Is Android better in this regard?
Yeah, though apps can whitelist themselves to exclude from VPN routing.
VPNs on iOS are a scam
81–90 of 260 posts
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You are wrong on this, the private part indicates the privacy it provides not the destination. I remember using VPNs long before, to my knowledge, people were using them in the way you describe, and I was always under the impression that the "P" in VPN meant "connecting private networks" together over the Internet. This document from 2001 agrees with me: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/i.…
VPNs were used primarily by companies to allow secure access to their network from the outside. It doesn't surprise me that documents aimed at businesses running Windows servers would describe them in the context of that use case. It doesn't mean that was the entire point, or purpose. It's just one thing they were commonly used for.
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Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You are wrong on this, the private part indicates the privacy it provides not the destination. I remember using VPNs long before, to my knowledge, people were using them in the way you describe, and I was always under the impression that the "P" in VPN meant "connecting private networks" together over the Internet. This document from 2001 agrees with me: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/i.…
VPNs were used primarily by companies to allow secure access to their network from the outside. It doesn't surprise me that documents aimed at businesses running Windows servers would describe them in the context of that use case. It doesn't mean that was the entire point, or purpose. It's just one thing they were commonly used for.
> VPNs were used primarily by companies to allow secure access to their network from the outside.
Yeah, that was the entire argument.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
That Apple documents that 'normal' VPNs are broken on iOS doesn't change the fact that they're broken.
VPNs were always meant to carry internal traffic to a private network, not the public internet (hence the name Virtual Private Network). The fact that a VPN server can send you a route for 0.0.0.0/0 always was and always will be a happy accident.
I don't like how the word "proxy" got replaced with "VPN" either, but I think it was to create a distinction between the per-connection, often single-protocol nature of proxies (HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS) and something that acts like a whole (virtual) network interface.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the OP means so that it can be used without an app and so it can be used with Apple's "Always On VPN" setup. Right now I believe "Always On VPN" only works with the OS supported VPNs: IKEv2, L2TP, SSL VPN, and Cisco IPSEC https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/vpn-overview-depa...
Nope, there are a ton of 3rd party SSL/other VPN clients that use the same frameworks that can be set to always on - the app just has to be written that way. Consumer VPNs typically aren't.
My mistake! The docs I linked weren't clear about it.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think he’s saying that any sort of network analysis done by someone that doesn’t understand basics of TCP is kinda suspect and may be more prone to errors in the analysis methodology or interpretation of results. I tend to agree. My only takeaway after seeing that was “if I ever need a 100% leak free tunnel on iOS, validate it”. I certainly won’t be taking any of this at face value without replicating it.
the local router shouldn't see any other connections inbound or outbound from the device other than the "VPN" ip you are connected to. I submit that it doesn't take an expert to come to that conclusion. Other comments in this thread explain that the iOS/MacOS kernel keep old established routing tables intact under some circumstances, and that's (one) issue. Another appears to be the unreliability or inconsistency of…
> I submit that it doesn't take an expert to come to that conclusion.
Probably not, but if, in the middle of trying to diagnose my car, someone pointed to the muffler and said "I'm not sure what this thing's for." I probably would look for a second opinion on their diagnosis especially if it was "there is a major manufacturing defect in this model of automobile". It doesn't matter if the problem looked like it was staring us in the face.
Obviously I can't spot any major flaws with what the writer put together after a single read or I'd be pointing them out. I'm not calling it wrong. I'm just saying I'd want more verification from someone that has a better understanding of networking concepts to make it less likely that basic mistakes impacted the outcome.
If the write-up has given you enough confidence, all the power to you.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is no point to them. What about this? "Under the provisions of the Investigatory Powers (IP) Act, it is now possible for the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) community to lawfully obtain Internet Connection Records (ICR) in support of their investigations. Following the completion of some initial trial activities, work is now underway to provision a national ICR service." https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.go…
And what makes you trust that the VPN provider wouldn’t share these records if asked?
use VPN provider that does not store these ICR records and is physically unable to fulfill such request
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tailscale + Pihole works well, https://tailscale.com/kb/1114/pi-hole/
I use this setup to get mobile adblock while on Verizon (iOS sadly has never let you override the default DNS server for cellular, just wifi). It works more or less perfectly, albeit with a noticeable hit to device battery life... so much so my wife who otherwise loves PiHole on the home network refuses to use it on her iPhone. Using iOS's built in support for browser adblockers is largely as effective and doesn't co…
You can use your custom dns over https server
You can use AdGuard or select your own filterlists.
Nextdns.io
I use the free tier.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
VPNs were always meant to carry internal traffic to a private network, not the public internet (hence the name Virtual Private Network). The fact that a VPN server can send you a route for 0.0.0.0/0 always was and always will be a happy accident.
> VPNs were always meant to carry internal traffic to a private network, not the public internet This. And the idea that these so called ‘VPN’ services somehow improve your security and privacy on the internet is laughable. All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. The internet is just as untrustworthy through a VPN service as it is through…
> And the idea that these so called ‘VPN’ services somehow improve your security and privacy on the internet is laughable
I trust Mullvad more than I trust Optimum.
Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
are you saying that a packet leaving iOS and hitting the router's logs, without going through the "VPN" does not leak either your IP to the destination or your destination to your ISP?
I think he’s saying that any sort of network analysis done by someone that doesn’t understand basics of TCP is kinda suspect and may be more prone to errors in the analysis methodology or interpretation of results. I tend to agree. My only takeaway after seeing that was “if I ever need a 100% leak free tunnel on iOS, validate it”. I certainly won’t be taking any of this at face value without replicating it.
Typically, but it does not summarize this content. The author repeatedly says he doesn’t know much about most of all the things but he also knows he can test things out by just watching the activity in his router logs. And, it’s not good.