Category Archives: Security
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How to check that your VPN kill switch is working
Posted on June 15, 2022 by pcwrt in How To, Security, VPN.Many VPN apps come with a “kill switch”, which turns off your Internet connectivity when the VPN connection is lost. Without a kill switch, you might be falsely thinking that you’re protected by a VPN, while the VPN connection is down and your connection is switched back to the ISP. But how do you know […]
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How to set up a VPN server at home (on the router)
Posted on December 16, 2021 by pcwrt in How To, Security, VPN.If you did some search on this topic, you are probably confused. Most articles on this topic confuse readers rather than helping them. Why you need a VPN server at home First of all, let’s make it clear that there’s only one reason to set up a VPN server at home: you want to access […]
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What is the best DNS for privacy?
Posted on December 1, 2021 by pcwrt in Security, Technology.With the default configuration, your router uses DNS servers run by your ISP. As such, the ISP can easily collect information about the websites you’re visiting (and the apps you’re using). You can override the router’s default settings to make it use other DNS services such as OpenDNS, Quad9 or Cloudflare. But since the DNS […]
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Set Up Multiple NextDNS Configurations for Encrypted DNS on the pcWRT Router
Posted on November 17, 2021 by pcwrt in How To, Router, Security.You can set up multiple configurations in NextDNS, each with different block lists. These configurations map neatly to the Access Control profiles on the pcWRT router. As a result, you can apply different NextDNS filtering configurations to different devices on your network directly from the router, without the need to set up NextDNS on each […]
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6 VPN leak scenarios and how to prevent them
Posted on August 29, 2021 by pcwrt in Security, VPN.TL;DR: the pcWRT router naturally protects you from the 6 leak scenarios listed below (i.e., no extra work needed). But if you’re using another VPN solution, read on. 1. DNS Leak DNS Leak is the most common type of leak when you are connected to a VPN. Even after your VPN is successfully connected, there’s […]
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Is Google using fingerprinting to track you?
Posted on August 11, 2021 by pcwrt in Security, VPN.What’s your location? A post on Reddit reported that Google continues to display his actual address despite him using a VPN, turning off WiFi and blocking Geolocation. He even tried fresh installations. Intrigued by the post, I did the tests described here to understand the behavior. To eliminate the possibility of tracking by cookies, I […]
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Use OpenDNS for Ad Blocking?
Posted on January 29, 2021 by pcwrt in Router, Security.A lot of people use OpenDNS on their home networks to block contents that might be harmful to children. Some were asking whether OpenDNS can add a filtering category to block unwanted ads. The answer from OpenDNS was no, and for good reason. As a result, if you want to use a DNS service to […]
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Is WyzeCam Sending Data to Servers Other Than AWS?
Posted on January 26, 2021 by pcwrt in Security, Technology.When the WyzeCam started selling a few years back, there was an alarming review on Amazon stating that it was sending data all over the world. The reviewer claimed seeing traffic heading to China, Japan and Germany, among other locations. The review on Amazon is probably no longer available. But the discussion on Reddit is […]
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Oblivious DNS over HTTPS vs DoH through HTTP proxy
Posted on December 9, 2020 by pcwrt in Security, Technology.Cloudflare recently published a blog post on how Oblivious DNS over HTTPS (ODoH) works. According to the blog post, the purpose of ODoH is to separate the DNS queries from the originating IP addresses, preventing the DoH provider from seeing who’s sending the DNS requests. Thus improved privacy for clients. Schematically, this is how it […]
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Why DNS leak tests might fool you
Posted on August 8, 2020 by pcwrt in Security, VPN.What is a DNS leak test Even after you connect to a VPN, your DNS queries might still be sent to your ISP instead of your VPN service. This situation is called a DNS leak. DNS leak tests will tell you who your DNS provider is. You’ll find multitude of DNS leak test sites when […]
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