PIA Application vs OpenVPN
Is there a particular reason why one would use PIA Application over OpenVPN or vice versa? I've been using the application and have worked through the early issues I had but I see OpenVPN mentioned a lot so I'm not sure what is best.
Comments
However, given PIA's lack of transparency over updates and the closed-source nature of their client it would be advisable to use an OpenVPN community release if possible imho.
It does lack two built-in features that I use. First, it doesn't have built-in port forwarding capability, but an awesome user created a Powershell script to take care of that and set the port in uTorrent automatically. Second, without their client, I cannot select alternate encryption methods; this is something that PIA really needs to address!
Also when my connection drops it must have killswitch by default because my internet wont work until i reconnect to VPN.
And for DNS leak protection just set DNS through the router,
First do
head -n 100 /dev/urandom | md5sum | tr -d " -" > ~/.pia_client_id
then
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install curl
That will generate a random number and store it in a file hidden in your home directory, called pia_client_id. It's this random number the PIA server will use to link the forwarded port to you anonymously. Curl is a little Linux app that will let you send the request to PIA's server for the port forward.
Once those two things are done, you can then use the following text - pasted into your terminal/konsole - to get the port. Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD to those of your account. You'll also need to change the ADDRESS to the LOCAL IP you have been issued for that particular connection to PIA (i.e. it will change each session).
curl -d "user=USERNAME&pass=PASSWORD&client_id=$(cat ~/.pia_client_id)&local_ip=ADDRESS" https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/vpninfo/port_forward_assignment
You will already know your username and password. The IP address can be found by typing in 'ifconfig' to the terminal/konsole window. It will return a bunch of text including a section for tun0 (the VPN connection) and a local address looking something like 10.136.1.6
That local IP address (starting with a 10) is the one you copy in. It might seem a lot when you read it the first time, if you're new to stuff like this. But it's really easy.
1) ifconfig (which shows your local IP for tun0 is - for example - 10.136.1.6)
2) curl -d "user=P123456&pass=aBc123&client_id=$(cat ~/.pia_client_id)&local_ip=10.136.1.6" https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/vpninfo/port_forward_assignment
Once you press enter/return, you will get a result along the lines of 'Port forward 87654. That's the port number you need to put into applications. If you re-enter the command every hour or two it'll make sure the port stays tied to you. In the terminal/konsole, the up arrow key lets you scroll through previously issued commands, you don't need to type it again every time!
Hope this helps.
I want to look into using OpenVPN as an alternative to the PIA client. I went to OpenVPN's site and the How-to page looks more like it teaches how to set up your own VPN rather than using an alternative client to connect to existing VPNs unless I am misreading? Where can I find information on an OpenVPN client for accessing existing VPN's (whether PIA or another VPN) and configuring it to my preferences?
That has detailed instructions, but the version of OpenVPN they link there is outdated. If you use a x64 system, this is the file you want. Otherwise you want this one.
http://openvpn.net/index.php/download/community-downloads.html
As @VPN said, you are better off using the package manager of your choice.
I had to reply via laptop because I can't connect to the internet at all on the desktop.
This difference was never evident until I was recently upgraded to gigabit speeds. The router gives me ~570Mbit down vs the client giving me about ~260Mbit.
And this is with standard settings (128bit AES) on the client, and strengthened (256bit AES) on the router.
The 570Mbit appears to be the upper limit of either PIA's NYC servers, or my route from Verizon FiOS in Boston to said servers, not the router, as it hits a max of 27% CPU load during these speed tests.
There seems to be something in the client that limits its speeds, seeing that it performs worse at 128bit AES (which should be easier) than OpenVPN in pfSense does with 256bit AES.
I haven't done enough testing to say any more than this at this point though.
I have extremely low bandwidth on my pfSense configured router (plenty of hardware to handle it), regardless of the type of encryption I use. I have a 50 mbps up/down Verizon FIOS link, and pull maybe 3 mpbs from any of the PIA VPN servers using pfSense as the openVPN client. However, when I install the client on my computer, I get at least 40 mpbs. Any suggestions on how to fix the pfSense openVPN configuration? I configured it exactly as the website shows.
I saw a post about a PowerShell script, but that was dated *4 YEARS* ago! Is there an updated one that will work *easily* with Windows 10 x64?
It would be *much* appreciated! (and should become a sticky!)
Thanks!.
Thanks!