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OpenVPN Connection Review | What is it and should you use it?

What is it and should you use it?

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OpenVPN Connect is a generic OpenVPN app for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS that can be used with any VPN service that supports the OpenVPN protocol.

This review forms part of a series of articles examining the major public OpenVPN apps on every major platform – others are OpenVPN GUI for Windows, Tunnelblick for macOS, and OpenVPN for Android.

OpenVPN Connect has the distinction of being the only OpenVPN option available for iPhone and iPad users. Unlike the other apps reviewed in this series, OpenVPN Connect is not open source. However, it is the official app from OpenVPN Inc. , the team that developed the open source OpenVPN protocol.

the price

The OpenVPN Connect app is free, although the mobile versions include a link to the paid Private Tunnel VPN service operated by OpenVPN Inc.

Of course, OpenVPN Connect is just an app, so to use it, you’ll need to sign up for a VPN service that usually costs a few dollars per month.

OpenVPN Connect Features

  • Complete DNS leak protection (both IPv4 and IPv6)
  • full IPv6 routing
  • Seamless tunnel (mobile only)
  • proxy support
  • Direct compatibility with OpenVPN Access Server

As with all general OpenVPN clients, simple modifications to the OpenVPN configuration file (.ovpn) allow for a high level of customization (if a supported provider). Most of these mods are supported, although there is a small list of mods that are not available.

We can’t find any confirmation, but it’s fair to assume that OpenVPN Connect always uses the latest version of the OpenVPN protocol.

access server

OpenVPN Connect makes it very easy to connect to a VPN server setup using OpenVPN Access Server software. This post is not the focus of this review but is covered in our guide on how to set up your own VPN server.

Seamless Tunneling (mobile apps only)

According to the documentation, this feature makes “best effort to keep the tunnel active during pauses, resumes, and reconnects”. “It can reduce packet leaks by keeping the tunnel occupied continuously until it is manually disconnected.”

Therefore, it works in many ways like a lock switch but does not appear to be as powerful as a real kill switch.

It’s worth noting that the latest version of Android (Nougat 7+) includes a real kill switch that works with any VPN app (including OpenVPN Connect).

PRIVACY AND SECURITY

OpenVPN Inc. is a US based company and OpenVPN Connect is a closed source app.

We’ve discussed before that open source is less important than usual when it comes to dedicated VPN apps because the VPN provider can see everything you do online, anyway. But OpenVPN Connect is a generic app that can, in theory, be used to spy on your internet activity regardless of which VPN provider it’s configured to use.

The fact that it was developed by the same team that developed the OpenVPN protocol, which is the most reliable VPN protocol ever made, shows its huge support. However, there is no escaping the fact that everything we know about the NSA indicates that compromising a privacy tool like OpenVPN Connect can be high on its to-do list.

For non-iOS users, we highly recommend using open source alternatives instead.

OpenVPN on iOS

Apple’s strict iOS Developer Guidelines (and licensing restrictions) prohibit the use of OpenVPN in iOS. Because of this, there is no dedicated iOS VPN app that we know of that uses the OpenVPN protocol.

Or in other words, the only way to use OpenVPN on an iOS device is by using OpenVPN Connect. We have no idea how this app bypasses the restrictions that prevent VPN apps from using OpenVPN, but that is how it is.

DNS Leaks

We have not detected any IPv4 DNS leak on any platform. Our internet connection does not support IPv6 at the moment, so we were unable to test IPv6 performance.

OpenVPN Connect supports full Pv6 routing, so we would be surprised if it leaks IPv6 addresses in any way. It’s worth noting that the app includes an option to route VPN connections over IPv4 only. In the event of an IPv6 leak or an IPv6 DNS leak, selecting this option will almost certainly fix the problem.

WebRTC RTC Leaks

On iOS, the fact that Safari, Chrome, and Firefox do not support WebRTC makes the question of whether or not OpenVPN Connect for iOS prevents WebRTC leaks.

We did not detect any WebRTC leaks on other platforms, although there is no application-based protection that would be as robust as a browser-based solution.

Ease of use

You can download the mobile apps directly from the App Store or Play Store and the Windows and macOS apps from the official OpenVPN website. The apps work with any valid OpenVPN configuration files, or directly with an OpenVPN access server whose IP address and login details you have.

If you are using a VPN service, the provider will provide the required .ovpn files.

iOS

With iOS running on iOS, opening a standard OpenVPN profile (.ovpn file) in OpenVPN Connect can be more complicated than other platforms.

Although not immediately obvious, Safari will offer to open downloaded .ovpn files in OpenVPN Connect (once installed). Which makes life easier.

The app provides some very nice connection stats once you are connected.

OpenVPN Connect plugs into the VPN functionality built into iOS. Once set up, the default profile can be enabled through the iOS settings panel. The “VPN” icon appears in the notification bar when the VPN connection is active.

Other than seamless tunneling, most setup options are fairly technical, such as the minimum version of TLS (up to TLS 1.2) and whether OpenVPN UDP or TCP is used.

These parameters must already be specified by your VPN provider in their .ovpn configuration files, and are therefore only intended for users of your access server.

Android

The Android app is almost identical to its iOS sibling, except that thanks to the more traditional Android file system, it’s easy to import .ovpn configuration files (eg from the download folder or via a USB transfer).

desktop

Regardless of the differences based on the Surface OS, the Windows and macOS clients seem to be identical. Unsurprisingly, it is very similar to OpenVPN’s GUI.

They are simple apps with no features to speak of, but they work just fine.

last thoughts

If we were Edward Snowden, we wouldn’t use a closed source app developed by an American company to protect our privacy. Since that’s not the case, the convenience and security benefits of being able to use OpenVPN on an iOS device outweigh these concerns. As such, OpenVPN Connect is a good app that does its job well. This is not surprising because it was developed by OpenVPN Inc. itself!

But we’d rather see a more powerful kill switch than a smooth tunnel. There are no doubt good technical reasons for not having one, but still. The bottom line for iOS users who want OpenVPN functionality is that OpenVPN Connect is still the best option.

However, we cannot think of any reason, why desktop users who are not using an access server or Android users should choose it over better open source alternatives.

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