Windscribe VPN developments [other vpn's welcome]

[w1z4rd]

I got to the stage where I wanted my own IP.... but everyone had silly pricing. NordVPN or SurfShark you are looking at least R400 a month before you can get it sorted out. Windscribe does do dedicated IPs, but then you have to pay for a full year in advance so you dont "burn and turn" IPs.

Every solution was expensive. So I tried something else. I used AmneziaVPN client with a cheap VPS. Cheap VPS will be around R100-R200 a month. The VPN client automatically connects to the VPN over SSH and using docker configures the VPS to be a Wireguard VPN. And thats that. So for R100 -R200 a month you can have your own VPN with a dedicated IP.

 

[BBSA]

You can probably do something similar on the Oracle Cloud Free Tier.

 

[w1z4rd]

You can probably do something similar on the Oracle Cloud Free Tier.

Yeah, you could. It could be a free second server setup. I went with a ZA one for speed. Not sure if oracle is doing ZA vps`s, but it would be neat if they are. Not sure where their data center is.

I got the split tunneling right in AmneziaVPN. Real neat software.

 

[BBSA]

Yeah, you could. It could be a free second server setup. I went with a ZA one for speed. Not sure if oracle is doing ZA vps`s, but it would be neat if they are. Not sure where their data center is.

I got the split tunneling right in AmneziaVPN. Real neat software.

They have a data center in Jo'burg.

 

[w1z4rd]

They have a data center in Jo'burg.

I got the free tier, installed and setup AmneziaVPN on it and it worked 100%. It even works with key based authentication. Looks like the free servers are in Amsterdam.

 

[BBSA]

I got the free tier, installed and setup AmneziaVPN on it and it worked 100%. It even works with key based authentication. Looks like the free servers are in Amsterdam.

Good to hear, will give it a try.

I currently use Tailscale, but I mainly use it to create a tunnel between my Oracle VM and home network.

 

[w1z4rd]

Good to hear, will give it a try.

I currently use Tailscale, but I mainly use it to create a tunnel between my Oracle VM and home network.

AmneziaVPN will do it, and offer some cool things like split tunneling. I like how you can install any protocol you want (wireguard, openvpn, etc).

I also purchased a vps from racknerd. You can pick up a cheap vps for about $11 a year. Bought one of those so I have a US node as well. Now I have a ZA node, EU node and US node.

If you use Amnezia with Oracle, just put your key file information as the password and the client will login.

 

[w1z4rd]

Amnezia also has some other features that are worth sharing. You can setup your VPS as an encrypted, quick dns server. You can also install a tor website and some other neat tricks



It comes with 7 different types of VPN technology built into it. Including cloaking.

 

[Brian_G]

Every solution was expensive. So I tried something else. I used AmneziaVPN client with a cheap VPS. Cheap VPS will be around R100-R200 a month. The VPN client automatically connects to the VPN over SSH and using docker configures the VPS to be a Wireguard VPN. And thats that. So for R100 -R200 a month you can have your own VPN with a dedicated IP.

I'm actually busy trying AmneziaWG right now, but access is directly from Windscribe (they came up with Wireguard) and at no additional cost. It's not generally available to Saffers this way (yet?), we're experimenting (I've got a bad ISP-throttling issue).
We're hopeful, but it won't solve any across the board throttling going on of course.

Next thing to consider - I'm only paying R50 p/m (now a bit less less with current exchange rate) for Windscribe.
If you want to consider that, visit their site either from around April 20th, or around Black Friday time, to find that discount annual-offer.

 

[w1z4rd]

Next thing to consider - I'm only paying R50 p/m (now a bit less less with current exchange rate) for Windscribe.
If you want to consider that, visit their site either from around April 20th, or around Black Friday time, to find that discount annual-offer.

That R50 a month, is that for a dedicated IP or do you get put through the same server as everyone else? (and then half the world bans you)

 

[Brian_G]

That R50 a month, is that for a dedicated IP or do you get put through the same server as everyone else? (and then half the world bans you)

No you're right, it's for their general IP's. But "half the world" is quite an exaggeration, not in my experience at all and I do quite a bit of sailing.

I've only seen 2 places stop me entering, and one or two needed location adjustments. That in probably about 10 years by now.

 

[w1z4rd]

No you're right, it's for their general IP's. But "half the world" is quite an exaggeration, not in my experience at all and I do quite a bit of sailing.

I've only seen 2 places stop me entering, and one or two needed location adjustments. That in probably about 10 years by now.

Yeah I was being hyperbolic, but I noticed when I used Mullvad, Google would keep asking me to prove I was human because of the poor reputation of the IP I was using. Also I couldnt stream Amazon Prime, Amazon picked Mullvad up as a VPN, it doesnt with your own VPS and Amnezia.

Though saying that, I still get blocked by anything using cloudfront or recaptcha3. For some reason they have blacklisted ALL datacenter IPs, so it doesnt matter if you have a good rep or not.

 

[Brian_G]

Yeah I was being hyperbolic, but I noticed when I used Mullvad, Google would keep asking me to prove I was human because of the poor reputation of the IP I was using. Also I couldnt stream Amazon Prime, Amazon picked Mullvad up as a VPN, it doesnt with your own VPS and Amnezia.

Though saying that, I still get blocked by anything using cloudfront or recaptcha3. For some reason they have blacklisted ALL datacenter IPs, so it doesnt matter if you have a good rep or not.

Can't say Windscribe is the best, but it will be close if not. (I did a lot of personal research.) Only the top VPN's are worth considering.

 

[Smiggles]

Yeah I was being hyperbolic, but I noticed when I used Mullvad, Google would keep asking me to prove I was human because of the poor reputation of the IP I was using. Also I couldnt stream Amazon Prime, Amazon picked Mullvad up as a VPN, it doesnt with your own VPS and Amnezia.

Though saying that, I still get blocked by anything using cloudfront or recaptcha3. For some reason they have blacklisted ALL datacenter IPs, so it doesnt matter if you have a good rep or not.

AFAIK Mullvad doesn't support streaming. Windscribe / ControlD and some others does.

 

[w1z4rd]

AFAIK Mullvad doesn't support streaming. Windscribe / ControlD and some others does.

Yeah, with split streaming I could even work around it. It was being asked to prove I was human at every search query that got me motivated to get my own IP.... but then I noticed everyone was charging a lot for one, so I went the Amnezia route. Got a very quick VPN now with few of the issues I had.

Just out of curiosity. Are you able to browse tymebank.co.za on windscribe?

 

[Smiggles]

Yeah, with split streaming I could even work around it. It was being asked to prove I was human at every search query that got me motivated to get my own IP.... but then I noticed everyone was charging a lot for one, so I went the Amnezia route. Got a very quick VPN now with few of the issues I had.

Just out of curiosity. Are you able to browse tymebank.co.za on windscribe?

Yes if I set it to South Africa. The app also worked when I still had an account.

 

[w1z4rd]

Yes if I set it to South Africa. The app also worked when I still had an account.

Okay, you done it recently? Could you DM me your IP if you are able to browse. I wanna see how they get around the cloudfront firewall. Cause thats big. Ever since they became gotymebank Ive not been able to access their website.

 

[Brian_G]

Yes if I set it to South Africa. The app also worked when I still had an account.

To be honest I've had a few mixed results with the Jo'burg settings - with "Springbok" I can't make payments on XNelo (formerly Hetzner) , with "District" there's another popular site that wants to block me, and with "Lindfield" I was once identified as being in Iraq

So not all good. But none of it is.

 

[Brian_G]

An (opinionated?) response from Windscribe's bot re recent odd CDNs' behaviour

 

[Brian_G]

Some feedback regarding a newish ultra-stealth protocol option from WS that's called AmneziaWG. Shouldn't be necessary for most, more for those curious what it's about.

I've got a bad case of ISP throttling (and possibly also censoring) on LTE, we believe AI controlled. WS won't usually offer the system unless in extreme circumstances, like being in Russia.
Essentially it's a partnership with a company called Amnezia. At first their app was also needed on one's PC, now enough is incorporated that just some custom config settings need to be supplied.

The way it specifically works further is that it completely masks VPN type detection, and makes DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) of activity "look like mush" as they phrase it.
Still has a number of nothing-major bugs, and deeper masking not available on Linux yet, but not bad on Windows already. No idea re Apple, and last I heard not (yet?) available for the smartphone apps.

The "WG" part of the name is referring to their custom Wireguard development, it piggybacks on that existing protocol.
This is actually a problem with at least MTN here as that ISP clearly doesn't like or ignores the more standard needs of WG at times, I had many requests from the app to report some sort of network interference.
But that's part of why VPN-use masking is needed, and does help.

Is it worth it?
Ja/Nee. Certainly has made a big difference here, though I still need to self-throttle streaming in peak hours too. But it's a steep learning curve still to use it effectively enough, probably better to just shift to another ISP service if you can.


@BBSA