• 1st place – 2 years Astrill VPN VIP membership
• 2nd place – 1 year Astrill VPN membership
• 3rd place – 6 months Astrill VPN membership
• 4th – 10th place – 2 months Astrill VPN membership

The winners

#1 Daniel Wang

#2 Taylor Vogel

#3 Vince Hua

#4 – #10

• Benoit Belsot
• Gaoxin
• Jojo A
• Rafael Dillon
• Yuxiao Zhou
• Start.it
• Lam Victor

Congratulations everybody

As we said, everybody who participated will get 1 month VPN membership from us as a token of gratitude. Thank you all for showing us how Astrill is an important tool for you and helping us to make our software even better.

Good news. We feel that our app needs some UI refining too, and who better to ask than our valuable user-base who uses Astrill app daily. You know what you want from the app and you know what could be done better design-wise.

We announce Astrill app redesign contest.

Until the end of August, we will be collecting your designs and sketches. You can submit your work to facelift@astrill.com until August 31st 2019. We will publish the top 10 on our blog in September and prizes for the best contestants are following:

• 1st place – 1 year Astrill VPN VIP membership
• 2nd place – 6 months Astrill VPN membership
• 3rd place – 3 months Astrill VPN membership
• 4th – 10th place – 1 month Astrill VPN membership

But wait – there is more. If we pick your design and use it in our new app, you will be awarded with lifetime Astrill VPN membership for your valuable contribution.

Details and suggestions

All designs must be submitted in high resolution in PNG or SVG format. To be considered for the competition, the design must include

• login screen
• main screen with ON/OFF button
• expanded server-list selection (if you use specific flag-pack, let us know which one)
• settings page

The following animations should also be included:

• login animation
• connection animation (when VPN is turning ON)
• general busy animation

You can create animations as animated SVG, PNG (apng) or GIF files. SVG would be the best as it can scale to match DPI of the screen.

Good design considerations
(you don’t need to follow them but in our opinion it makes application more usable):

• The things user needs every day are easily accessible – for example settings which are used frequently are good to be located in the main UI, tray menu / menu bar menus, etc.
• Account expiration and version number are useful to be displayed

We are looking for a unified design for mobile and desktop application, so take this into consideration when making your design. The app must be user friendly on both desktop (mouse+keyboard) and mobile (touch) environments.

You can find SVG logo and protocols icons here.

Conditions:

• All applicants must submit own original creative work (not copied from others)
• All icons / images used must be without copyright
• UI must be in English

WireGuard – Fast, Modern, and Secure VPN Tunnel

This release reflects Astrill’s superior security expertise and aligns with our mission to provide continuous support for the advanced and diverse needs of our users.

Here’s some more critical information to understand why WireGuard VPN is a much safer bet for a variety of applications.

What is WireGuard VPN?

WireGuard is a simple tunneling protocol that is used to implement VPN techniques across various configurations. It is relatively faster, efficient, and secure than existing protocols adopted by common VPN providers. Its smaller size and simple architecture enjoy support from developers owing to the ease in peer review and auditing. The small codebase (1% of that of OpenVPN) further ensures better prevention from security attacks.

A free and open source software application, WireGuard is promoted as an experimental code by its developers. It is for this reason why Astrill recommends its usage for non-critical applications.

The protocol offers impeccable speed and encryption due to its dependence on some of the leading technologies in the data security industry. It utilizes ChaCha20 for encryption, Poly1305 for data authentication, and Curve25519 for key exchange, all of which have been ‘a result of a lengthy and thoroughly considered academic process.’

Salient Features of the Open-Source Protocol

Apart from its strong research-based origin, there is plenty more that WireGuard can achieve as a standard protocol. Here’s a list of some of its most salient features and how they will help you enjoy a better VPN experience.

• High speed and latency owing to minimal architecture; this is one of the biggest factors for users while choosing a VPN
• Smaller attack surface that other protocols; this means less vulnerability from hackers and phishers
• A smaller codebase also means easier development and redevelopment
• Usage of state-of-the-art cryptographic cipher suite for encryption
• Added facility for roaming between Wi-Fi and 4G connections.

Besides, the highlight of Astrill’s support for WireGuard is that we have automated the process of key generation and execution which is an important part of its overall implementation. Typically, users of a VPN provider that offers this advanced protocol have to manually generate keys and upload them to the servers. This is partly because the protocol is still at a nascent stage of development. This is also one of the reasons why we do not recommend using it for applications where security is critical. But experimenting with its latency and trying out different applications to match your needs is something you can do readily with our native clients.

WireGuard is known for its speed and reliability. © Pixabay

Connecting through the WireGuard VPN protocol using your Astrill client is very easy as outlined below.

How to Switch ON WireGuard VPN on Astrill?

If you are an Astrill user, setting up your application client will just take a few seconds. Run the application on your preferred device and select WireGuard VPN. Ensure that you are connected by toggling the ON/OFF switch. And you are ready to experience what is touted as the future of VPN technology.

If you are running an old version of Astrill, you may need to update it. If you face any difficulties, get in touch with our support team.

WireGuard VPN is available on Astrill along with our other strong OpenWeb and StealthVPN protocols. As of 22 February 2019, it is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. Check out our website for more information on this release.

If you want more such updates, keep following the Astrill blog. Or, check out our most recent posts announcing our support for deep web domains and about respecting DNT requests.

In theory, both are used to attain an encrypted channel of communication over the Internet. Whereas in practice, their applications (slightly) differ and so do their operating principles.

Here’s a quick rundown of two of the most important systems for on-line privacy today.

Once you get a fair idea about the differences between Tor and VPN, you will be able to choose the best system for yourself.

Understanding How VPN and Tor Work

It is important to understand how these two systems differ from each other in order to make a sound decision about what to choose and when.

VPN is Your Friend

A VPN application basically encrypts your connection and passes your data through a (random) server before sending it to the destination server. This way no one can access your personal information nor can they know its original source if they choose to intercept the channel of communication.

The only caveat here is that most modern VPN providers fail to declare their logging policy. Which means that, in most cases, your VPN provider may log the details about your website visits and other details such as duration and activity.

In the case of Astrill, we not only respect your DNT requests but also have a strict no-logs policy.

All of this makes VPNs the smart choice for low-risk applications like torrenting and browsing through Reddit. You can still access some .onion websites provided you play it clean.

In other words, VPN is a friend whom you can trust with your basic and intermediate on-line activities.

Tor is a Group of Acquaintances

The Tor network can be best described as a form of relayed communication. Here, your connection is encrypted and sent to more than one server (usually three) and then to the destination.

A representation of how the Tor network works. / © Wikimedia Commons

This way your data bounces through multiple servers, making it nearly impossible to detect the original source. Because while the first server knows where the data came from, the second and third servers as well as the final destination server do not. There’s even a case where the NSA failed to compromise Tor while trying to de-anonymize a user.

However, communicating through Tor is a painstakingly slow process. Add to that the presence of the exit relay (i.e. the final node before the destination server), and you are looking at a vulnerable system.

Which is why we like to describe Tor as a group of acquaintances. Each member supports your quest but you do not know which one is the bad apple.

Which One to Use?

While both VPN and Tor have their own set of merits and demerits, they still are the best we have when it comes to on-line privacy. Therefore, your question as to which one is better can be best answered by weighing their pros and cons.

Go with a VPN when:

• You want a fast connection speed
• Your activity is low-risk (e.g.: accessing Netflix, sharing a file over torrent)
• You want to execute private, everyday browsing

Go with Tor when:

• You want a higher level of anonymity
• Your activity may be of interest to the law enforcement (e.g.: political activism, whistleblowing)
• You want to execute private, everyday browsing (where low bandwidth will do the job)

Notice how both VPN and Tor can be used for private, everyday browsing. Which basically hits the point about their similarities.

Conclusion

Experts sometimes suggest that the best way to shield your privacy on-line is to use both VPN and Tor in tandem. That might have the desired effect, but there is no need to do that if you are using Astrill, which now also acts as an onion VPN.

Astrill VPN – The simple interface for a complex mechanism

If you are torn between these two choices, there is a better alternative out there that will get the job done without a headache. With Astrill, you can browse the entire web (including deep web domains) at a speed that puts its free competitors to shame and with end-to-end encryption that invites the envy of the Tor network itself. Try Astrill’s 7-day free trial today.

For more such tips and tricks on how to safeguard your on-line presence, check out the Astrill blog.

Now you can use your Astrill membership to access .onion websites without any help from third-party applications such as Tor or I2P. Such applications are prone to hacking, which can put you and your online identity in danger. With Astrill, you are looking at a safe and secure route to one of the most interesting places and biggest marketplaces on the Internet.

Why Support for Deep Web Access?

Navigating the deep web (or the more enigmatic darknet) is easier today than it was in the previous decade. However, personal security concerns like phishing, identity theft, and constant government surveillance are still very much relevant in today’s online world. You are more prone to such attacks if you are not careful while browsing or are new to the system. And using a standard browser that supports access to .onion websites may not be sufficient to protect your privacy and personal data. It is even assumed that just accessing the deep web without the intention of any purchase or exchange can put you under the radar of online law enforcement.

It is better to be safe than sorry while accessing deep web / © John Peterson

This is why anonymity plays an important role in accessing deep web domains. Such sites rarely show up on Google search and are also not certified with the now-mandatory SSL, which further makes it a risky venture for all users (there has since been some development there). With Astrill’s deep web support, you can rest assured that not only all your internet traffic is encrypted and are routed through a distant network (of your choice) but also have the necessary framework to access deep web domains without external support.

Astrill as a Safe Facilitator for Deep Web

Using Astrill as a deep web VPN has its own set of advantages which makes it a more secure option than other popular methods like VPN over Tor or Freenet.

In addition to the regular data encryption, Astrill VPN automatically routes your traffic through a native framework that enables access to onion websites. There is no need to use an external facilitator like a Tor Browser to get things moving. In comparison, Tor over VPN consists of volunteer-driven exit nodes where there is always a risk of personal data theft, which is not ideal especially when you are accessing questionable sites.

Miscellaneous Advantages of Astrill VPN for Deep Web

When you use Astrill VPN to access deep web or darknet, you are secure in more than one way as described below:

• Your ISP will never know that you are accessing a deep web domain. It will only detect a VPN encryption. (Compare it with Tor over VPN and VPN over Tor methods)
• Astrill does not log user data (traffic and sessions)
• Stay financially anonymous with support for cryptocurrency payments

All of these makes Astrill one of the best VPNs for deep web surfing. It is for those who have always been skeptical about third-party browsers and applications in their pursuit to surf the deep web. Whether you are using it to find non-indexed research and development materials or for some other fun activity, with Astrill, you can stay anonymous, safe, and tension-free.

Astrill has always given precedence to its users’ needs, and with this development, we are building an all-in-one VPN application for your “deeper” web browsing needs. Come and join the growing Astrill community. Click here to know more.

For similar tips and information for making the most of your VPN subscription, explore our blog.

Featured image courtesy – Siraj Abbas.

5 Factors to Choose the Ideal VPN Service

Before you jump into the on-line frenzy of tens and hundreds of VPN providers and associated guides, ponder upon these five essential factors first. These will give you clarity about your own requirements and help you take a wiser decision.

How to choose a VPN when there are too many options available? / © Pixabay

What is it Intended for?

Your answer to this question will pave way for the rest of the factors. It is absolutely important to have a clear measure of what you intend to achieve through a virtual private network service. Are you going to use it to increase your on-line privacy? Or is it to exchange files over the P2P network or to access websites or applications blocked in your country? Or just as a tool for marketing purposes?

Whatever be the purpose – and there can several of them when it comes to VPN – zeroing in on a primary one will make your quest easier. For example, if anonymity and privacy are your main areas of focus, look for a VPN that has the best security features and encryption standards.

Security Features

A VPN is supposed to have a strong security framework. Only then can it protect your data and save you from prying eyes on the Internet. Does it log your usage or harvest your information? Does it follow privacy guidelines such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Do Not Track (DNT), for instance? What about encryption?

Does it use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or an inferior one like Camelia? What about IP and DNS leaks? Answers to these questions – which you can find on a VPN service provider’s website – will help you shortlist the best ones.

Give security the most attention while choosing a VPN!

Also look at what protocols the VPN provides. While PPTP and IPSec are older protocols that compromise both on speed and security, OpenVPN is a good bet for a reliable service.

This parameter automatically cancels out the existence of free VPNs which almost often never satisfy the requisite. Because if you want a VPN that you can trust for a lifetime, you have to look at a premium one.

Speed and Additional Features

Speed is more important for people who are going to be continuously connected to the Internet through a VPN. It makes no sense to have a fiber-to-home network only to find the connection speed to be pegged down by the shield network. (A good way to check this is to request a demo or by signing up for a free trial. Get Astrill for seven days for free!)

A snapshot of Astrill VPN in action on Windows 10.

Additionally, look at what auxiliary features a VPN application can provide you. These can include router service, support for multiple devices and systems like Android and iOS, dedicated IPs, and multi-hop VPN feature to name a few.

Always look if the provider has advanced features for business users, which signals to how seriously the company takes security and privacy.

Price and Value

The price tag is definitely an important factor for most users. But over the years we have observed that serious users look beyond the tag. They consider the value they are getting from the service, and measure if the price can be balanced against all the bells and whistles a VPN provides.

Therefore, it suffices to say that if you have found a VPN that checks all the above boxes, then the price tag shouldn’t be a deal breaker. (Make sure you go through all available plans for maximum savings.)

Tech Support

Last but not the least, a VPN provider must have excellent customer support. You may be an advanced user, but there can still come a time when you need to clarify a setting feature or just confirm with the support team about the availability of a specific server. And if there is not a dedicated team sitting round the clock to attend to your query, what good is it anyway? A forum or a wiki site is a definite add-on.

How to Choose a VPN – Conclusion

Next time you are looking to buy a VPN service or trying to switch from your existing provider, remember these points. Studying different providers and comparing them can take up some of your time. But when it comes to on-line security, a little research can go a long way. We hope this guide has given you new ideas in your search for the best VPN.

If you are open to suggestions, why don’t we suggest Astrill to you? A superior VPN service! Learn more about us here, or if you are new to VPN, check out our blog for more such helpful tips and articles.

Setting up a virtual private network on your Windows computer is as easy as surfing the web. This easy-to-understand guide will help you register for the service (if not done already) and set up the software on your system. You can then bypass all geolocation restrictions and surf the web without any limitations while keeping your data safe from prying eyes.

How to Setup Astrill VPN – Windows

Follow the steps outlined below to experience restriction-less and fast, anonymous web surfing:

Step 1 – Register

Go to astrill.com and select a plan that best suits your needs. We recommend the one-year plan for maximum savings and seamless surfing. Then register using your email ID, name, and a handy password that you’ll always remember.

A screenshot of the Astrill Pricing page

(You can optionally choose our 7-day free trial to get a hang of our service before opting to pay. This does not require credit card details.)

Step 2 – Download and Install Astrill VPN

After the payment, you will be redirected to our downloads page where you can get the Windows application. As of July 2018, Astrill supports Windows versions from Windows 2000 and above including Windows 7, 8, and 10. Click here to download the installer directly.

(The process hereafter is nearly the same for Mac as well as other devices such as Android and iOS. Make sure you download the correct application before processing.)

Once you have downloaded the application (approx. 6MB) onto your system, you need to install it. This process will take less than a minute, and you might have to reboot your PC afterward.

Installing Astrill on Windows

Step 3 – Using Astrill VPN

After restarting, you will find that Astrill has been successfully installed. Note the easy access icons on your desktop, Start menu, and tray bar. Click on any one of them to open Astrill’s interface.

The ‘star’ tray icon of Astrill on Windows

After ensuring that you are connected to the Internet, enter your login details and connect to the Astrill network. Use the drop-down menu to select the location by country. In the screenshot below, we have selected Australia – Sydney. After selecting, click on the toggle switch to turn ON your virtual private network.

Astrill VPN’s interface

You will now be routing all your network pings through our servers that point your IP and location to Australia.

Step 4 – Using Protocols

You can further enhance your VPN experience by choosing the best network protocol according to your needs. We have OpenWeb, OpenVPN, StealthVPN available to choose from. Refer our guide for more information about VPN protocols. (This is an advanced feature.)

If you are an advanced user, you can also go through the Settings tab to customize the application and your network. You can also subscribe to some of our advanced features such as VPN sharing and app guard. We will cover this in our next article. Check out our features guide in the video below for more information.

Once you have signed up for Astrill VPN, you can use it around the clock throughout the year till your plan expires. The upshot of using Astrill VPN is that you get 24/7 access and support without compromising on speed. An extension will be available as soon as your subscription nears expiry, and we will be sending you periodic alerts so that you never stay unprotected on-line.

We hope that you have managed to successfully install Astrill on your computer. If you need assistance on how to setup Astrill VPN, you can check out detailed Wiki guide for Windows here. If you need professional help, please get in touch with our customer support at https://www.astrill.com/support. For more such guides, tips, and general information about the world of VPN follow our blog.

In that regard, here’s an overview of what Do Not Track means and how it matters to you both as an Internet and Astrill user.

DNT is a User’s Power Tool

We believe that everyone has the right to be private while on the Internet, and our privacy tools are just purveyors that help you exercise that right. In such a scenario, DNT can be seen as a tool that you can use to dictate if and how companies (websites) use your information.

DNT is a user’s power tool.

To clearly understand what Do Not Track is, let us take the example of an Astrill user. Jacob is from the United States who uses Astrill VPN to surf the Internet privately through his home network. As a social media manager, he tends to visit a lot of websites on a daily basis as part of his research and work. Now, to avoid advertisers and analytics companies from using his on-line behavioral information he considers the DNT header. Jacob uses his Google Chrome browser to send opt-out requests to each of these websites, saying that he does not want to be tracked.

However, it should be noted that websites are not bound by any legal instrument to honor the DNT requests. They can choose to accept the signals sent by a user’s browser or can reject it (Microsoft, for example). This puts us in the large minority; that is  if you have enabled the Do Not Track feature on your preferred browser (Google Chrome has adopted it), when you access any of Astrill’s web pages, you stand assured that we will respect the request. Despite EFF’s fervent lobbying, universal adoption of DNT is still a dream.

How Does ‘Do Not Track’ Actually Work?

For the sake of simplicity, we like to define DNT as an opt-out signal that you can send through your browser (Chrome or Firefox, for instance) to the websites you are visiting. This signal is in the form of a machine-readable header (DNT header, as it is called) which tells a specific website that you do not want to be tracked. There’s also a dedicated website for DNT where you can find guides and other information about the program.

Whether you are on your Windows PC or on your iPhone, you can take advantage of this opt-out feature to further safeguard your private information. Astrill already has a detailed privacy disclosure as to what basic information it collects from its users, but we also want to equip our users with all the power tools available. Unlike most other sites on the web, Astrill also recommends using ad blockers (Adblock Plus; Ghostery) which adds to all the measures that we are taking to make the Internet a safer and better place.

It wouldn’t be wrong to see DNT as a privilege considering how user-hostile incidents on the Internet have been rampant these days. But, if you are an Astrill VPN user and care for your information, you should check out more about it at the EEF website here. You can also read more about privacy and security on our blog.

Featured and in-text images copyright of Wikimedia Foundation.

Read on to find out what you can do with these tools and also to get a bird’s eye view of the limited information we have of you. Before you start, we would like you to note that we don’t store any personally identifiable information on our servers.

GDPR Tools by Astrill

The main aim of GDPR is the protection of personal data and digital privacy, which is why we have developed a one-stop junction for all our users. So that you can keep a track of the limited data that is stored, and if required, delete them when necessary. Here’s an overview of our free GDPR tools.

View Personal Information

All registered Astrill users can visit the tools page here: https://members.astrill.com/tools/gdpr. It provides a brief overview of our stand on GDPR and how we look at it as a privacy company. Our philosophy aligns with the belief that “the less we know about you, the less we can reveal even if under pressure.” This is followed by a short section listing out the personal details we have of you, as shown below. The phone number and physical address exist only as part of the billing procedure.

Personal Details section in GDPR Tools.

Check VPN logs and Delete if Necessary

Next comes the ‘VPN connections log’ where we keep the last 20 logins containing data such as connection date and time, country, device type, and the number of bytes transferred. The best part is that you can choose to delete all this information, no questions asked. That is the power of the free GDPR tools by Astrill.

VPN connections log section in the GDPR tools page.

Entire Information in a Single ZIP File

In case you are skeptical about the type of information that Astrill collects, you can also download a ZIP file of your personal data. This is a complete representation of everything we have of you on our servers in the form of readable HTML. We believe such type of transparency is unprecedented, where you can view all the information that you are sharing with us and can also opt to delete them.

In the rare case that you are not getting the answers to your questions about GDPR, you can reach out to us at support@astrill.com. Our support personnel will guide you and provide you with the best possible solution.

We request all our users to check out the GDPR tools (https://members.astrill.com/tools/gdpr) to achieve complete transparency and continue harnessing the power of one of the safest VPNs around.

What is a VPN Router?

As we look at going above the line to stay connected and add to the ‘always on-line’ culture, it is critical to keep our information secure 24/7. A VPN router brings together the reliability and security of a virtual private network and the convenience of an Internet router. It is basically an extension of your VPN connection so that all the devices (that use the Internet to function) can share the network to stay hidden from any prying eyes.

A VPN Router can act as a one-stop security for all your devices.

Look at the VPN router as a regular Wi-Fi modem that has the added capability of masking your original Internet connection using your existing OpenVPN- or StealthVPN-protocol configuration. It is like killing two birds with one stone. Not only do you have the ease and comfort of using a masked connection but also can avoid possible surveillance on any device.

Do I Need a VPN Router?

Also as the FBI issues a warning to reboot our routers to prevent a possible Russia-linked malware from spreading, it is even more important to have an extra layer of security. A VPN router can provide that extra layer of security because it is not just limited to one or two devices. It takes a blanket approach to securing the principal Internet connection of your home or office.

The Internet is a hostile place – something we have known for a long time now – but staying safe on it does not have to be difficult. Anyone who uses a VPN today understands the dangers of unprotected web surfing and data transfer. When our sensitive information is on the line and which makes us vulnerable, it makes sense to go above and beyond the usual.

With just one pre-configured device, you can ensure safe browsing from all your devices. Which is why we at Astrill recommend getting a VPN router for home and office. There are two ways to installing an Astrill VPN router, which we will discuss in the next section.

How Does It Work?

The easiest way to go about using a VPN router is to buy a pre-installed one. This does not require any configuration as you can directly plug and connect your devices. Intended for beginners, this is the most common and popular way. Such a router already has an established VPN connection, which routes all the data being shared by the devices through the private network.

The second way (self-made) is for advanced users who will have to configure the router through their system. The complete process – which utilizes the VPN software installed on your computer, for instance – has been outlined at the Astrill VPN wiki.

Most of our customers take the easier route and select a TP-Link TL-WR703N or the superior Netgear R6400 depending upon their requirements.

If you cannot make a decision, try comparing your existing regular Wi-Fi router with a VPN router. Understand what the primary difference is and then make a wise choice. Because getting a VPN connection in an unfriendly digital world is a normal move. But getting a VPN router is a smart one. For more details about such routers and their features, check this out.