a streaming service that I pay for blocks my vpn on the device I'm on I just torrent the video/media and I think a lot of people do. I hope the media companies realize this and perhaps change who they block in the future. Probably wont but its a nice thought. 

[wunderbar 26]

Some online shops block the Exit-IP's. They some times reject my orders as fake/fraud, because I use a "suspicious IP", because it is from "another country". Then I ask them why that is "suspicious", but they can never provide any rational answer. Then I ask them if I should report their shop as fake/fraud, because their shop is also using a "suspicious IP", because their shop is hosted on a server in "another country". But they still don't get it. Most online shops simply do not understand anything about how the Internet works.