Using Sonic VPN from overseas

[oddhack]

I'm going to be spending considerable time abroad soon. Because some financial institutions detect commercial VPNs and reject attempts to access through them, and may reject access from foreign IPs as well, I am tempted to use Sonic's VPN for this. Does anyone have relevant experience? My hope is that our VPN is obscure enough to fly under the radar.

N.b. had considerable success using it to access FB, Google, etc. through the Great Firewall on a visit to China, but that was ca. 2018 and an unrelated usage scenario. Just to say that it was quite useful, at the time.

[ngufra]

you need to have ALL traffic go through the vpn.
Also the bank may try to detect your location using other things like cookies, etc.

Another way that works 100% is to use another computer that stays at home.
Install google remote desktop.
Then in chrome go to https://remotedesktop.google.com/ and select your computer, your desktop opens in a chrome tab and you can browse the internet as if at home.
You don't even need vpn for that to work.

[oddhack]

you need to have ALL traffic go through the vpn.

Do you mean, traffic other than to the bank and whatever analytics etc. sites it may be referencing? But point taken.

Another way that works 100% is to use another computer that stays at home.
Install google remote desktop.
Then in chrome go to https://remotedesktop.google.com/ and select your computer, your desktop opens in a chrome tab and you can browse the internet as if at home.
You don't even need vpn for that to work.

Reminds of when I went to New Zealand on sabbatical from SGI shortly after 9/11 and accessed my desktop at work occasionally (via modem, mostly! It was 2001.) to check email. Which stopped working a couple of weeks into the trip. When I got back I found my PC power supply had failed catastrophically while I was gone. The office still smelled quite badly until it was aired out and the wreck removed

[js9erfan]

I've been running a vpn server on Digital Ocean for a few years now and thanks to bad actors abusing their servers, I have to route more and more traffic to my current isp (Comcast). This is consistent with most of the commercial vpn service providers these days. Sonic's vpn service has been solid however and I have not seen their ip blocks on any blacklists. As long as you can route your traffic through Sonic's vpn from overseas you should be fine.

[ngufra]

you need to have ALL traffic go through the vpn.

Do you mean, traffic other than to the bank and whatever analytics etc. sites it may be referencing? But point taken.

I mean full/force tunel as opposed to split tunnel.
Not sure if split tunnel is an option on sonic vpn.

[virtualmike]

I am tempted to use Sonic's VPN for this. Does anyone have relevant experience? My hope is that our VPN is obscure enough to fly under the radar.

Does it work if you use Sonic VPN now?

Can you contact your financial institutions before you leave to check their policies, and, if necessary, ask for workarounds?

[ngufra]

I am tempted to use Sonic's VPN for this. Does anyone have relevant experience? My hope is that our VPN is obscure enough to fly under the radar.

Does it work if you use Sonic VPN now?

Can you contact your financial institutions before you leave to check their policies, and, if necessary, ask for workarounds?

Just tried from France to connect to my credit union.
Without the vpn, it asks for an additional captcha, then fails.
With sonic vpn on, it works as if at home.

Using the sonic profile from windows

[virtualmike]

Helpful to know. I've not had any issues connecting to my financial institutions using Sonic VPN, whether from home or when traveling within the U.S. Sometimes I'll get an extra 2FA prompt, but once that's satisfied, everything works as expected.

[oddhack]

Just tried from France to connect to my credit union.
Without the vpn, it asks for an additional captcha, then fails.
With sonic vpn on, it works as if at home.

Thanks for checking! Portugal is not France but it's close and both EU, so that's reassuring.