However, although Chrome OS allows you to run Android apps, these are not native to Chromebooks and do not always behave as they do on a true Android device. An example of this is that the always-on VPN and VPN kill switch features found in our Android app do not remain enabled after you restart your Chromebook. 

This is a result of how Chrome OS handles Android apps and cannot be changed. Other VPN providers have tried to address the issue by implementing an auto-reconnect feature when Chrome OS is restarted, but this does not protect your device from IP leaks until the app is loaded and a VPN connection is established. 

At Proton, we believe this approach constitutes a security risk, since it provides users with a false sense of security. We therefore suggest manually re-enabling always-on VPN and VPN kill switch once the VPN is connected and using the suspend function instead of shutting down your Chromebook where possible. 

The post Kill switch behavior on Chromebooks appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

It is important that your Windows system clock is correct. If it isn’t, an error can occur that will prevent you from connecting to our servers.

How to set the correct system time on Windows 10

1. Go to Start → Settings → Time & Language → Date & time.

2. Ensure Set time automatically is toggled on and that the correct Time zone for your location is selected, then click the Sync now button.

Alternative method (also works with older versions of Windows)

1. Search for Control panel and go to Clock and Region → Date and Time.

2. In the Date and Time tab, ensure the correct Time zone is selected. If it isn’t, click the Change time zone button and select your time zone.

3. Now go to the Internet Time tab → Change settings… 

4. Ensure Synchronize with an internet time server is selected (it doesn’t matter which one) and click Update now.

The post How to update your system clock on Windows appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

This article aims to document any such issues as they come to our attention and to provide solutions or workarounds.

Antivirus software with compatibility issues

Avast Premium Security

Avast Premium Security offers a feature called “Real Site” that conflicts with NetShield. This prevents hackers (but also NetShield) from modifying your system’s DNS settings. 

You can resolve this conflict by disabling the feature in Avast Antivirus. To do this, go to Menu -> Settings -> Protection -> Real Site.

AVG Internet Security 

AVG Internet Security offers a “Fake Website Shield” feature that routes encrypted DNS requests directly to its own servers. This prevents NetShield from being able to filter DNS requests.

You can disable the “Fake Website Shield” feature by going to Menu -> Settings -> Full Protection -> Fake Website Shield. 

Once the feature is disabled in AVG, you will need to reconnect to a Proton VPN server in the Proton VPN app before NetShield will work properly.

Antivirus software with no known compatibility issues

We have tested the following antivirus products and can confirm that they have no known compatibility issues with our NetShield feature.

• Avast Free Antivirus
• AVG Antivirus Free
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus 
• Emsisoft Anti-Malware
• Norton 360
• MalwareBytes

The post Adblocker (NetShield) and antivirus interactions in Windows appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

This article aims to explain these metrics and how the TCP protocol — the way most data is transmitted over the Internet nowadays — impacts them. 

Sending off your data packets

Accessing the Internet is based on an exchange of information — when you shop online or stream a movie, your IP sends a flow of information in the form of data packets making a request. In turn, the receiver responds by sending back another flow of information, also in the form of data packets.

When using the TCP protocol, these data packets are transmitted in sequential order through a network of lanes to the destination —  when they reach their destination, a confirmation is sent back to your IP. Only a limited number of packets can be sent without receiving confirmation that the prior packets have reached their destination. 

At the same time, the amount of packets that can travel through the lane during a specific amount of time is also limited. The rate at which data packets can travel through the network is called bandwidth. 

However, bandwidth isn’t the only element that impacts your real Internet speed. A number of factors, including the physical distance to the destination, as well as any accidents that may happen down the road can delay the arrival to destination, and, ultimately, the confirmation. The time it takes for your packets to reach their destination is called latency.

Congestion on the highway

When each packet travels through the network, it passes through multiple nodes where it gets redirected toward its destination. When your packet arrives at a node at the same time as multiple other packets, it gets queued. 

Unfortunately, your packet could also drop or get lost at this stage and your IP won’t receive confirmation that it reached its destination. In this case, you will have to resend it, delaying the dispatch of the following packet.

These package losses alert the TCP protocol of delays in the transmission of data. To loosen up the traffic, the protocol automatically implements a mechanism (called the AIMD algorithm) that resends the lost packet at half the speed it would normally be sent.

This not only impacts the speed at which the lost packet is re-sent but the speed of the following packets as well — their speed incrementally increases only as traffic improves. 

Ultimately, this leads to delays in all your packets reaching their destination — even in the case of minor packet loss —, and, of course, getting a response to your request. The final number of data packets that can be exchanged on a network during a specific amount of time is called throughput. 

To calculate the maximum throughput on a TCP connection, you can use the Mathis formula and this online calculator.

VPN Accelerator

VPN Accelerator is unique to Proton VPN and comprises a set of technologies that can increase your VPN speeds by over 400% in certain situations. Thanks to this new technology, you can always enjoy the best possible VPN speeds when using our service.

One of the key technologies used by VPN Accelerator is a TCP delay-controlled TCP flow control algorithm called BBR. On longer paths or congested networks, BBR recovers faster from packet loss and also ramps up quicker (that is, it achieves maximum speed faster when a data transfer begins). VPN Accelerator is particularly effective at improving speeds over large distances.

Learn more about VPN Accelerator

The post How latency, bandwidth, and throughput impact Internet speed appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

What changed?

Proton VPN AG was a wholly owned (100%) subsidiary of Proton AG (“Proton”), the company behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN. 

When we launched Proton VPN in 2017, it was legally prudent for it to be designated as a separate entity so the two products could benefit from different treatment under Swiss telecommunications laws and each get the most favorable legal status possible. However, in 2018, the Swiss administrative authority later ruled that Proton AG and Proton VPN AG are to be treated as the same entity for the purposes of telecommunications laws. As a result, the continued legal separation no longer provides any advantages, while incurring significant additional administrative costs.

Furthermore, as an organization that serves the public benefit and is promoting economic growth within Switzerland, Proton AG benefits from a special tax treatment in Geneva, Switzerland, and it was therefore also beneficial for all of Proton to be consolidated under Proton AG.

Therefore, Proton VPN AG was merged into Proton AG at the end of 2019, and as the legal successor, Proton AG assumed all contractual obligations. There was no change in ownership as Proton VPN AG was already 100% owned by Proton AG, which is in turn controlled by Proton employees. There were also no changes to either the Terms and Conditions or the Privacy Policy as all the terms are exactly the same as before. As such, there was no change to how we handle and protect your data. 

As an organization, we value transparency above all, and we believe that this simplified structure also makes it easier for us to be transparent with the community in the future and avoid confusion about the relationship between various Proton services.

The post December 2019 updates to Proton VPN’s Terms and Conditions appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

Once you wake up your device (i.e., once you unlock its screen), it will immediately reconnect to the VPN. We have already contacted Apple to report this error, and we are actively working with the Apple team to find a solution to this widespread bug.

If you have grave security concerns, you can fix this error by restoring your iPhone or iPad to its factory settings and reinstalling the Proton VPN app. This will remove all data from your device. We only advise that users who have a high threat model consider taking this step.

When Apple releases an update that fixes this bug, we will communicate it immediately via social media or our blog.

Follow us on social media to stay up to date on the latest Proton VPN news:

Twitter | Facebook | Reddit | Instagram

The post When my iPhone goes to sleep it stops running Proton VPN appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

We have found that the cause of this unexpected data use is an accounting issue with iOS 14. The iOS 14 operating system is counting the same data twice: once as it passes through Proton VPN and again as it is used by the end app. This, of course, is incorrect. Proton VPN itself uses minimal data. It encrypts the data that other apps use.

This double counting only occurs under specific circumstances. You must:

1. Access the internet using your mobile data plan (as opposed to being connected to WiFi)
2. Be connected to Proton VPN
3. Use the OpenVPN VPN protocol (this issue does not occur with IKEv2)

Our research has found that this bug affects most major VPN services that use or offer VPN protocols other than IKEv2. Unfortunately, as this is an issue with how Apple’s operating system counts data usage, there is nothing we can do to fix this bug. We must wait for Apple to address it in an update.

We have already contacted Apple regarding this issue.

The post Issue with mobile data usage on iOS 14 with Proton VPN appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

For example, if you are connected to one of our VPN servers in Malaysia, Google might identify your connection as originating in the United Arab Emirates.

This is not a bug with Proton VPN. There are no IP address leaks. This happens because Google determines its users’ location by cross-checking the location of where the IP address is with the geolocation data it has of devices that use that IP address. If Google detects a significant number of devices using that IP address are in a certain area, it will change the location it lists for that IP address.

In the example above, Google might show your location to be in the UAE when connected to one of our servers in Malaysia because that particular server is very popular with Emirati users.
We understand that this can be confusing, but if you go to a website that shows you where your IP address is based, like IP.me, it will show you the IP address other websites actually see.

If you need Google to correctly recognize which country your server is in, we suggest you try connecting to a different Proton VPN server.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to resolve this issue. We must wait on Google to address it. We have raised the issue with them and are waiting for a response.

You can help us get Google to address this issue quicker by reporting it to them when you encounter it. You can report Google mistaken IP address locations here.

The post Why does Google show my IP address originating in a different country from the one Proton VPN lists? appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

The Chinese government works hard to control its citizens’ access to the Internet. The Great Firewall employs a vast system of technical tools, including DNS filtering, URL filtering, and deep packet inspection, that the Chinese government uses to prevent people in China from accessing foreign websites. The government also uses these tools to detect and block VPN servers. 

We are investigating the situation and working on countermeasures that will help us circumvent government blocks in the future. 

Tor is the most effective way for people in China to access blocked content. To bypass the Great Firewall, you will need to use a Tor bridge, or a special unlisted Tor server. Because they are unknown, the Chinese government cannot block their IP address. To evade deep pack inspection, Tor has created pluggable transports that mask Tor traffic, making it look like standard Internet traffic. 

The Tor Project has a Tor bridge guide to help you set up a secure Tor connection.

Updated Sept. 18, 2019

The post Does Proton VPN work in China? appeared first on Proton VPN Support.

1. Open the Network and Internet Settings by right-clicking on the network settings icon in the system tray. After that, select Change adapter options.

If you are using Windows 7, navigate to Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings.

2. Right-click on the network adapter named TAP-Proton VPN Windows adapter V9 and select Properties.

3. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Then click Properties.

4. Click Advanced…

5. Click Add.. under Default gateways.

6. In the Gateway field, type 192.168.0.1. Then click Add.

7. Once you are finished, you should see 192.168.0.1 as an option under Default gateways. Click OK to apply the changes and then reconnect to the Proton VPN server.

The post Using Adobe Cloud, OneDrive or Office 365 while connected to Proton VPN appeared first on Proton VPN Support.