Not sure if it was just released today, but I got the email update about it just now. I’m pretty excited about this because I mostly just want VPN for web browsing, and the linux app kinda sucks.
Not sure if it was just released today, but I got the email update about it just now. I’m pretty excited about this because I mostly just want VPN for web browsing, and the linux app kinda sucks.
What’s the advantage of using the VPN via the browser extension instead of the VPN app (in my case, the MacOS app)?
VPN can sometimes be unreliable. I’ve gotten disconnected from zoom meetings when using the zoom app and a system wide VPN. Also have lagged during online gaming. The extension could be useful if you are only looking to increase web browsing privacy, while keeping a better network connection for other programs.
Isn’t this what split-tunneling is for though?
Ah, yeah I guess so. I don’t think that was available on the linux app which is the only one I used on a non-phone, so I didn’t think of that…
It’s no advantage, just a matter of preference and use case. The VPN app tunnels all network traffic of your Mac while the browser extension just tunnels your browser’s traffic. Some people just want the browser’s traffic to be tunneled through the VPN connection.
It is a question of whether you really need all your traffic going through a VPN. Your app might support split tunneling. VPN browser extensions such as Proton, Mullvad, and Brave will only route that browser’s traffic through VPN. Since I am running Linux, a DNS resolver and am generally off of most corp and government servers, my need for VPN is more limited. I activate ProtonVPN extension in Librewolf browser where I open news sites. I use other browsers without VPN for safe stuff such as my own and friendly fedi sites to get full bandwidth. I use split tunneling on Android to similarly exclude safe apps from VPN for a private and efficient setup.