Hello, would using VPS be better for more anonimity, privacy, security? For example creating chain Like that ISP->VPS->VPN->tor/orbot->internet/apps
Or they are not do trustworthy and do they keep logs? Would it stick out too much or not?
Also second question, using it to connect under tor in tails, good or bad idea? (ISP->VPS->tor)
It’s almost never a good idea to use an additional VPS if you already have a Tor connection. It essentially acts as a permanent guard node which can be used for fingerprinting.
Think of a VPS as an individual server you rent out. A VPN provider can have hundreds of these servers for you to connect too. There isn’t any reason why you should connect to a VPS and layer it with a VPN connection in most scenarios.
If you need to obscure your Tor connection from your ISP to avoid legal trouble and/or death, just stick with Tor Bridges. But for 99% of people, you are safe using a VPN with Tor.
Thanks, so bridge would be enough, which types would be best to hide tor activity? I have options to choose obsf4/meek_lite/snowflake/conjure/webtunnel/vanilla
obsf4 can work for most cases unless your ISP uses an advanced deep packet inspection tool.
Read the Safely Connecting to Tor section of Privacy Guides’ Tor Overview. In short, connecting to a trusted VPN service before (never chaining it after) connecting to Tor is beneficial for protecting yourself from your local network administrators and ISP. I suppose using a VPS as your “VPN service” could also do this in theory, but how safe that’d be would depend on the VPS provider’s reputability/practices/policies, whether you’re able to buy and use it anonymously, and if you can administrate and set it up properly.
The only situation I could imagine it’d make sense to use a VPS instead of a VPN service is if you’re on a heavily censored network which you cannot reliably bypass with VPNs and you want to try a self-hosted solution like Outline VPN (which is a Shadowsocks proxy, not a VPN) instead. Otherwise using a VPN service is probably going to be much easier and safer.
Thanks, i think i get it, it can be too fingerprintable + i guess most vps are hard to trust. I will move just to bridge
However what interest me also, if use it below tails, i know it is not supported manually, but maybe if configure it manually to run before tor
Indeed, a lot of it has to do with trust really.
Although our knowledge base does recommend VPNs for obscuring a Tor connection, at most it makes your internet connection less suspicious if you’re using it at school or a public cafe. It’s also great for places where Tor is restricted but no complete censorship or active monitoring have taken place.
Bridges work best when even VPNs are also banned or restricted (i.e. China or Iran) as you will connect to nodes not publicly known to the Tor Network.
Can you specify what you mean? If you are talking about bridges, Tails does give you an option to manually configure a Tor Bridge upon first connection.
I mean if use vpn or vps under TailOS, like configuring firewall and connection so all traffic goes to vpn and then from VPN to tor, otherwise no connection at all
The beauty of Tails is that you are safest when you don’t modify it at all. It’s not a good idea to change anything in the OS that makes you stand out among other Tails users. That’s how you best prevent fingerprinting
Thanks, do you know aldo if its better to use default DNS while using tor or Orbot, or using oDoH or DNScrypt will work better?