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Does anyone else get sites breaking when you're using a VPN?

4 points by gtf21 ↗ HN
I use a VPN [1] for my own privacy and security reasons. I often find, however, sites either bouncing me to captcha sites (normally the Cloudflare captcha IIRC) or just refusing to load.

For example, I tried searching on Etsy, but when entering a search term and hitting return I just get a blank page. I turn off the VPN, try again, and hey, presto! It works.

Perhaps this is more of a rant than a question, but I would also be really curious as to how people are seeing this. I'm seeing it as a fundamental assault on the freedom of individuals to browse the internet, as well as on the decentralised nature of the internet as giants like Google (through AMP) and Cloudflare funnel all the traffic through them.

My view is that this is a really concerning development, beyond my own inconvenience. Does anyone have good strategies for dealing with this or suggestions for how we should resist? Or perhaps a different lens through which to view this?

[1]: https://www.mullvad.net

8 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 34.6 ms ] thread
gtsteve
I guess the IP addresses used by VPNs will get a lower trust factor for a number of reasons - the material accessed and actions performed will differ to the behaviour of someone not using a VPN, as most people choose to use VPNs only some of the time. Also, some people use a VPN for abusive purposes such as spamming or trolling and this can affect the trust level of the IP address and associated range.

I find the combination of a VPN and private browsing causes problems when browsing the internet, but using a VPN and my regular browser profile doesn't really differ, so I guess that means I can be tracked in that way.

My theory is that as more people start using VPNs for regular browsing this issue should start to diminish, as the good or neutral actors will begin to outweigh the bad actors and therefore improve how those IP addresses are seen in isolation.

The other way that could go of course is that VPN IP address space is permanently tainted for as long as it's used for that purpose in order to make browsing the web as unpleasant as possible for VPN users to force them into the happy path of letting their activity be spied upon by their governments.

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muzani
I use the same VPN and have had no problems with this. In fact, part of the reason I subscribe is I see less captchas and it keeps me from getting locked out of my account when I'm traveling.

VPNs are not perfect though. Check out https://mullvad.net/en/help/faq/

They block some ports and do some workarounds for weak spots like webrtc. Some sites might be applying hacks. Cloudflare is a known problem but it could depend on which IP you pick.

gtf21
Which region do you tend to connect via? I'm normally connecting via the UK (because I'm based there) and I wonder if some exits are basically semi-blacklisted.
muzani
I'd rather not say exactly, but I use some of the less common regions for that reason, not UK or US. It's interesting to know what prices poorer countries get too.
Phithagoras
I use VPN (protonvpn) and privacybadger and I find pb breaks more sites than VPN (or maybe its both in conjunction?)

Some sites wont deal with traffic coming out of known tor nodes, which i would consider part of the same resistance to free browsing.

gtf21
I have µMatrix and lots of websites break but I'm more ok with that. I'm very irritated by having to disable my VPN, allow traffic outside of it, and then reload the website.
dmlittle
Some websites will restrict search or other behavior if your VPN is in a major public cloud, such as AWS, as it's an indicator that you might be trying to scrape their site. For example, you can't watch Netflix or purchase from Nike from an AWS IP. I believe in Nike's case they are trying to prevent people from automating the buying of limited edition sneakers.