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My VPN subscription is due in 9 days however as most of us know the VPN has issues with speed. I have installed the last update and replied to support with my results that are not good. No matter what protocol I use the VPN slows down the data transfer compared to not using the VPN.
I received an email saying
"Also, once the fix is up we will extend the validity of your subscription by the amount of time it took to resolve the issue and to compensate for the inconvenience."
I am now in the situation where it would seem my only course of action would be to install another VPN, which is a shame. Could someone please explain when the issue might be resolved and will my subscription be extended free until this happens if I choose to stay with Bitdefender?
Many thanks for your time.
John
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Hello @Norman10 and thanks for joining us here.
In regard to your question - Could someone please explain when the issue might be resolved and will my subscription be extended free until this happens if I choose to stay with Bitdefender?
A fix for this VPN behavior is still undergoing development. On some occassions, it has been observed that network speed issues can be experienced by users who have high speed internet, so when they connect the VPN, sometimes the speed may drop considerably. But this doesn't mean the entire userbase is affected by this, as the VPN is working fine based on the feedback received from the majority of users (taken from surveys, reviews, support interactions, etc.) So, it's safe to say this is not a behavior that everyone encounters.
Unfortunately, I do not have an estimated time for the release of the fix yet, but the Support engineers will contact you on the open case as soon as it's implemented by an automatic update of Bitdefender VPN. Please keep in mind that all reported bugs require investigation time. Since product updates are usually released once a month, it may take at least 1 month until a fix is implemented in the product - this does not include the debugging period, which may be long or short, depending on the complexity of the problem they are facing.
Of course, should you choose to stay with Bitdefender, the Support teams will offer a free validity extension to compensate for the inconvenience. Details concerning this goodwill gesture should be discussed on the open case with the Support representatives.
I hope the information is helpful. Thank you for your patience and understanding and I hope the situation is resolved in a positive manner.
Regards,
Alex
Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user
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Hi Alex
Just a couple of points I would like to highlight.
I would not consider my download speed that high (75 mbs
I am running the VPN on an Ipad and win 10 machine. The ipad works fine thew Win 10 machine is the problem as it cuts my speed down y a little over half.
I arrived late to this problem but many people had been commenting on this issue or months before me an it had not been resolved so I am clearly not the only person experiencing this issue.
Could you explain what this actually means please? "Of course, should you choose to stay with Bitdefender, the Support teams will offer a free validity extension to compensate for the inconvenience.
In simple terms in nine days I will need to renew a subscription for a product that is not functionally correctly for me.
Or is Bitdefender offering a free subscription until such times as there is a solution?
I actually like the Bitdefender family of products and while I am reluctant to move to another company. You can fill in the rest.
John
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Hi @Norman10
Just to follow up. BD VPV has always had better speeds for me on my smartphone. On my Windows devices, sometimes (not all the time) the speed is cut in half (My ISP is 350 Mbps). Try connecting to a different server, as that can help, and also make sure the VPN connection isn't leaking. With your VPN enabled, go to ipleak.net and let it sit there for a minute or two i.e. connecting to 100-200 servers, and see if you get multiple servers, or is it only connecting to the one server destination, and not Google? Here are two different examples of how it should look, just to to compare.
If it's not leaking, then that helps to take that concern out of the picture. If it's connecting to multiple servers, I would get a hold of Support -> How To's & Troubleshooting and see if that could cause a speed issue.
Kind regards,
Scott
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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Hi @Norman10 and thanks for sharing more details.
Regarding the extension, the Support teams will not issue a new license, they can simply extend the validity of the current one for free, for example if yours expires in a few days, they can add one or a couple of months to that, moving the expiration date further away. It's a simple process, really, and no action is required from you. But you need to request this before your license expires. I have also asked my colleagues yesterday to prioritize your request, since the VPN is due to expire soon.
Regards,
Alex
Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user
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Hi Alex
Thanks for the update and yes I would like to request the extension my license until the issue is resolved. Can you make this happen or do I need to contact support directly?
John
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That is why I posted my post, that is a leak, it should only be one DNS Address server, as I showed above. Please contact support, and see if they can give you a resolution for this. Examples I used were from Mullvad, F-Secure Totals VPN, and Nord (not shown) also just connects to one server, the same as the ip address server (and not multiple Google).
Bitdefender had at one time resolved that issue, but since I use a different VPN, I just wanted you to confirm it on your end, as I didn't know where BD VPN was at regarding this.
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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I am very grateful and clearly need to find out more about ip leaking, time for some homework. I will contact support and thanks very much for taking the time to explain
John
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In case anyone else is following this tread and is new to this situation with a limited level of understanding this might help. Sorry seems I can't post the link but your favorite search engine will find it! To quote from the page:
"Remember, you shouldn’t rely on ordinary VPN apps as most of the time, they won’t do what they are supposed to. And if you’re using a premium VPN app, you shouldn’t get any IP leaks of any sort. "
I am no expert but this is a bit concerning. Can anyone explain?
John
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You're initial connection with BD VPN is secure in that way, i.e. it is a different ip address from your isp (without a vpn) address and is in the vpn tunnel. My concern, and maybe lack of a proper term, is it's not leaking in the initial connection sense, but in the multiple servers with Google, which is not keeping you private in that regard, thus my use of the word leaking.
From the link you were alluding to, there were multiple DNS addresses shown, but they were still private, no Google intervention.
https://www.vpnranks.com/ip-address/what-is-ip-leak/
@Alexandru_BD all the other VPNs I use, or have used, do not connect to multiple servers with Google and only connect to one DNS address, including Nord VPN, Mullvad VPN, as well as F-Secure's onboard VPN. Would you follow up with your insights, please? TIA
edit: I remember Flexx mentioning a VPN leak about 6-8 months ago? and about 1 week later, there was only one DNS address connection shown, even after a couple of minutes of waiting, and no mention of Google..but has something happened, changed recently?
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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Hi John, If you want to contact me privately in a PM, I have changed that setting. I apologize if that's what you were trying to do :)
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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Gentlemen thank you for your time. Can I ask you to act as mentors for a few minutes please and just clarify a few things for me.
I have repeated the same test using my VPN and the same website and get results ranging from 1 server to over 40 all of which are google. Given non of the ip addresses attached to the results are the same as my ISP's address I assume the VPN is working and I am secure, as in my ip is hidden. Is this correct?
Every server that is returned is Google, I assume that Bitdefender is not using its own servers in that case. If I am correct having requests made via anything to do with Google is of concern. Should it be?
Seems that I have a WebRTC leak from what I read this a browser issue that can be resolved, however I have also read on the Bitdefender website
"Trustworthy VPN services such as Bitdefender VPN don’t leak anything outside their private tunnel, whether it’s your IP address, DNS requests, geolocation or WebRTC. When you choose a VPN provider for the long run, do not compromise, as even minor leaks could expose your true identity online." Which based on my results would seem to be incorrect.
Finally:
As I mentioned earlier I am no expert so the bottom line is does Bitdefender work as a premium VPN should and are we all safe that use it as a VPN?
Sorry its a bit long but I feel this might be of benefit to others.
Thanks for your time.
John
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Gentlemen I just replied to this with a rather long list of questions that don't seem to have been posted. So the short version and I would appreciate your thoughts.
BitDefender on its website says:
"Trustworthy VPN services such as Bitdefender VPN don’t leak anything outside their private tunnel, whether it’s your IP address, DNS requests, geolocation or WebRTC. When you choose a VPN provider for the long run, do not compromise, as even minor leaks could expose your true identity online."
Having repeated the tests I did yesterday using the above website I get the same results with the number of servers returned being between 4 and 43 all of which are google, non however show my original ISP's address. However hands up all that trust Google...
So simple question. Is the Bitdefender VPN a safe and good VPN to use and is it slowing down my internet connection.
Supplemental question. I read that WebRTC issues are fixable in the browser is that what w should look at first.
Thanks for your time.
John
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So to answer your bottom line questions, yes it is safe to use, I'm just not a fan of what it's doing, of all the servers and with Google. Is it slowing down your speed, on your desktop, it can be, unless you find the right server, and yes, there are other VPNs that are faster, and more "efficient" server connection-wise. You never know unless you trial something else, which maybe I do to much of :)
So maybe take my concerns with a grain of salt, I can at times be over analytical, and a bit of an AV, software junkie :) So do as you wish, as BD VPN does have some nice settings :)
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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Hi @Scott
For some reason my posts flagged as spam, thanks to @Alexandru_BD for sorting that. Thanks for the information I just did another test using a server in the USA and got
Seems I have to take the long way to get to where I am going ;) Like you I would like to know why Google features so many times? Can any techie from BD please explain or have we stumbled on one of the reasons why myself and others are getting mixed speed results when using BD VPN?
To go back to my original question given all of the above will BD extend my license while they look for a solution. A simple yes or no would do it as I have heard nothing from support.
I can recall when Google first arrived on the scene with the slogan "Don't be evil". We live now in interesting times ;)
Thanks both for your help
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Hello @Norman10,
I remember we had a similar thread regarding DNS leaks and Google, where I've provided the following answer:
The VPN developers do plan on implementing our own DNS servers, however, for the time being we rely on Google’s DNS servers due to their excelent performance, security and reliability. Click on 'view post' to access the full discussion where @Scott participated as well:
Maybe this answers your question regarding the presence of Google in those tests..
Could be a bit off topic, but here's another thing to consider: Google can determine your location despite VPN use by collecting all sorts of geographical data via the browser, the apps, and the settings on your device. Luckily, you can disable that data collection.
Regards
Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user
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To go back to my original question given all of the above will BD extend my license while they look for a solution. A simple yes or no would do it as I have heard nothing from support. - I say yes and I will ask for an update.
Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user
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So in that thread, is it more of an issue of HotSpot shield, as Kaspersky and BD both use those servers? And as far as the other VPN's why are they not showing Google, in which case, I'm getting all the search results I need.
Then the million dollar question...lol, what's with all the servers BD VPN connects to, and why don't the other VPNs do the same thing? Again, it's been a while since I've used Kaspersky, but that may have the same issue as far as multiple servers. Is it a HotSpot Shield issue?
When is the projected date of BD getting your own server infrastructure completed? That thread is a year old, at this point in time can you, the engineers be more specific, a year, two years?
LOL, so many questions :) Thank you :)
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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@Norman10 according to the response received from the Support teams, the validity extension for your VPN has been added and the subscription will expire towards the end of July 2024.
@Scott I'll get back to you on that, I don't really have any insights regarding VPN infrastructure development for now. 😁
Regards
Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user
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Subscription updated this morning, thanks.
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@Scott and @Alexandru_BD
That really is the question. Why use Google servers? I also find it odd that the BD VPN works fine in IOS but not in Win 10. They are only fifteen feet away ;)
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And then my other question, why so many servers (I mainly use desktop PCs) when others only go through one DNS address/server?
All Bitdefender Home Product User Guides: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/user-guides/
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Lets be honest here. The problem has been going on for over a year and all we are doing is trying to (a) understand the problem and (b) help solve it. Its is in everyone's interest to get it sorted. So what do you say?
Can you answer the above please? Pretty please...
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