OperaVPN is not working
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rakejake last edited by
@leocg user rovy is facing exactly the same problem as me from the same country. Many of my buddies are also facing the same issue despite being subscribed to different ISPs. The problem is regional. Mind you that it is not only vpn that is suffering issues. Their website doesn't load & browser can't update. I think they are all related. Opera should look into this as to why a certain region is facing issues.
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blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71@rakejake said in OperaVPN is not working:
... Other vpn services are working just fine. Only Opera's is facing problem. If blocking was the problem wouldn't other vpn services face problems too?
When a user accesses a VPN, they are directed over the Internet to a specific IP address for that VPN to make their VPN server connection. Depending on the VPN, there may be more than one available connection IP. In any case, a given VPN can readily be blocked if the censoring authority simply blocks user Internet access to known/identified VPN access IPs. Those access IPs can be determined by a curious censor on an ongoing basis by simply installing the particular VPN software (or VPN-equipped browser) and testing for the IPs which are accessed when connecting to that VPN. Hence, "free" VPNs may be more often blocked than "paid" VPNs simply for budgetary reasons.
Another thing to keep in mind is that censors may choose to block entire chunks of IP addresses if they decide too many sites within that range of IPs are individually "problematic" in their opinion. (It may even be less work for them to block a whole range of IPs rather than block many individual IPs within that range). In any event, such IP range-blocking can also wipe out access to "innocent" site IPs lying within the affected range. Moreover, simple human error in black-listing an IP can contribute to incorrectly blocking an 'innocent' IP.
The ability, competency, and accuracy of a blocking authority can vary widely with location and over time. However, if multiple users in a given region (particularly within a national border) are having problems accessing a particular IP - especially a VPN - it normally is related to either some kind of access-blocking within that nation or some form of technical deficiency occurring in that national Internet backbone or ISP network that cannot support the type of connection being sought. Since there are multiple "players" involved in the electronic chain that relays Internet data packets to/from their final destination, blocking by any one of those players will prevent successful user access.
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hellstra last edited by
Hello, I'm from Bangladesh and I cannot open any link having opera.com without using a vpn. In fact, I even had to use a vpn to be able to download the browser.
After installation, updating through opera://settings/help doesn't work without using a vpn.
Opera VPN doesn't work without enabling a system level vpn first, lol.
Thank you local censorship, yay!
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blackbird71 last edited by
@hellstra said in OperaVPN is not working:
... I'm from Bangladesh and I cannot open any link having opera.com without using a vpn. In fact, I even had to use a vpn to be able to download the browser. ... Thank you local censorship, yay!
Depending on the political atmosphere in a given country, it may be worthwhile for a user to inquire with their government/local-ISP whether their blocking of opera.com URLs is intentional (and if so, why?); it may simply be an unintentional result of their blocking a chunk of "problematic" IPs. On the other hand, in some strict authoritarian nations, such inquiries may themselves be neither safe nor wise for a user to pursue - YMMV, and only an affected local user(s) can make that determination of whether/how-far to locally investigate.
At the end of the day, all centralized censorship makes everyone a loser in one way or another - but national censorship is one of the unfortunate realities of life in the current real world.
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hellstra last edited by
If my detailed posting here isn't reporting the problem as well as bringing it to Opera's attention then I don't know what is.
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blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71
@rakejake said in OperaVPN is not working:
The whole dilemma can be resolved if Opera can confirm this.
If you are able to visit https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/internet-censorship-map/ , you can gain a view of the scope of censorship worldwide as of January 2020 (particularly if within that page, you set the "Show -- entries" to 100 in the nation-table part way down the site's page). Bangladesh ranks quite high for employing national censorship in that table (among the top 25 nations in the world), on a par with well-known censoring nations like Cuba, Egypt, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia but behind China, North Korea, Iran and a scattering of others.
Frankly, there is very little that Opera (or anyone else) can do about national censorship... nations are sovereign and do what they want. Why a nation blocks one site but not another has all to do with their interpretation of what they wish to block from their citizens, the technical mechanisms used in blocking, and the persistence of the personnel in the blocking agencies. If Opera's websites are reachable by ordinary browsing from most other nations in the world but not from within Bangladesh (which is the case), it stands as proof that the Opera sites are being blocked (intentionally or otherwise) within Bangladesh. There is nothing Opera can do about that. That some other VPN services might be able to penetrate the censorship speaks more to the lack of thoroughness of their blocking mechanism by Bangladesh and the ability of those VPNs to jump ahead of the censors by frequently changing their IPs or using other technical means. Bypassing national blocking is a continual (and expensive) electronic war between blockers and VPN providers, and probably goes well beyond the limited purposes Opera has in supplying a VPN option in their browser.
I don't work for Opera, but I don't see how (in practicality) Opera can conclusively determine on its own which nations are locally blocking its websites (including its VPN) since it doesn't reside physically in many of those nations and because the dynamics of who is blocking what change literally daily among nations. Moreover, nations that do block are usually very evasive about which specific sites they block for what reasons.
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hellstra last edited by
The following is the reason I don't believe Opera is at fault here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bangladesh/comments/gv5gml/new_wave_of_website_ban/
https://www.reddit.com/r/bangladesh/comments/gvoza1/why_is_the_ict_minister_so_stupid_why_is_he/
-Access to reddit may or may not require a VPN, lol what a shitshow
-pinterest has been granted access again after the block -
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hellstra last edited by
My point is that Opera stopped working right around the same time a new list of websites has been locally blocked.
Coincidence? I don't think so. Plus, it's been already confirmed in this thread that there's no ongoing issue on Opera's end concerning accessibility.
Now, whether you buy it or not is your call. Peace.
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You can try reporting a bug.