| About Sonic.net's VPN service? i was reading up on sonic.net's wiki and information provided on sonic.net's site. i came across descriptions of sonic.net's VPN service, and it got me curious:
1. the wiki says "Please note that only active Sonic.net accounts with dialup privileges will be allowed to authenticate." what are sonic.net accounts with dialup privileges? do i have to pay extra for these dialup privileges or do the privileges come standard with any sonic.net dsl connection?
2. are there any download/upload speed caps on the VPN service? how about monthly data caps (e.g. you can only download a maximum of 100 GB per month using the service)?
3. is the vpn service on a separate server from the server that users normally connect to when they are on their non vpn sonic.net internet connection? should they expect less privacy when they're using the sonic.net vpn? |
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| I'm just a customer, but I use Sonic's VPN daily.
1. With Fusion service, you get the VPN service.
2. I've never noticed caps. I've only tested it up to about 20Mbps though. There are no caps on data usage.
3. I don't know about this one, but I think you would have about the same amount of privacy as using Sonic's DSL hardwired. |
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 DaneJasperSonic.NetPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:9 | reply to anonanon
If you are on our network already, why use the VPN? The idea with it is to provide privacy protection when you are roaming; on Wi-Fi, at a hotel, etc. |
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 leiboldPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
kudos:6
 ·SONIC.NET
| said by DaneJasper:If you are on our network already, why use the VPN? Just a guess, but given the location of the poster he/she may be a Sonic.net customer (or son/daughter thereof) that is studying in Canada. It is definitely sensible to use a VPN service when accessing the Internet from a University network.
That might also explain the concern about possible caps since unlike most mobile users (who only use the VPN when not at home), they would use it throughout the entire semester.
--
Got some spare cpu cycles ? Join Team Helix or Team Starfire! |
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DaneJasperSonic.NetPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:9 | As is often the case, liebold has a better answer than I do!
(I've sent you IMs here to invite you to our »forums.sonic.net/ -- would love your participation there!) |
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| reply to anonanon
unfortunately my home connection is not in range for fusion. do the dsl connections (i.e. the 768 kbps, 1.5 mbps, 3.0 mpbs, and 6.0 mbps ones) come with dialup? if not how much more would i have to pay to add the dialup feature so i can use the vpn?
one reason i asked about the data caps is that on one of sonic's pages, it says if i use the dialup like a dedicated connection, i will be charged accordingly. since i might use the vpn service even more than the home connection, i just want to make sure sonic.net doesn't object to my heavy use of the vpn service (youtube, netflix, etc). my connection when away from home is also much faster than my home connection so if there are no limits my vpn service might actually be faster than my home connection!
i also asked about the privacy of the vpn because i might use the vpn when on Wi-Fi connections too, just like dane said. i just want to make sure i have the same level of protection when using the vpn from a Starbucks Wi-Fi connection as when i'm using my home connection. |
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DaneJasperSonic.NetPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:9 | All of our broadband connections include dialup backup - and VPN access. There are no caps, but VPN performance is likely to be lower than directly connecting - it's primarily intended as a security solution for those on open networks while roaming. |
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leiboldPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
kudos:6 Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
| reply to anonanon
The comment about VPN authentication being tied to dialup privileges doesn't mean that VPN usage counts as dialup usage. They are distinct services but they probably use the same authentication servers.
I have not seen any comments regarding a limit on the amount of traffic a user can have over the Sonic.net VPN. That doesn't mean that excessive use couldn't possibly impact service for other VPN users and at some point Sonic would need to decide whether to add more servers or to limit usage.
It is up to you to decide whether some of the high bandwidth activities really need to be secured over VPN (such as watching youtube videos).
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| fair enough. casual browsing and youtubing seem to be an unnecessary drain on resources. i'll still have to use it for anything that involves financial transactions though.
is it safe for me to assume that when i'm using the vpn, i'm as safe as if i was on a home dsl sonic.net connection? |
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leiboldPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
kudos:6 Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
| said by anonanon :is it safe for me to assume that when i'm using the vpn, i'm as safe as if i was on a home dsl sonic.net connection? Yes. Not more secure but also not less.
Both at home and on the road you still have to maintain a firewall preventing unauthorized incoming connections to your computer. This is not something a VPN will magically protect you from.
However any data you receive or transmit through the VPN will be encrypted and safe from anybody snooping on any network your traffic transits (between your computer and Sonic's VPN server).
By the way, I didn't mean to discourage you from using the VPN for casual browsing. That doesn't tend to be that heavy in usage and sometimes leads to inadvertent disclosure of personal information.
However if all you are doing is watching some movies or perhaps some online gaming the bandwidth usage goes up and the erratic delays introduced by VPN encryption/decryption may actually interfere with your pleasure.
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Got some spare cpu cycles ? Join Team Helix or Team Starfire! |
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| I used it extensively in China and it was great to have uncensored access to everything. |
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| reply to anonanon
there's something i don't understand about using the vpn. i already read the entire wiki, and i know how to set up the cisco client and stuff, but when you click "connect", does it automatically "grab" control of your connection? by "grab" i mean if any of my programs try to connect to the internet through the unsafe connection, the vpn will force it to connect through the vpn instead.
let's say i want to use internet explorer through the vpn. i first connect to an untrusted internet connection. then i open up the cisco client and connect to the vpn. if i open internet explorer at this point, does internet explorer automatically get "forced" through the vpn so that i know my surfing is safe? or do i have to do some further configuration of internet explorer? with internet explorer, i can go to www.whatismyip.com or something to check if i'm on a sonic.net ip, but i can't do this with most other programs. so how do i know they're actually using the vpn? |
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| When you are connected to the VPN through the Cisco client, all data between your computer and the Internet goes through the VPN. |
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