New features and improvements? What is to be expected in upcoming releases?

OpenVPN

@asanjeev, What types of new features and improvements can we expect to come to the client software in the next upcoming releases? I was hoping we would see some type of  Traffic Obfuscation feature In an upcoming version of your client software to help defeat VPN blocking by governments.  I would like you to consider adding the following features in an upcoming release of your desktop and mobile applications:

1) option to disable WebRTC.

2) ability to choose which IP address we connect to when connecting to a server.

3) add an option that allows users to whitelist websites that they do not want to go through the VPN

4) add an option that allows users to whitelist websites that they do not want blocked by PIA MACE

I don't know why a lot of people post negative comments about your VPN service on this forum, When truthfully you actually have the best VPN service I have ever seen. You guys are the only verified no log VPN provider and provide a better service than any other VPN provider.

Keep up the great work.

asanjeev

Hey @OpenVPN,

Thank you so much for your note! We are working on improving the stability and reliability, and also are going to add some features as well!

1. WebRTC disabling:

This fix for this can vary depending on the OS and browser that you use. I personally use this chrome extension. But, considering the fact that many users might not be aware of the issue, having protection against this by default is quite important, as you said.

2. Choosing which IP Address to connect

Right now, (to the best of my knowledge, since I'm primarily focussed on the desktop side) I believe the IP is automatically assigned by a load balancing system. This is because a server you used to connect to can go down, or might be too busy leading to slower speeds.

Can you give me more details on how selecting a particular IP address might be helpful? 

3. White-listing websites that don't want to go through VPN

This can be a little tricky. It is possible with some configuration (not via the client, via the route command line program) to bypass VPN for specific IP.

I can totally understand how this can be beneficial for things like netflix and other sites which aren't VPN friendly.

But the issues are:

a) A site like netflix will load resources from dozens of IPs and Domains (for content distribution, etc) and it's' impractical to add routes for all of them

b) Even if you add all the IPs, the IP might change from time to time. Even for websites, the IP might change but only the domain name is the same.

4. Whitelisting websites for MACE

This currently is not supported right now, but we do understand that some sites might not work properly with MACE enabled. A browser extension like uBlock might be better for this use case (though in some tests I found that MACE is better for page load times)

Thanks again for the suggestions and the note. Everything that you suggested will definitely improve the privacy and convenience of the product, and we will definitely keep these in mind! 

moshbeast

@asanjeev his main question was whether PIA was considering adding obfsproxy/ stealth mode capabilities to their service to help mask VPN usage/ deep packet inspection as a whole ( say in China)..you never answered him on that...thanks in advance!

OpenVPN

asanjeev said:

Hey @OpenVPN,

Thank you so much for your note! We are working on improving the stability and reliability, and also are going to add some features as well!

1. WebRTC disabling:

This fix for this can vary depending on the OS and browser that you use. I personally use this chrome extension. But, considering the fact that many users might not be aware of the issue, having protection against this by default is quite important, as you said.

2. Choosing which IP Address to connect

Right now, (to the best of my knowledge, since I'm primarily focussed on the desktop side) I believe the IP is automatically assigned by a load balancing system. This is because a server you used to connect to can go down, or might be too busy leading to slower speeds.

Can you give me more details on how selecting a particular IP address might be helpful? 

3. White-listing websites that don't want to go through VPN

This can be a little tricky. It is possible with some configuration (not via the client, via the route command line program) to bypass VPN for specific IP.

I can totally understand how this can be beneficial for things like netflix and other sites which aren't VPN friendly.

But the issues are:

a) A site like netflix will load resources from dozens of IPs and Domains (for content distribution, etc) and it's' impractical to add routes for all of them

b) Even if you add all the IPs, the IP might change from time to time. Even for websites, the IP might change but only the domain name is the same.

4. Whitelisting websites for MACE

This currently is not supported right now, but we do understand that some sites might not work properly with MACE enabled. A browser extension like uBlock might be better for this use case (though in some tests I found that MACE is better for page load times)

Thanks again for the suggestions and the note. Everything that you suggested will definitely improve the privacy and convenience of the product, and we will definitely keep these in mind! 

@asanjeev, Allowing a user to choose their own ip address when connecting to the service is important when a website or service in a specific nation has blocked an ip address due to spamming of the service.

I would definitely like to see stealth servers added to service sometime in the near future along with all or some of the features that I suggested. PIA VPN should start a beta program for both desktop and mobile clients so that we may help you to improve your service where possible. I don't like using browser add-ons because they slow my browser down which is why I'm currently using Safari because it doesn't support WebRTC. I would however love to see WebRTC Leak Protection added to a future update.