The old rule regarding a service’s popularity tells us that the bigger a service is the more likely it is to be taken down. This can surely be applied to VPNs as these tools conquered the online market long ago, providing a much needed extra level of protection when surfing the web, allowing users to access blocked websites and making it impossible for ISPs and different network owners to gain access to people’s traffic.
The past has taught us that schools and workplaces often block certain websites so that there is no chance that anyone is driven towards distraction. The natural reaction is to turn to VPN services, which brings us to the center of the problem, since these tools are beginning to become a target and are already being blocked by some network providers, too. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be resolved without much effort thanks to a number of different methods.
VPN blocks are more common after China’s decision to give its Great Firewall the power to also tackle these services, but it’s still rare to see regular public Wi-Fi networks blocking VPN traffic. However, some routers can inspect internet packets closely and use that technique to identify those belonging to known VPN providers, blocking them from transmitting within the network. Likewise, network owners can also block all traffic from common VPN ports or even their IP addresses, for instance. There are more than one way around these restrictions, but the best technique is to opt for different VPN protocols.
Each VPN protocol uses different ports – L2TP uses TCP port 1701 and PPTP uses TCP port 1723, for example – so changing between them will automatically attribute a new port to each connection. The best choice to overcome deep packet inspection firewalls is OpenVPN on TCP port 443. Switching to this port is generally done easily within the settings of most VPNs.
This protocol is the option used for standard HTTPS when using online bank management, shopping and other ecommerce. It makes VPN traffic much harder to spot because port 443 traffic uses SSL/TLS encryption. And even if a particular VPN provider doesn’t allow much tweaking in the options, they will usually reserve some special servers that do at least use this port exclusively.
However, changing VPN providers can also be a good solution. Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services are among the most famous online services that employ VPN blockers, and they do this by blocking IP addresses that are known to belong to VPN companies. Such websites usually block only the top providers, so it is advisable to change to a newer service or one whose popularity is not as high – so long as it’s a trustworthy one, obviously.
Curiously enough, the opposite can also be helpful in solving the port block issue. First-rate providers such as IPVanish, NordVPN, VyprVPN and many others feature obfuscation technologies that help to wipe away any fingerprints that are often left by VPN protocols, sometimes even on port 443. Actually, some of these also allow VPN over TOR use, which is even better for ensuring that VPN connections are never blocked – though admittedly the multiple layers of encryption will have a severe impact on the overall speed of the connection.
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