Using VPN to Speedup Your Internet International Speed

[muratremix]

It seems 3BB let premier / premium lines use better routing.

My server from france routes via AMS-IX to my 50/10 vdsl, while they have peering in france (france-ix jastel).

When I do traceroute to 100/30 premier line (now we know what is it), it goes via france-ix and and provides lower ping.

Too bad 3BB does not let us use all international connections. This is like India's cast system.

[gandalf12]

You seem to ignore the simple speed test results.

Because they don't count for anything. Every packet of data can be sent via a different route. For speed test to be of value thee exact same route has to be used and that is way outside any one persons or companies control

[Pib]

Very generally speaking VPNs will potentially be slower owing to encryption/decryption (on a PC, mobile or running in a home router: takes time and payload), and loads on the VPN blade and its backbone. I think people get increased speedtest results because they are packing a tunnel which the local ISP is reluctant to shape or throttle, and it's just one download stream, so any data transitions the local ISP are near wire speed. It's not clear to me how these speedtest results emulate real-world usage - other than media streaming perhaps, but if people are happy that's all that really matters. Eventually local ISPs will be forced to take more extreme action. Also, the NLA is in the process (or it may be completed) of adding a whole host of amendments to the Compute Crimes Act, which may impact local usage of VPNs?

I bolded the key portion of text of why I'm probably getting the significant speed increase when using PureVPN with my True DOCSIS/cable plan. And as I mentioned earlier several times in the thread the resulst may vary from local internet service provider (ISP) to ISP. The saying your "Your Results May Vary" has never been so true.

I know my VPN pipe is no larger than my local ISP's network pipe to my home, but for whatever reason VPN use to international sites allows my VPN pipe to expand large...and like mtls2005 said above maybe it's because True DOCSIS is not trying to shape or throttle that VPN pipe...or it's some other magic. Whatever the magic it speeds my internet connection to international sites....not only as proven in the speed tests but just in my browsing speed/responsiveness/snappiness, downloading/uploading a file, etc.

And one thing I can definitely confirm since I'm been a StrongVPN customer from Aug 11 to this coming Aug 16 (I will not be renewing) PureVPN is significantly faster (and lower cost) based on my testing.

In closing, Your Results May Vary.

[gandalf12]

As far as I know. any vpn will slow down. Ur speed in comparison with Direct access..

Have you read this thread from beginning to end...have you seen posted results....do you use VPN?

VPN speedups would seem to be due to routing to bigger pipes, i.e. Singapore, or compression, the impact of which would depend on what kind of data is being sent. No?

Shannon's theorem for Data transmission would suggest that yes. People on here are assuming that the connection link remains the same 24/7 and that the amount of traffic over it is also constant; it isnt. It is like considering a chain part of which is just cellophane connecting the other sections together, the strength is determined by the cellophane. same principle with data. Have 10 links between you and the destination and one is used to capacity the speed is going to be low. Remove that link with another that has low users and the speed increases.

[Pib]

Where's that testing to? And I thought 3BB fiber just had a max upload of 10Mb with their 100Mb down/10Mb up plan...but above speed test shows 27Mb.

My 3bb Fibre 28June, 8:45 am to Singapore on TestMy:

TestMy.pdf

Yeap, it definitely uploads close to your 30Mb plan advertised speed...that a good thing. From some ensuring posts it appears you may have a "premium" plan which I expect also gives higher international speed since premium plans tend to do that but at a higher price.

In some additional googling I run across a company called SI Net in Chaing Mai and a few other limit places that offers 100/40Mb service via a concession with 3BB. Not quite sure what their actual price is since one one page says the plan cost Bt3,990/mo but another page seems to being offering it at Bt1200/mo. See pages below which are mostly in Thai...probably some details in those Thai language pages that makes it clear if you can read Thai (which I can't).

This Page says the 100/40 plan cost is Bt3,990

http://www.sinetfttx.com/promotion-fttx/

This Page indicates the 100/40 plan is on promotion for Bt1,200

http://www.sinetfttx.com/tag/3bb/

[Pib]

As far as I know. any vpn will slow down. Ur speed in comparison with Direct access..

Have you read this thread from beginning to end...have you seen posted results....do you use VPN?

VPN speedups would seem to be due to routing to bigger pipes, i.e. Singapore, or compression, the impact of which would depend on what kind of data is being sent. No?

Very well could be...for whatever reason maybe the ISP is not shaping/throttling the VPN...allowing the pipe to stay fully open. I don't think compression is involved....just your encryped VPN pipe being allowed to stay larger...or maybe it being routed to a fast lane instead getting into a bandwidth traffic jam. Not smart enough to fully understand the magic of networks...but I do know my VPN connection greatly increases my speed to international websites (or should I say keeps my pipe unclogged/throttled down) which I can see and feel in my browsing, downloading/uploading, etc., and the speed tests I run bear out what I'm seeing and feeling in day-to-day use of my computer and android devices. Your Results May Vary.

[Pib]

Just finished doing some quick speed tests. Used Testmy.net Download Manual 12MB file size "with and without" a VPN connection to Singapore....letting the Singapore VPN connection be the middleman of the speed tests below to Singapore, LA, and London. Tests done at 2:05pm on this Sunday. From my experience Sunday is my slowest internet day of the week and it gets the worst from Sunday evening to around Sunday midnight.

As a reminder I have a lowly True DOCSIS/Cable 15Mb down / 1.5 Mb up plan...DOCSIS includes bursting capability so for short periods your download speed can be significantly higher.

Testing To No VPN Connection With VPN Connection to Singapore

Sing 2.4Mb 18.5Mb

LA 2.7Mb 11.5Mb

London 1.8Mb 16.7Mb

And, oh boy, I can definitely feel the speed difference in my browsing between no VPN connection and a VPN connection on this "slow" internet Sunday (at least on my True connection unless using VPN).

Edited June 26, 2016 by Pib

[Pib]

Pretty good article here on how VPN can bypass throttling depending on your ISP/network. Guess that is what happening to me.

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/10987/how-to-bypass-throttling-using-vpn/

[wpcoe]

Can you explain me how a vpn can speed your Internet ? The date still have to go through Thai isp, so how ?

It is simple really. Connection to Singapore is plenty and cheap. They don't limit your speed against Singapore.

So when you use singapore vpn, Thailand to Singapore you get max (or very high) speed. From Singapore to rest of the world is usually fast.

Saying it a different way, which is the way I understand it to work:

Thailand has a relatively small "port" for traffic directly to/from USA/Europe/etc. They have a larger "port" to/from Singapore. Singapore, of course, being light years ahead of Thailand has large "ports" to the rest of the world.

So, you can:

(a) not use a VPN and use the small-bandwidth port from Thaliand directly to the rest of the world, or

( use the Singapore VPN and take advantage of:

(1) the large bandwidth between Thailand and Singapore

(2) the large bandwidth between Singapore and USA/Europe/etc

To Pib, and others, have I got the gist of it right?

I also think there is merit to the idea that using a VPN adds overhead to a transmission and lowers the potential throughput, however the extra bandwidth via Singapore is faster even with that added overhead.

[Pib]

wpcoe,

That's one good way to put some of the factors. But it may be partly or totally due to VPN being able to bypass throttling with some ISPs that may be going. I too don't think Thai ISPs have/buy enough international bandwidth and therefore they throttle some traffic to ensure everyone gets X-amount of international speed. I expect it varies from ISP to ISP how much throttling goes on....from none to a lot...probably varies depending on the load the ISP measures on his network throughout the day & night.

I think the article/link in post #98 just above talking about how VPN can bypass some throttling can explain alot...but that is apparently also dependent on your ISP.

Maybe kinda like a sprinter running the 100 meter dash...with no obstacles in front of him he runs fast...runs un-throttled; but put a couple of hurdles in front of him or make him run with a 10KG vest on and it slows (throttles) him down.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

When I do traceroute to 100/30 premier line (now we know what is it), it goes via france-ix and and provides lower ping.

Too bad 3BB does not let us use all international connections. This is like India's cast system.

I'm still a bit perplexed as to what 3BB is doing with their plan offerings.

When I signed up for their home FTTH 100/10 Mbps plan a couple months back in BKK, I asked the store staff and later the call center staff about the availability of what they previously had called their Premier plans, because as a prospective new customer switching from True Online I was a bit wary of what their regular service might provide in terms of international connections. And both 3BB staffs said, they don't offer those Premier plans anymore.So for their FTTH packages, they said I only had the choice of their 50 or 100 Mbps packages.

But then later, I ended up speaking on the telephone with one of their tech support staff in BKK, a very good English speaking guy who seemed to know what he was talking about. Contrary to what the CSR staff had told me, he said HE could set up my routing on my plan to basically match what they had been offering as Premier, but he basically said it would then be a 5/1 Mbps package similar to what HML had described having above in the past. And that didn't sound too inviting for 1280b per month.

So I just stuck with their straight 100/10 Mbps FTTH package for 1280b a month, and it's worked fine for me, especially in conjunction with VPN use. But if there was a way I could get 3BB to boost my upload speeds to 30 Mbps or whatever without screwing up anything else, and for the same price I'm paying now, I'd certainly take that offer.

[JetsetBkk]

So for us non-VPN Internet addicts, here's the burning question:

Which VPN to try as a test that can be cancelled after, say, a week?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think the article/link in post #98 just above talking about how VPN can bypass some throttling can explain alot...but that is apparently also dependent on your ISP.

Well, having done a lot of testing on this over the years, I certainly can vouch for VPN use making a big difference in providing greatly improved international connections to the U.S. when using both True Online and 3BB, at least.

Someone above posted some results that seemed to show just the opposite result for TOT. And, I'll be the first to admit, I've never used TOT for internet in Thailand, so I can't speak to their service.

[wpcoe]

Inspired by Pib, I signed up for PureVPN and configured a connection for PPTP via Singapore and ran speed test to Los Angeles at http://testmy.net/download using my True DOCSIS/cable 30Mbps/3Mbps connection:

Using a 25MB test size, without VPN:

2.5 Mbps

2.5 Mbps

2.5 Mbps

Using a 25MB test size, with VPN:

15.8 Mbps

28 Mbps

27 Mbps

Then, attempting a 4th test, testmy.net ran my manually-selected 25 MB test size, then automatically bumped it up to 73.6MB test size, so I let it run three more times:

Using a 73.6MB test size, with VPN:

29.4 Mbps

33.3 Mbps

31.6 Mbps

I turned off VPN, and ran 73.6MB test size without VPN, and the test froze. I reloaded the web page and selected 75 MB test size and got:

Using a 75MB test size, without VPN:

2.5 Mbps

Ran speedtest.net to Los Angeles without VPN:

7.87 Mbps / 3.2 Mbps

Ran speedtest.net to Los Angeles with VPN:

20.55 Mbps / 3.22 Mbps

So, all initial indications agree with Pib's testing: Using the Singapore VPN gateway greatly boosts throughput from Los Angeles. For whatever reason.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So for us non-VPN Internet addicts, here's the burning question:

Which VPN to try as a test that can be cancelled after, say, a week?

Looks like Astrill's smallest offering is a 3 month subscription.

Pure VPN offers as short as a month plan, with a 7 day money back guarantee.

Hide My Ass offers as short as a month plan, with a 30 day money back guarantee.

Strong VPN offers as short as a month plan, with a 5 day money back guarantee.

IB VPN offers a 6 hour free trial with full functionality, though I'm not sure their speeds between the U.S. and Thailand as quite as good as some of the others. They also have a 15-day money back guarantee on their paid packages, all of which appear to be available either as monthly or yearly purchases.

[wpcoe]

So for us non-VPN Internet addicts, here's the burning question:

Which VPN to try as a test that can be cancelled after, say, a week?

Don't know about a week, but I noticed PureVPN has a one-month plan for US$9.99/month. I gambled and bought a two-year package for US$59.99 ($2.50/month).

[TallGuyJohninBKK posted just as I was posting about PureVPN's one-month plan.]

Edited June 26, 2016 by wpcoe

[wpcoe]

wpcoe,

That's one good way to put some of the factors. But it may be partly or totally due to VPN being able to bypass throttling with some ISPs that may be going. I too don't think Thai ISPs have/buy enough international bandwidth and therefore they throttle some traffic to ensure everyone gets X-amount of international speed. I expect it varies from ISP to ISP how much throttling goes on....from none to a lot...probably varies depending on the load the ISP measures on his network throughout the day & night.

I think the article/link in post #98 just above talking about how VPN can bypass some throttling can explain alot...but that is apparently also dependent on your ISP.

Maybe kinda like a sprinter running the 100 meter dash...with no obstacles in front of him he runs fast...runs un-throttled; but put a couple of hurdles in front of him or make him run with a 10KG vest on and it slows (throttles) him down.

Forgetting for a moment that we're discussing ISPs in Thailand, if they were throttling based on the type of traffic, shouldn't the ISP *not* throttle speed tests? I would think they'd want the speed test to show the absolutely greatest results of their product. But, remembering that we are discussing ISPs in Thailand, I guess that's not a valid consideration.

[muratremix]

For maximum speed, better privacy and static IP address, consider 5 usd digitalocean VPS for vpn and proxy.

Besides, you can share it with your friends here in Thailand too (then price will be cheaper)

[Pib]

Inspired by Pib, I signed up for PureVPN and configured a connection for PPTP via Singapore and ran speed test to Los Angeles at http://testmy.net/download using my True DOCSIS/cable 30Mbps/3Mbps connection:

Using a 25MB test size, without VPN:

2.5 Mbps

2.5 Mbps

2.5 Mbps

Using a 25MB test size, with VPN:

15.8 Mbps

28 Mbps

27 Mbps

Then, attempting a 4th test, testmy.net ran my manually-selected 25 MB test size, then automatically bumped it up to 73.6MB test size, so I let it run three more times:

Using a 73.6MB test size, with VPN:

29.4 Mbps

33.3 Mbps

31.6 Mbps

I turned off VPN, and ran 73.6MB test size without VPN, and the test froze. I reloaded the web page and selected 75 MB test size and got:

Using a 75MB test size, without VPN:

2.5 Mbps

Ran speedtest.net to Los Angeles without VPN:

7.87 Mbps / 3.2 Mbps

Ran speedtest.net to Los Angeles with VPN:

20.55 Mbps / 3.22 Mbps

So, all initial indications agree with Pib's testing: Using the Singapore VPN gateway greatly boosts throughput from Los Angeles. For whatever reason.

Well, that's good to hear....glad some one is experiencing what I experience.

But I will say, since around 5pm I've been unable to make any VPN connection with the Pure's Singapore server...either PPTP, L2TP, or OpenVPN either with a Windows manual connection or using their App. Well, I'll make a connection but not get an IP address which is like being able to start you car but you can't get it in gear to go anywhere. However, I can make a connection to other places like LA and my connection is fine. I had been using a Singapore connection for most of the day, switched to another connection location as I was playing around during some speedtesting, then trying to reconnect to Singapore I have't been able to. Have rebooted the computer and routers. May fire up my other laptop to see if it experiences the same problem.

[JetsetBkk]

Well, that's good to hear....glad some one is experiencing what I experience.

But I will say, since around 5pm I've been unable to make any VPN connection with the Pure's Singapore server...either PPTP, L2TP, or OpenVPN either with a Windows manual connection or using their App. Well, I'll make a connection but not get an IP address which is like being able to start you car but you can't get it in gear to go anywhere. However, I can make a connection to other places like LA and my connection is fine. I had been using a Singapore connection for most of the day, switched to another connection location as I was playing around during some speedtesting, then trying to reconnect to Singapore I have't been able to. Have rebooted the computer and routers. May fire up my other laptop to see if it experiences the same problem.

Can you contact Pure and ask them what's up?

[Pib]

But I can connect to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just north of Singapore....getting over 23Mb in a test to Singapore. OK, disconnect from the VPN connection to Kuala Lumpur and do the same test to Singapore again...I get a low 12.4Mb at around 8:00pm on the Sunday night.

OK, let's now do the same test to "LA" with and without a VPN via Kuala Lumpur. Results: No VPN - 2.2Mb With VPN - 14.2Mb

As a reminder I'm running a lowly True DOCSIS/cable 15Mb / 1.5Mb plan.

And thanks to wpcoe for giving those results on his 30/3 True DOCSIS/cable plan...helps to see more of an apple-to-apple comparison in case I upgrade to 30/3 since True DOCSIS/cable is my only choice of ISP if wanting a plan faster than 20Mb (No 3BB or AIS in my western Bangkok moobaan...I do have a choice of TOT also but only ADSL up to 20Mb).

Something I find interesting (but I've seen before in some testing comparison with another ThaiVisa poster who use to have True cable 30/3), our international speed without VPN was very, very similar although wpcoe's download plan speed is double mine (i.e., his 30Mb, mine 15Mb). I've seen similar results with other ThaiVisa member with various ISP provider in how their international speed did not improve any or not much although upgrading to a plan that was twice or more faster.

[Pib]

Can you contact Pure and ask them what's up?

I sure could...one thing about PureVPN you can get a real time chat session going 24/7. But I expect they just ask can you connect to other places, I'll say yes, and then they say it probably just a temporary issue...could be an local issue with me or with Singapore. And also suggest the typical stuff like have you tried another DNS provider (ie., google, OpenDNS, etc), have you tried some of the very basic stuff like rebooting your computer, routers, etc., and I say yes.

I'll try some more tonight to make a connection but I'll just wait until tomorrow morning to contact them if I can't still connect to Singapore. Plus I want to fire-up my other computer to see if it has the same problem---if not, then I probably got something strange going on with my primary computer...maybe a corrupt file....or it could even be True causing the problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see if the problem goes away by tomorrow morning before I contact PureVPN.

[Pib]

For maximum speed, better privacy and static IP address, consider 5 usd digitalocean VPS for vpn and proxy.

Besides, you can share it with your friends here in Thailand too (then price will be cheaper)

But correct me if I'm wrong, but basically you would always have a Singapore IP address that way. If you needed say a U.S., U.K., Germany, just anywhere else IP address say to reach some website, view content limited to that country/region like some TV shows/movies, etc., you would still need a VPN service to get that IP address which means you would still need a VPN service. Right?

[JetsetBkk]

But I can connect to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just north of Singapore....getting over 23Mb in a test to Singapore. OK, disconnect from the VPN connection to Kuala Lumpur and do the same test to Singapore again...I get a low 12.4Mb at around 8:00pm on the Sunday night.

OK, let's now do the same test to "LA" with and without a VPN via Kuala Lumpur. Results: No VPN - 2.2Mb With VPN - 14.2Mb

As a reminder I'm running a lowly True DOCSIS/cable 15Mb / 1.5Mb plan.

And thanks to wpcoe for giving those results on his 30/3 True DOCSIS/cable plan...helps to see more of an apple-to-apple comparison in case I upgrade to 30/3 since True DOCSIS/cable is my only choice of ISP if wanting a plan faster than 20Mb (No 3BB or AIS in my western Bangkok moobaan...I do have a choice of TOT also but only ADSL up to 20Mb).

Something I find interesting (but I've seen before in some testing comparison with another ThaiVisa poster who use to have True cable 30/3), our international speed without VPN was very, very similar although wpcoe's download plan speed is double mine (i.e., his 30Mb, mine 15Mb). I've seen similar results with other ThaiVisa member with various ISP provider in how their international speed did not improve any or not much although upgrading to a plan that was twice or more faster.

OK, a bit of an off-the-wall question...

You say "As a reminder I'm running a lowly True DOCSIS/cable 15Mb / 1.5Mb plan. "

Well, I'm running a lowly 3BB ADSL 15Mb/1.5Mb plan and I really don't have a problem with my Internet access. I use torrents a lot for entertainment, and don't d/l many really big files often but when I do I have "Internet Download Manager" which creates multiple links to the source site (like bittorrent) so the files come down really quickly. I don't stream stuff other than Youtube which is normally fine.

So my question is simply why do you need such fast (international) Internet speeds?

(I'm ignoring the ability to pretend you're in a different country.)

Edited June 26, 2016 by JetsetBkk

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's really the things you already know, and depends entirely on the internet usage habits of each different user.

1. it gives you the ability to have an internet presence in the country of your choice, such as your home country, and thus unlocking content there that may be geo-restricted.

2. it's likely going to produce faster international download connections than a straight Thai ISP connection alone. Whether anyone needs that or not, depends on what kind of service they have and how they use it/want to use it,

3. VPN, depending on the protocol used, can incorporate much greater encryption and privacy protections than a regular connection that could prevent snooping or site-blocking by so-called men in the middle, such as your ISP, the government where you live, etc. Such as, blocking content that a government deems offensive or critical of itself, blocking foreign news sites deemed unfriendly, etc.

Edited June 26, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[JetsetBkk]

^ Good summary, TallGuy.

I'm still considering whether to go for it...

[wpcoe]

But I will say, since around 5pm I've been unable to make any VPN connection with the Pure's Singapore server...either PPTP, L2TP, or OpenVPN either with a Windows manual connection or using their App. Well, I'll make a connection but not get an IP address which is like being able to start you car but you can't get it in gear to go anywhere. However, I can make a connection to other places like LA and my connection is fine. I had been using a Singapore connection for most of the day, switched to another connection location as I was playing around during some speedtesting, then trying to reconnect to Singapore I have't been able to. Have rebooted the computer and routers. May fire up my other laptop to see if it experiences the same problem.

Odd that you should mention that. I had just purchased my PureVPN package so it was my first time connecting. I was able to connect, but couldn't ping any address nor display any web site.

On a pure guess, I went to the "properties" of the connection (in Windows 10) and changed the DNS server connections from "auto" to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 and -- voila! -- I had a working internet connection. I intended to later follow up to see why that was necessary. However, based on your experience, I wonder if something just happened to be amiss with their DNS server in Singapore at that time: all my tests were between 5pm and 6pm.

[Pib]

But I will say, since around 5pm I've been unable to make any VPN connection with the Pure's Singapore server...either PPTP, L2TP, or OpenVPN either with a Windows manual connection or using their App. Well, I'll make a connection but not get an IP address which is like being able to start you car but you can't get it in gear to go anywhere. However, I can make a connection to other places like LA and my connection is fine. I had been using a Singapore connection for most of the day, switched to another connection location as I was playing around during some speedtesting, then trying to reconnect to Singapore I have't been able to. Have rebooted the computer and routers. May fire up my other laptop to see if it experiences the same problem.

Odd that you should mention that. I had just purchased my PureVPN package so it was my first time connecting. I was able to connect, but couldn't ping any address nor display any web site.

On a pure guess, I went to the "properties" of the connection (in Windows 10) and changed the DNS server connections from "auto" to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 and -- voila! -- I had a working internet connection. I intended to later follow up to see why that was necessary. However, based on your experience, I wonder if something just happened to be amiss with their DNS server in Singapore at that time: all my tests were between 5pm and 6pm.

Well, and I swear on the Bible, but before I logged back on to ThaiVisa to talk my "fix" to the PureVPN Singapore server and seeing your above post I had figured out my problem to be an issue with DNS....probably a "True" DNS issue.

I did start a Chat session with PureVPN...was chatting withing 10 seconds to a PureVPN tech and basically we had a 15 minute chat on "why the heck can't I connect to your Singapore server with PPTP or OpenVPN if using your App....or I cannot connect to Singapore with a manual Windows connection with PPTP.

Typical customer service chat session...they consider you a dumbie and recommend things you have already tired. The Tech probably got stressed with me because in answering a question he would pose I would answer that and answer it in such a way to cut off the next dumbie question I knew he would pose. But I understand the majority of folks who they chat with are probably not a computer literate as I am---not to imply I'm an expert...but I'm am smarter than the average bear with computers and Windows due to my ex-work background and constant playing with hardware and Windows...a retiree needs something to do other than drink beer (which I do).

I then fired up my other laptop to see if it was experiencing the same problem with Singapore...and it was. So I then knew it was not a problem with my primary computer.

Now, I have my DNS setup to use the google DNSs just like you...been working fine with PureVPN for 2 weeks now. But since just before dark tonight I could no longer make a connection back to the Singapore PureVPN server....well, it would connect, but not give an IP address....I would get that little yellow exclamation point symbol over my Wifi connection icon. No IP address is the same as no connection. And remember I have my Wifi adapter DNS set the google DNSs...and I also tried just using True's DNS servers. Just would not help in getting a VPN connection to Singapore.

OK...I set my DNS service back to the google DNS servers. I then go into my Windows Network Connections menu and open the selection of PureVPN PPTP SG

and see it does not reflect the google DNS servers...it's just defaulting to the True DNS, OK, well, it been that way since I've had PureVPN...no problems. But then what I do was put in the google DNS settings to the PureVPN PPTP SG connection and then try to logon---success...logon "with IP address"...I'msurfing the internet again.

That success immediately told me "True" DNS servers are having a problem right now in resolving some Singapore IP addresses. And it also confirmed to me that even though you have other DNS servers such as Google DNS or OpenDNS servers set into your TCP/browser DNS area of your browser/computer's basic IPV4 setting the VPN connection may not use those, but instead use your ISP's default servers unless entering those other DNS settings into the individual VPN network connections.

I just did a Testmy.net Download Manual 12MB file size speedtest with a Singapore VPN connection and testing to Singapore and LA. To Singapore I got 2.0Mb with no VPN connection, but 10.9Mb with the Singapore VPN connection. And to LA without a VPN connection to Singapore I got a measly 2.0Mb but 9.1Mb with VPN.

Now, if only using the PureVPN "App" to make your connections where it is apparently letting your ISP's DNS take control for the "basic connection" vs the Windows Manual VPN connections where you can force what DNS servers to use (which I just did), I'm not sure about fixing that, but I have an idea I need to test first.

Summary: it's appears to be a "True" ISP DNS problem in resolving some IP addresses when using a PureVPN connection via Singapore since early evening.

[Pib]

Now, if only using the PureVPN "App" to make your connections where it is apparently letting your ISP's DNS take control for the "basic connection" vs the Windows Manual VPN connections where you can force what DNS servers to use (which I just did), I'm not sure about fixing that, but I have an idea I need to test first.

OK, I tested my possible fix in using the PureVPN App...and it works for the PPTP/L2TP/etc., but not for OpenVPN since OpenVPN connects to different servers than the PPTP/L2TP servers.

Now if you look at your Network Connections you'll see when you install the PureVPN app it creates a network connection in your Windows Network menu called PureVPN. And even though you may set Google DNS or OpenDNS in your browser/basic computer DNS server settings apparently the VPN may ignore that unless you put those DNS entries into the specific PureVPN network connection. When I entered the Google DNS into the specific PureVPN Network Connection the app could now make PPTP/L2TP VPN connections to Singapore.

You can setup manual Windows VPN connections for PPTP/L2TP/SSTP/etc., that's been built into Windows forever. "But not" for OpenVPN.....OpenVPN requires a separate program to make OpenVPN connections like your PureVPN app or whatever VPN service you use....there are also some generic OpenVPN clients you can download for free, but usually using your VPN provider's App is best and much easier to use versus trying to make a generic OpenVPN app work with your VPN provider.

While there are different ways to access your various Network Connections, below is a snapshot of my Windows Network Connections menu/page to better show what connections I'm talking about. You'll see individual "manual" VPN connections I've setup like PureVPN PPTP SG, PureVPN PPTP LA, etc., and I even still have some of my StrongVPN manual connections there since that subscription runs until Aug 16. And you also see the connection named "PureVPN" which the PureVPN app automatically creates when you install the app. If using their app, go into that PureVPN connection and change the DNS setting to Google DNS, OpenDNS, just something to prevent True's default DNS servers from being used....and that should fixed your App's ability to connection to Singapore when using PPTP/L2TP/SSTP...but won't fix the OpenVPN connections.

I bet True's DNS issue (i.e., a problem caused by True and not PureVPN) clears up over the near term (maybe by tomorrow morning)...and maybe it's just a Sunday evening/night DNS issue because I think Sunday evening and night is the heaviest period of internet use throughout the week in Thailand....I sure know it's always been my slowest internet connection time.

[JetsetBkk]

smarter than the average bear

Definitely, Yogi!