PIA VPN working on Windows but is intercepted by ISP when used on Linux.

BadAlBlues

I have PIA VPN installed on two windows installations and two Linux installations (Ubuntu Mate and Majaro KDE.)
They all seemed to be working fine (green button and everything. However. My ISP started blocking the piratebay.org site. No problem on my windows systems, I didn't even notice. But on my Linux systems the piratebay is blocked. Only if I turn on the vpn of the opera browser I can get to the piratebay site. Conclusion: Even though PIA VPN seems to be working on Linux it isn't because my ISP can intercept and read that I want to access the piratebay and block it.

Omnibus_IV

I would say that VPN is in fact not working on the Linux systems. It would appear that your do not have an encrypted link. It is possible that the link did get encrypted but then dropped. I would do some DNS or IP leak test to see what IP address is showing before and after you initiate the VPN. Do it on the Windows machines also just so you have a metric to compare.

One more thought here. I don't know of any ISP who would block Priatebay. This site is harmless. I wonder if by chance you might have a firewall issue on the Linux machine that is doing the blocking. Just a thought.

Let us know what your find.

Max-P

Sounds like you possibly got a DNS leak. If you're using OpenVPN directly and not our app or the network manager install script, then you very likely have a DNS leak because OpenVPN doesn't handle DNS on Linux, that requires a separate up script to handle it. So if your ISP blocks TPB at the DNS level that's why you're affected even on the VPN. You can test for this on dnsleak.com.

To fix, you need to make sure your computer is configured to use PIA's DNS and only PIA's DNS, as those are guaranteed to go through the VPN properly.

Omnibus_IV

OpenVPN should handle DNS on Linux. Try adding the following line to your Config file that you are using.

block-outside-dns

Just an FYI, I do not have Linux so I personally cannot test this.

jbrown0

linux mint 17.3 - today started to get blocked for http://motelppp.com torrent hosting site. Site wont load with either FFox, Chromium, Palemoon or Iron browsers. Works fine if I disconnect PIA.

PIA-user01

Max-P said:

Sounds like you possibly got a DNS leak. If you're using OpenVPN directly and not our app or the network manager install script, then you very likely have a DNS leak because OpenVPN doesn't handle DNS on Linux, that requires a separate up script to handle it. So if your ISP blocks TPB at the DNS level that's why you're affected even on the VPN. You can test for this on dnsleak.com.

To fix, you need to make sure your computer is configured to use PIA's DNS and only PIA's DNS, as those are guaranteed to go through the VPN properly.

I have the same problem since a day. Went to the site you recommended (dnsleak.com) and it says "Looks like your DNS is not leaking...". I used the ver. 73 installer: no Pirate Bay. What now????

Max-P

PIA-user01 said:

Max-P said:

Sounds like you possibly got a DNS leak. If you're using OpenVPN directly and not our app or the network manager install script, then you very likely have a DNS leak because OpenVPN doesn't handle DNS on Linux, that requires a separate up script to handle it. So if your ISP blocks TPB at the DNS level that's why you're affected even on the VPN. You can test for this on dnsleak.com.

To fix, you need to make sure your computer is configured to use PIA's DNS and only PIA's DNS, as those are guaranteed to go through the VPN properly.

I have the same problem since a day. Went to the site you recommended (dnsleak.com) and it says "Looks like your DNS is not leaking...". I used the ver. 73 installer: no Pirate Bay. What now????

That's really strange! If the VPN is working and you're not leaking DNS there's only really IPv6 left. Maybe check with ipv6leak.com and if it does leak make sure the IPv6 leak protection is also enabled in PIA?

PIA-user01

Max-P said:

PIA-user01 said:

Max-P said:

Sounds like you possibly got a DNS leak. If you're using OpenVPN directly and not our app or the network manager install script, then you very likely have a DNS leak because OpenVPN doesn't handle DNS on Linux, that requires a separate up script to handle it. So if your ISP blocks TPB at the DNS level that's why you're affected even on the VPN. You can test for this on dnsleak.com.

To fix, you need to make sure your computer is configured to use PIA's DNS and only PIA's DNS, as those are guaranteed to go through the VPN properly.

I have the same problem since a day. Went to the site you recommended (dnsleak.com) and it says "Looks like your DNS is not leaking...". I used the ver. 73 installer: no Pirate Bay. What now????

That's really strange! If the VPN is working and you're not leaking DNS there's only really IPv6 left. Maybe check with ipv6leak.com and if it does leak make sure the IPv6 leak protection is also enabled in PIA?

Thanks for your fast reply. Result: "Your IPv6 is not leaking". Maybe thepiratebay.se is down at the moment?

[edit] Chrome (not Chromium) says: "This site can’t be reached thepiratebay.se’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN".

Looks like I'm not using PIA's DNS but my providers (= Ziggo).

Max-P

 Maybe thepiratebay.se is down at the moment?

I don't think TPB has used the .se domain in a really long time actually. Seized long ago if I recall correctly. The .org one still works, as well as their Tor hidden service.

PIA-user01

Max-P said:

 Maybe thepiratebay.se is down at the moment?

I don't think TPB has used the .se domain in a really long time actually. Seized long ago if I recall correctly. The .org one still works, as well as their Tor hidden service.

My bad. Everything is just fine. I used the wrong link (the .org did the trick). Funny thing is that in the News a few days ago was that my provider (Ziggo) was court ordered to block PB again.

Thank you very much for your fast and kind help!