dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
7586
Stegasaurus
join:2014-03-07

Stegasaurus

Member

Website blocking me because I'm using a VPN?

Can websites detect when you are using a VPN and block you from accessing the site? I'm trying to access a forum but I'm prevented from doing so, I think because I'm using a VPN. I think they may have a rule about not having 2 accounts so that's why I'm being blocked.
I'm not a registered member of the forum but I've never had trouble accessing the forum before.

If I am being blocked while using the VPN is there any way I can change my VPN settings so they can't detect it (I'm using PrivateInternetAccess VPN)? Or is there any other VPN services that can't be detected by websites?

ps. I wouldn't be doing anything illegal in accessing the site with a VPN as it is a free discussion forum anyone can join and use. I wouldn't even be breaking the forum rules as I think the rule is no dual accounts rather than no VPNs.
I'd really like to be able to use this forum while preserving my privacy in the process.

Thanks for reading.

eibgrad
join:2010-03-15
united state

eibgrad

Member

It’s not all that difficult block, at least for the most well-known VPN providers. With time, their public IPs also become well-known. And these public IPs are not going to change all that much, if at all. In fact, it’s highly likely the public IP you see through the VPN is used by MANY other users thanks to NAT.

How to beat it? Find a more obscure VPN provider, or perhaps a friend who’s willing to let you redirect your traffic over their router. Of course, if you abuse the privilege, you could end up blacklisting them as well.
HELLFIRE
MVM
join:2009-11-25

HELLFIRE to Stegasaurus

MVM

to Stegasaurus
said by Stegasaurus:

Can websites detect when you are using a VPN

That's a pretty wide open question... but as eibgrad See Profile pointed out, blocking a known IP address / subnet of someone isn't that hard.
...and there's not much from a VPN perspective you can do, other than ask said forum board if they're blacklisting said VPN provider's IP addresses.

My 00000010bits

Regards
Stegasaurus
join:2014-03-07

Stegasaurus

Member

Well thanks for replying. I did manage to go on the sight and register while using my VPN so maybe they don't blacklist known IP addresses (I know that PrivateInternetAccess shares IP with it's user). But I haven't tried re-logging on since I registered. My VPN IP would have changed and the forum admins say they look for that kind of thing or something. So I guess I'll only know by logging in again.

Thanks again.

Jay_Are
J.R.
Premium Member
join:2004-04-10
Sicklerville, NJ

Jay_Are to Stegasaurus

Premium Member

to Stegasaurus
Check out BolehVPN, they provide a vpn client or a modified OpenVPN client to bypass "The Great Wall of China," known to block VPN traffic.

What is xCloak? Help come up with a new name!

We’ve had a few users ask us what is xCloak and why a modified version of OpenVPN is required to run it.

Why do you need xCloak?

In certain countries, ISPs or government employ advanced deep packet inspection techniques that will identify VPN traffic and block it. This doesn’t mean they can look inside your VPN traffic but it just means they have identified your traffic as a VPN and lock it down.

xCloak scrambles the packet payload of the VPN connection so that the VPN traffic doesn’t look like VPN traffic anymore! This makes it harder to block and adds another layer of encryption protection over the standard OpenVPN.

Why doesn’t xCloak work in certain countries?

Beyond deep packet inspection, there are other ways to block VPN access. The simplest and possibly the most effective is just identifying our VPN server’s IP and just blacklisting it. There’s not much that can be done in such a case beyond changing the IP of the server. Also such DPI techniques evolve, learn and adapt and if a pattern is detected, then it will be added to their detection lists. Of course we can adapt the xCloak to change its behaviour again but there will be a slight delay between recognizing that the system has been blocked. We therefore have a few choices of xCloak servers that you can use so you have some choice.

What further complicates issues is that different ISPs even within the same country seem to employ different blocking mechanisms so we rely heavily on user feedback to identify problems. Help us help you guys! We do have a test server in some of these restrictive countries to test it out but it seems end users are affected differently than servers within datacenters. So let us know what works (or doesn’t) and we’ll be happy to work together with you and give you account extensions for your help!

New Name for xCloak

The name xCloak isn’t particularly inventive and sounds kinda nerdy. But we’re nerds and haven’t been able to come up with a good name for this. We are open to suggestions on what to rename xCloak to! Let us know in the comments on what you want it to be called!

»www.bolehvpn.net/blog/20 ··· ew-name/

»www.bolehvpn.net/index.php
Expand your moderator at work
mattlwil
join:2004-04-13
Memphis, TN

mattlwil to Stegasaurus

Member

to Stegasaurus

Re: Website blocking me because I'm using a VPN?

Some forums will block all IP's from certain countries too.