Am I totally private?

[Aggravated Salmon]

I bought Express VPN but for me to browse HTTPS sites on my school Wi-Fi, I have to install a proxy profile on my phone. For my VPN to connect, I have to be connected to my VPN with my 4G before I choose my school Wi-FI and log into my account. (it won't work if I try to connect to my VPN after connecting to my School Wi-Fi)

So is my internet browsing totally private?

[Trapper]

Probably not. Even if the VPN is only routing traffic from your mobile device to their proxy servers, the firewall logs at your school would show a VPN connection. Regardless of whether they only see a secure VPN connection or they can see all your traffic in the clear, you'd still get pulled up on it sooner or later. Just a VPN connection appearing the logs would sufficient for them to start looking around and asking questions.

 

However I do not think your VPN stays connected after you connect to the school WiFi. Default configurations on mobile devices tend to see a WiFi connection with Internet as more desirable than 4G - due to it's speed and trying to use as little of your 4G bandwidth tariff. 

 

When you connect your VPN on 4G and then connect to your schools wireless does the VPN stay connected? Have you checked under settings that it's still active, or if the little VPN text box is still next to your battery icon (iOS)?

 

If it is disconnected you can set the VPN app itself to only use mobile data rather than WiFi.

 

Hope that helps.

[DeLorian]

Yes, you are. The school firewall will see that you are using a VPN to connect, but VPNs are not illegal unless it is stated explicitly in the school rules. It may raise some questions, but you can say that you value your privacy and don't want to be monitored or something. Express VPN is a fine choice, though I use NordVPN myself because I can select a specific server and not just random server which Express VPN automatically assigns when you choose a region. Also, be sure to always check on ipleak.net if you are leaking your IP address or not. 

[Aggravated Salmon]

20 hours ago, Trapper said:

Probably not. Even if the VPN is only routing traffic from your mobile device to their proxy servers, the firewall logs at your school would show a VPN connection. Regardless of whether they only see a secure VPN connection or they can see all your traffic in the clear, you'd still get pulled up on it sooner or later. Just a VPN connection appearing the logs would sufficient for them to start looking around and asking questions.

 

However I do not think your VPN stays connected after you connect to the school WiFi. Default configurations on mobile devices tend to see a WiFi connection with Internet as more desirable than 4G - due to it's speed and trying to use as little of your 4G bandwidth tariff. 

 

When you connect your VPN on 4G and then connect to your schools wireless does the VPN stay connected? Have you checked under settings that it's still active, or if the little VPN text box is still next to your battery icon (iOS)?

 

If it is disconnected you can set the VPN app itself to only use mobile data rather than WiFi.

 

Hope that helps.

Yes my VPN stays connected after I log into my school Wi-Fi, only if I lock my phone, I have to re log-in (which i don't have to if i am not using a VPN)

32 minutes ago, DeLorian said:

Yes, you are. The school firewall will see that you are using a VPN to connect, but VPNs are not illegal unless it is stated explicitly in the school rules. It may raise some questions, but you can say that you value your privacy and don't want to be monitored or something. Express VPN is a fine choice, though I use NordVPN myself because I can select a specific server and not just random server which Express VPN automatically assigns when you choose a region. Also, be sure to always check on ipleak.net if you are leaking your IP address or not. 

Express VPN allows me to choose any server country I want to connect to.

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

[Alex Atkin UK]

Depends, if the proxy server is in the school LAN then I'd expect it to override the VPN.

 

If the proxy server is on the Internet then it should go over the VPN first, but the proxy will still be able to log what you are doing so still not exactly secure.

 

Either way with this setup I doubt the VPN is really doing its job, as you are still using the proxy for https so the same blocks as before will apply.  Unless the school network is just using the proxy to authenticate and then it allows traffic over the VPN, in which case you should be able to disable the proxy once logged in so all traffic goes over the VPN.

[Aggravated Salmon]

21 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Depends, if the proxy server is in the school LAN then I'd expect it to override the VPN.

 

If the proxy server is on the Internet then it should go over the VPN first, but the proxy will still be able to log what you are doing so still not exactly secure.

 

Either way with this setup I doubt the VPN is really doing its job, as you are still using the proxy for https so the same blocks as before will apply.  Unless the school network is just using the proxy to authenticate and then it allows traffic over the VPN, in which case you should be able to disable the proxy once logged in so all traffic goes over the VPN.

thanks, certainly thought provoking.

maybe i should be more careful with my Internet browsing in school.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Its an awkward setup for sure.  You'd think they would just transparent-proxy and call it a day.  Seems they REALLY don't want people using VPNs to get round it, surprised they even let you connect to one.