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Astrill VPN app security

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Dex10

Occasional Visitor
Folks,

I have an 86u, with Merlin, and I would like to install the Astrill App, as I found the App interesting, in addition to the 'RouterPro' protocol, which claims to print a higher speed on the connection.

The problem is that, when doing some previous research, before hiring the service (and, of course, before installing the App), I came across some reviews indicating insecurity of the provider, among the reviews, there is this <https://cooltechzone.com/astrill>.

Could you tell us if, in fact, Astrill has this security problem?

Can Astrill's App for Merlin be considered safe?
 
In order to inform:

I purchased a free 7-day trial from Astrill. To begin with, Astrill only releases the test if a valid phone number is provided, which I thought was ridiculous.

I went to install the Astrill App for the WRT Merlin, in this case on my AC86u ((the procedure is not the simplest)), when I noticed that the free test that Astrill provides DOES NOT allow the installation of the Astrill App on the router. The fact was confirmed by the support, this claimed that, if I wanted to test the App Astril in Wrt Merlin, I would have to make a purchase of the product, for a minimum period of one month and, worse, without the right to a refund.

In other words, I would have to invest my money in something totally obscure, this is Astrill's level.
 
wow. I know expressvpn and nord give you your money back, I've gotten refunds. I've settled on PIA now because it worked best out the three with my ac86u. WIth the other two I kept getting Timeouts and occasional failed auths. And apparenlty these things seem to be common when using vpns. Their customer support will tell you to either use their firmware, blame the firmware, or tell you to change your password as if it was compromised. went to PIA and no such issues.

I think what all these VPNs do, and I even have suspicions with PIA when using the android or windows app, is they throttle and kill connections to save bandwidth. And not logging makes them extra paranoid. PIA at least has a 10 client limit, Nord says it allows 6 but really only allows 5 imo, and express vpn only allows 5. What PIA does is sneaky they will kill your connection when your mobile or desktop device is idle for a while, and connect again when you start making connections. But that can be problematic and maybe i'm wrong, but sure feels sketchy. I keep complaining to them about it. But customer support for all of the vpns i used is a complete joke. I mean these vpn services have the worst customer support I have ever seen in 30 years. There are there 24/7, but you might as well be talking to a mannequin.

But on the router with kill switch enabled PIA stays up 99.9% of the time. only disconnected once on me and had it for I think a month now and i'm not sure that was the vpn's fault. I use merlin firmware.

IF i had to choose another one i have heard good things about mullvad. In fact, i have found lots of helpful info on their forums that solved problems for me even though I don't use the service. But I haven't actually researched into their service or tried it out so I don't know much about it.

When it comes to reviews about geo-blocking. just ignore it all. there has been no difference for me with expressvpn, nord or PIA. HULU and Macy's never worked with any of them lol. amazon and netflix worked with all of them. On all of them I would occsionally have problems with a site or streaming service but switching server usually worked on the first try. and I've gone back to the same servers and they start working again as well. So Unless the VPN is real obscure and barely has any servers, I don't think thats a real factor to consider even then. IT all depends on your account location and your isp imo. These vpn reviews in general, seem completely fraudulent. Just try them out for your self and don't even read any reviews imo. Just check the feature list and pricing, make sure 30 day money back, nothing else.

there also was not much different in speeds between expressvpn, nord and PIA. with pia and openvpn i get 200 out of 300 with the app and 130 - 170 with the ac86u. 290 out of 300 with wireguard on app, was same with lynx on nord. I doubt the smaller services like mullvad or ipvanish would be any different. I have fios.
 
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wow just looked at surfshark. unlimited device connection. I bet you don't get no timeouts with that one!

And that site you linked with the astrill review, claims surfhsark doesn't let you change specific location or servers. But thats a total lie! so another example of how scummy these vpn reviews all are. In fact these vpn reviews, on even major websites are so fake I'd be worried about getting viruses just going to them LMAO....
 
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English only, please.
 
[QUOTE = "cooloutac, post: 629542, membro: 59687"]
Uau. Sei que expressvpn e nord devolvem seu dinheiro, recebi reembolsos. Eu escolhi PIA agora porque funcionou melhor os três com meu ac86u. Com os outros dois, continuei recebendo Timeouts e falhas de autenticação ocasionais. E aparentemente essas coisas parecem ser comuns ao usar vpns. O suporte ao cliente deles dirá a você para usar o firmware, culpar o firmware ou solicitar que você altere sua senha como se ela estivesse comprometida. foi para PIA e não há tais questões.

Acho que o que todas essas VPNs fazem, e até suspeito de PIA ao usar o aplicativo Android ou Windows, é que elas reduzem e matam as conexões para economizar largura de banda. E não registrar os torna extremamente paranóicos. PIA tem pelo menos um limite de 10 clientes, Nord diz que permite 6, mas na verdade só permite 5 imo, e vpn expresso permite apenas 5. O que o PIA faz é furtivo, eles vão interromper sua conexão quando seu dispositivo móvel ou desktop ficar ocioso por um tempo, e conecte-se novamente quando começar a fazer conexões. Mas isso pode ser problemático e talvez eu esteja errado, mas parece incompleto. Eu continuo reclamando com eles sobre isso. Mas o suporte ao cliente para todos os vpns que usei é uma piada completa. Quero dizer, esses serviços vpn têm o pior suporte ao cliente que já vi em 30 anos. Existem 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana, mas você pode muito bem estar falando com um manequim.

Mas no roteador com o switch kill habilitado, o PIA permanece ativo 99,9% do tempo. desconectei-me apenas uma vez e o mantive por cerca de um mês agora e não tenho certeza se isso foi culpa do VPN. Eu uso o firmware Merlin.

SE eu tivesse que escolher outro, ouvi coisas boas sobre o mullvad. Na verdade, encontrei muitas informações úteis em seus fóruns que resolveram problemas para mim, embora eu não use o serviço. Mas, na verdade, não pesquisei sobre o serviço deles ou experimentei, então não sei muito sobre ele.

Quando se trata de comentários sobre o bloqueio geográfico. apenas ignore tudo. não houve diferença para mim com expressvpn, nord ou PIA. HULU e Macy's nunca trabalharam com nenhum deles lol. amazon e netflix trabalharam com todos eles. Em todos eles, ocasionalmente, eu tinha problemas com um site ou serviço de streaming, mas a troca de servidor geralmente funcionava na primeira tentativa. e voltei para os mesmos servidores e eles começaram a funcionar novamente. Portanto, a menos que a VPN seja realmente obscura e quase não tenha servidores, não acho que seja um fator real a se considerar mesmo assim. Tudo depende da localização da sua conta e do seu provedor. Essas revisões de VPN em geral, parecem completamente fraudulentas. Basta experimentá-los por si mesmo e nem mesmo ler nenhuma crítica imo. Basta verificar a lista de recursos e os preços, garantir seu dinheiro de volta em 30 dias,

também não havia muita diferença nas velocidades entre expressvpn, nord e PIA. com pia e openvpn recebo 200 de 300 com o aplicativo e 130 - 170 com o ac86u. 290 de 300 com wireguard no aplicativo, era o mesmo com o lynx no nord. Duvido que serviços menores, como mullvad ou ipvanish, sejam diferentes. Eu tenho fios.
[/CITAR]


cooloutac,

Very grateful for the reflections !!

I would also like some opinion on the use, in Merlin, of the applet 'Astrill', above all, if it is safe.

If anyone can give an opinion, it would be of great help.;)

are you sure your router is even supported? the directions say to use telnet and merlin has disabled telnet in his firmware because it is unsafe. not sure if they offer a way to check the hash of the file to make sure it came from legitimate source. they don't even use https. i wouldn't trust it. does astrill not offer .opvn files that you can verify and set up in asus router the traditional way?
 
are you sure your router is even supported? the directions say to use telnet and merlin has disabled telnet in his firmware because it is unsafe. not sure if they offer a way to check the hash of the file to make sure it came from legitimate source. they don't even use https. i wouldn't trust it. does astrill not offer .opvn files that you can verify and set up in asus router the traditional way?

In fact, Telnet is disabled in the latest versions of Merlin.

According to Astrill support, the installation of the App must be done as follows:

- enable SSH;
- download the 'puTTY' software; and
- Via 'puTTY' send the installation command to the router.
 
About the Astrill VPN applet for AsusWRT-Merlin, I would like to record my experience.

(1) It is ridiculous that Astrill does not allow the installation of the applet on the router with the test account (for 7 days), it is only possible to install it if you choose a subscription of at least 1 month;

(2) If I had tried the test applet, I certainly would not have hired a plan, not even a minimum, of 1 month;

(3) My intention, when installing the applet, was to have access to other, faster encryption protocols, according to Astrill's advertisement, such as the 'RouterPRO' protocol. In fact, this protocol is a little faster (just a little) than OpenVPN, however, the 'RouterPRO' protocol uses '128 bit Blowfish' encryption

1604965446446.png


(4) Although the applet provides 'Policy Rules', it is only possible to manipulate the devices that should or should not pass through the VPN if the connection is disabled, that is, if you need to have a tunnel device (or put it in the tunnel) ) it will be necessary, first, to bring down the entire VPN, make the adjustments and then connect again, I also found this ridiculous.

1604965782196.png


1604965889334.png


(5) conclusion:

- I don't see any sense in opting for the Astrill applet, because I didn't see any attraction, besides the price of a monthly plan is absurdly high U $ 20. The speeds are mediocre, even activating the VPN with the protocol that, in theory, would be a 'turbo'.
 
Just to make it clearer, when choosing the 'RouterPRO' protocol, it is not possible to choose the encryption, that is, the 'Blowsfish 128 bit' critogroup is automatically applied.

Here are some more prints for the curious (like me):

1604966405088.png


1604966444141.png
 
As a curiosity, when I activated the Astrill VPN, one of my devices blocked the connection, as if it had detected that I was using a VPN (it was just a device, but it happened), although I never noticed such an occurrence when using VPN from other servers, such as ExpressVPN.
 
As a curiosity, when I activated the Astrill VPN, one of my devices blocked the connection, as if it had detected that I was using a VPN (it was just a device, but it happened), although I never noticed such an occurrence when using VPN from other servers, such as ExpressVPN.
This just depends if the VPN provider's IP space has been flagged by the various content providers. Give it time...I'm sure ExpressVPN will get their IPs flagged eventually.
 
This just depends if the VPN provider's IP space has been flagged by the various content providers. Give it time...I'm sure ExpressVPN will get their IPs flagged eventually.
As a curiosity, when I activated the Astrill VPN, one of my devices blocked the connection, as if it had detected that I was using a VPN (it was just a device, but it happened), although I never noticed such an occurrence when using VPN from other servers, such as ExpressVPN.

I have the same issues when using stock asus firmware, but when I use merlin firmware with exclusive dns and policy routing strict. I dont' have the issue. Don't know what to tell you about asus though it seems you don't have another option. One red flag on the stock firmware is if you don't specify a 3rd party dns server and leave it on automatic getting the dns from your isp, the home page will claim you have no internet connection. Maybe even if not using them, change them from wan page.
 
This just depends if the VPN provider's IP space has been flagged by the various content providers. Give it time...I'm sure ExpressVPN will get their IPs flagged eventually.

Yep, imo there isn't much difference between the major vpn providers in this regard. Every now and then you have change servers. Hulu and Macy's.com i never got to work with expressvpn, Nord, or PIA no matter what I did. Prime video and Netflix I never had much trouble, more then changing a server on the first try. I also believe your ISP still plays a role.
 

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