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Proton VPN and Portmaster breaking each other? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) by PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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Sometimes they work, and sometimes I have to close one or the other, or every connection gets blocked. I haven't blocked anything from Proton VPN on Portmaster - just some Windows services and domains that don't break the internet when Proton VPN is off.
Do you have any idea what may be happening or how I can discover what's going on?

  • both on the free plan.

Edit: I might have figured it out. It seems like they are fighting over DNS resolving. When I removed the DNS settings from Portmaster (it's already set in the browser anyway), it started working again :)

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[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 3 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

I don't use Proton VPN, but Portmaster, which apart is FLOSS, only it's SPN is paid OpenSource. Well, Portmaster is the best Firewall and traffic monitoring app out there, but depending of which filtering you use, it can be even very brutal, and enough to block some server conections which Proton use. I saw it blocking big corporations, with the result that I can't even access none of their services, even without VPN. I think that you must see which site is blocked from Proton and except it from the filtering, or pay some bucks and use the SPN, which is anyway better, with it you can use multiple tunnels depending on the sites you want to visit. Or using an proxy extension, like VPNLY or CyberGhost, which are free, without limits, no logs and private. The Portmaster anyway avoid that web pages can sneak any tracking crap in your PC.

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

Well, Portmaster is the best Firewall and traffic monitoring app out there

I spent about a week and a half with Portmaster just to see what the hype was. I'll have to say I was underwhelmed. I realize it has a big fan base, so if it works for you, awesome. Git Sum! It does have a lot of bells and whistles, and combines a lot of things into one package, but I've been so long with my stand alone pFsense instance, it'd almost have to give me a blowie to get me to switch.

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 2 points 12 hours ago

Well, to anyones preferences. Every defense is valid and has it's + and -. It's irrelevant if you use Portmaster, PiHole, pFsense or anything else, important if it works to show the middlefinger to the big brother corporations, what all these do.

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

No doubt. Wasn't throwing shade. Just relaying my experience. If one did not have a firewall in place or one to replace, Portmaster would be a good candidate.

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

Also because it is the most easy and intuitive to use for everyone. Already with a good default setting, blocking the most problematic trackings, means, it's install and forget it or at least customize only some specific traffic from an app to be protected.

[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago

Every site was breaking, looking like they were fighting over DNS resolving, and I guess that was the problem. Once I removed Portmaster's DNS settings, they started working together. Well, I have DNS set in the browser anyway, and I'm using Portmaster just to monitor those non-browser connections. Using Windows, it's crazy that on startup you already have like 9 pages of random Windows processes trying to call home and tell them what you're doing lol

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Using Windows, it’s crazy that on startup you already have like 9 pages of random Windows processes trying to call home and tell them what you’re doing lol

A lot of those call-home processes can be blocked with your .host file. Additionally, PrivacySexy, WPD, and or O&OShutUp can help strip out all the crap. I hear a lot of people saying that updates to Windows revert the changes. I'm not sure if that is relevant to whether you are using Home or Pro. I use W10Pro and I have not seen any of my updates revert any of my changes. I believe Enterprise also doesn't revert the changes upon updates. It might also be that major feature updates (like the 22H2 upgrade), may revert the changes, however, it's fairly trivial to run PrivacySexy after the update.

[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

It happened a few times to me during major updates, but most don’t restore packages you’ve removed. They do change other things, though.
I recently wrote this small guide: https://fuckbigtech.neocities.org/#06, and I was just about to re-read it to update, for example: Last time I was on Win11, the Windows Update had downloaded the HEIF and AV1 codecs, they were even listed in the app list to uninstall if I wanted, but they didn’t come with the laptop I have now, nor were they added through updating it. I just noticed folders weren’t displaying AVIF image thumbnails after I had debloated (and removed Windows Store). Then I discovered you can no longer download Windows utilities through their site, and it won’t work directly through PowerShell either because all download and installation is forced through Windows Store. I had already debloated extensively, so I decided to just factory-reset the laptop. This time, I downloaded both packages before removing Windows Store. Guess what? Removing Windows Store also removed the packages! So here I am, after another factory reset, leaving Windows Store there, hoping the lack of it doesn’t fuck me in the future lol
fun story: I also discovered it no longer comes with Notepad, Paint and Calculator! You have to download all from the Store, and they integrated with Copilot lol - it did come with Outlook, Maps, Teams and other crap, though... even some hidden legacy Zune, IE and Skype packages..

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

for example: Last time I was on Win11

Interesting. I must live in bizarro world. I wonder if it has to do with Win11's new advertising platform. Were you running a local account or hooked up to the mothership? I'm running W10 on a local account only. Additionally, I'm blocking the world (almost - lol) in my host file.

I just ran Get-AppxPackage and besides the runtimes, wsl, Microsoft.VCLibs, NET.Native.Frameworks, Microsoft.Windows.Photos (blocked from calling home), I don't see anything that would throw a red flag. I am definitely intrigued.

[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

My father loves '00s and late '90s RTS games, so I built him a Win7 PC. I got a bit jealous of how tight its running lol
Pre-built systems, though, come with way waaay more bloat. To get a free Windows license included in the product, they shove tons of shit in. My mother had a Win10 LG All-in-One, and I recently reset and cleared it to give to my niece, I had to remove a lot of crap, but it was way worse in the Win11 Dell All-in-One she got to replace it. I’ve never seen anything like that, shit came with Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Candy Crush... and, worst of all: McAfee. This Win11 laptop I'm using right now came with Norton hehe - but those Bing News, Bing Weather, Bing Maps, Bing This, Bing That, all the Xbox stuff, which you need to remove through command prompt, they were in all of them. However, I’ve never tested a Win10 or Win11 that wasn't on a pre-built device, my guess is that if you bought a license (or acquired some other way, I don't judge hehe) and installed the OS yourself it is way cleaner... but also surely Win11 is worse than Win10 on bloat.

edit: I had written Avast but it was actually McAfee, it wasn't even full license and it expired, also it constantly hijacked the browser and changed the search engine to Bing... pure malware behavior, crazy stuff.

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

I know, it's normal that after a good Windows release always follow an crappy one, independent from the bloatware which it always have. W7 good, W8 crap, W10 good, W11 crap...., but at least, for an advanced user possible always to gut all of these trash and even eliminate this crappy Fisher Price UI in W11, which try badly to imitate the UI of an Mac, eliminating, I don't know why, a lot of setting to customize the UI, needing scripts to do it.

[-] Peffse@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Windows Defender will pick up any alterations to hosts file and revert it back to default. You have to whitelist the file before setting up any changes.

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

I use Hostsman, and I haven't found that to be true, but again, I don't discount it either.

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 2 points 14 hours ago

Yes, Windows currently is a stable, usefull and good OS, exept that it is by default full of bloatware, spyware, unnecesary telemetries, services "to improve the user experience" which nobody needs....all not easy to gut, but possible. They say that Windows is easy to handle, but only seens so at the first look, to convert it in a good OS it needs an advanced user. In Linux is way easier, there is nothing hidden, but also has his drawbacks. In my new Laptop with W11, the first impression was that it was the worst UI I've ever seen, impossible the startmenu and the taskbar, not even customizable in a bad copy of an Mac desktop, apart of all other from the mencioned crap, which I culd strip out, to get rid of the UI, turning it back of the good customizable one from W10, I used a nice FOSS app, Windhawk, something like an userscript manager which permits to do almost everything with the UI. Settings are instantanly, no restart needed. Now I use an snappy fast and reasonable private W11 which use less than 1GB RAM, to my like, with an small Taskbar on the top of the screen, an Startmenu as it should be and some more tweaks.

this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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