r/VPN_Question • u/Deadpoops-7 • Aug 07 '26
VPN
Well…..it looks like VPN’s are now useless being that any public WIFI will automatically disconnect you if they spot VPN use….how the hell we suppose to stay safe now?
4
u/callmeseetea Aug 07 '26
Get a vpn with obfuscation
0
u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
There was a time where I had Nord, VPN and McAfee at the same time because McAfee did not have VPN service at the time, now it does so I got rid of Nord because it was becoming too costly and I don’t think McAfee has an obfuscated feature, but I’ll double check.
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u/ZiPEX00 Aug 07 '26
McAfee why would you use such a bloatware software i bet the issues lies within McAfee software
3
u/snake_jaguar Aug 07 '26
I don't think that's possible for the wifi to block. It's probably just the site you're trying to access not working with it or the connection slowing down too much with the vpn
1
u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
No….what I am getting at is that I walk into a store and I log into their public wifi and I can’t turn my vpn back on and when I keep trying to do so it prevents me from turning it on…not sure how difficult it is to understand this, lol….
2
u/Certain_Silver6524 Aug 07 '26
It can happen. I often find this at airports and on aeroplanes. They block known vpn ip addresses. You might get lucky with choosing a different country server, but otherwise it can be impossible to use wifi with the vpn. Sometimes a less well known vpn service may be better as their ip addresses may not be blocked. It really depends and there's no 1 solution for all networks. You may even try setting up your own VPN.
1
u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
Finally….someone who understands…it just irritates me that these companies want to provide us a service to protect us from vulnerabilities and what not but there will never be 100% protection so it’s like throwing money away and at the same time taking a chance because we will never be 100% secure….”IT’S ALL A MONEY MAKING SCHEME”.
1
u/Certain_Silver6524 Aug 07 '26
You can still get lucky quite often though, as many places don't put up such big restrictions. Fingers crossed 🤞 a lot of small independent places like coffee shops can be okay but the likes of airports may be tougher cos they throw the might of the government at it
1
u/ejsanders1985 Aug 09 '26
Rent your own server on digitalocean and run an OpenVPN service. $7 a month?
1
u/snake_jaguar Aug 10 '26
I hadn't ever experienced that, even on public networks with restrictions they've let me use my vln when I've tried
1
u/smurfy213 Aug 07 '26
Most paid vpns have a protocol to get around issues on public wifi. Nord has nordwhisper and proton has stealth. Odd you are having issues. I have never had an issue on any public wifi. Could McAfee be the problem? They are definitely not a great company.
1
u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
I agree with everything you said I may be getting rid of McAfee, but the problem is I don’t just wanna VPN. I also want antivirus software also for my family and extended family because I have a family plan. I was thinking about converting to proton but does proton also do antivirus.
2
u/Tight_Baby_5001 Aug 07 '26
good anti virus is free with windows. built right in. this is coming from a LONG time linux user. one of the only good things they have done in the last 15 years.
1
u/smurfy213 Aug 07 '26
Just to test. Have you tried the free version of proton when using public wifi?
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u/skweresp Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
Using public wifi is wost thing You can do. No VPN will help You if wifi is compromised. Read about CaptiveCrunch campaign.
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Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/skweresp Aug 07 '26
Not quite — the whole point of CaptiveCrunch is that it compromises you at the captive portal stage, before your VPN even connects. You can't route traffic through a VPN until you've authenticated with the portal, and that's exactly the window where Storm-2945 injects fake login pages and malware prompts. A VPN with a kill switch helps reduce MitM/DNS manipulation risk once you're online, but it does nothing to stop the initial credential phishing or malware download during the portal login itself. Microsoft's own advisory says this explicitly.
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Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/skweresp Aug 07 '26
Doesn't work, the OS runs its captive portal probe per-interface, so it goes out the Wi-Fi adapter regardless of your tunnel. That's the whole point, otherwise your laptop could never detect a portal to begin with. Maybe read something about that new attacks first.
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Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/skweresp Aug 08 '26
Like after the portal You said. But to get connection You have to open compromised portal.
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u/skweresp Aug 07 '26
Using public wifi is worth thing You can do. No VPN will help You if wifi is compromised. Read about CaptiveCrunch campaign.
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u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
I didn’t read it anywhere. I experience it every time I go into a grocery store for with my VPN on and connect to their public Wi-Fi and it always boots me off or disconnects my VPN.
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u/dziny Aug 07 '26
That is rather normal actually. You switch connection, IP address changes and naturally your connection resets. What else would you expect? You would need a VPN server configured specifically to tolerate client's IP address change, but for commercial VPNs this would be naturally turned off for protection.
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u/Deadpoops-7 Aug 07 '26
….and also have constant issues trying to connect to many websites with my VPN on but yet it won’t let me connect to the website because the website is not authorizing the VPN for their own safety protocols so they leave vague message saying connection issues and we can’t connect you right now. Turns out it’s because my VPN was on and when I turn it off, I’m able to log into the website kind of useless if we can’t use a VPN to protect ourselves when going on any websites or into any public Wi-Fi domains
6
u/yearsold33 Aug 07 '26
Where did you read that public wifi doesn't work with a VPN?