Traveling for the holidays? Use our free VPN!

[dherr]

I don't use the VPN at home, but would consider it if...

1. If I was worried about att spying.

2. If it seemed that att was limiting my bandwidth to something at sometime, like Netflix for example.

Either of those might be happening, but I don't have reason to worry about them. We know for sure that they spy but don't seem to know for sure if this applies to resale customers like us. People seem to think the traffic shaping is going on but again the resale lines might not be shaped, I just know that my usage (at 22/2Mbit) seems to not be encumbered.

[mediahound]

I don't use the VPN at home, but would consider it if...

1. If I was worried about att spying.

2. If it seemed that att was limiting my bandwidth to something at sometime, like Netflix for example.

Either of those might be happening, but I don't have reason to worry about them. We know for sure that they spy but don't seem to know for sure if this applies to resale customers like us. People seem to think the traffic shaping is going on but again the resale lines might not be shaped, I just know that my usage (at 22/2Mbit) seems to not be encumbered.

My connection is certainly faster when not on VPN. The VPN takes a few Mbps away from my down speed and about 1Mbps away from my upstream speeds (on FTTN x2 here), using speedof.me to test both.

Regarding spying, I think it was only phone records they were collecting. They had a special NSA room in a San Francisco data center and were handing over phone records to the NSA which a former AT&T employee uncovered.

I'm pretty sure they are no longer doing this and also it was only phone records, not internet traffic data. Att I'm sure collects data on their own however and has data retention time limit, but they are not clear on what it is although some have said it's 1 year.

Sonic only holds their collected traffic data for 2 weeks though.

[mediahound]

So at least according to this, it might be a good idea to use the VPN, even from home (if on FTTN service, which is in AT&T's network):

https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2013

[miken]

So at least according to this, it might be a good idea to use the VPN, even from home (if on FTTN service, which is in AT&T's network):

https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2013

This one is more recent

https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-g ... uests-2015

[ankh]

OK, so I'm an old guy and don't get out much any more, but holiday travel beckons.

Does someone have a pointer to a start-with-the-basics guide to setting up -- what else I need to do so I can use the VPN?

Say I'm in another city with my Mac laptop and my (yes, really) Treo Verizon cell phone.

I'm sure there's nothing to do with the phone -- its Internet browser is useless

So I pull out the Mac laptop. I'm somewhere with
-- a wifi to which I've been given the name and password so I can use it
or
-- a public open wifi system

What do I need to remember to set before I start the browser?

I know this is basic stuff. I'd just appreciate a pointer to a known good source, as there are so many pages out there.

[miken]

OK, so I'm an old guy and don't get out much any more, but holiday travel beckons.

Does someone have a pointer to a start-with-the-basics guide to setting up -- what else I need to do so I can use the VPN?

Say I'm in another city with my Mac laptop and my (yes, really) Treo Verizon cell phone.

I'm sure there's nothing to do with the phone -- its Internet browser is useless

So I pull out the Mac laptop. I'm somewhere with
-- a wifi to which I've been given the name and password so I can use it
or
-- a public open wifi system

What do I need to remember to set before I start the browser?

I know this is basic stuff. I'd just appreciate a pointer to a known good source, as there are so many pages out there.

Good question! We have an article on this in our public database: https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/VPN_Service

There is a new setup section specifically for Mac. Once you download and install the software, you just need to toggle it on and off when you would like to the use the VPN.

[mediahound]

OK, so I'm an old guy and don't get out much any more, but holiday travel beckons.

Does someone have a pointer to a start-with-the-basics guide to setting up -- what else I need to do so I can use the VPN?

Say I'm in another city with my Mac laptop and my (yes, really) Treo Verizon cell phone.

I'm sure there's nothing to do with the phone -- its Internet browser is useless

So I pull out the Mac laptop. I'm somewhere with
-- a wifi to which I've been given the name and password so I can use it
or
-- a public open wifi system

What do I need to remember to set before I start the browser?

I know this is basic stuff. I'd just appreciate a pointer to a known good source, as there are so many pages out there.

On Mac, I use this app:

https://www.sparklabs.com/viscosity/

It works well and will auto-reconnect when you wake your Mac up from sleep. Note, it's not a free app however.

[ankh]

OK, got that for myself.

I'm the primary user on the account, so that userid and password work.

One more question -- my young and technically proficient spouse uses an Apple phone (iOS) but hasn't used its browser.

To do that with the VPN, does that require her phone to send my Sonic userid and password, as the primary account? or will accept use her Sonic email userid and password?

[miken]

To do that with the VPN, does that require her phone to send my Sonic userid and password, as the primary account? or will accept use her Sonic email userid and password?

Her phone will need to send your user ID and password. Our VPN is provided for free with Internet access, so it applies to the main account and not individual mailboxes.

[ankh]

Hm.

Can you or someone tell me how to balance the risk -- on the one hand, spouse using an iPhone without the VPN. On the other hand, spouse using the iPhone and my userid and password to use Sonic's VPN.

I notice using the Mac, I have to log in to the VPN repeatedly, it doesn't stay on indefinitely -- should it?


And should it stay connected, or need to be reconnected repeatedly for the iPhone?

How about -- speaking of traveling for the holidays -- some kind of lockdown so someone with the password can't do anything _except_ make the VPN work?