KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Much of the discussion on becoming a virtual canadian has involved VPN/router config/etc., but for many of us technologically knowledgable non-experts, using Windows remote desktop might be a better (simpler, less fallible) option.

Can someone please point out any potential problems in the following:

1) Find a trusted friend or relative in canada (or use another country and substitute it throughout this example). Obviously this might be a non-starter for many, but for many others it will not pose a problem.
2) purchase a computer for ~ $1000 and install windows xp pro or windows server 2003. Set up this computer at the home of the trusted friend/relative. configure software (basically two clicks of a mouse) to allow incoming remote desktop connections. install software for all poker sites (e.g., party) on this computer.
4) from the states, connect to the canadian computer via Windows Remote Desktop and play poker/withdraw to neteller/etc. to hearts content.

Is this setup likely to get detected by the poker sites? Are there other issues such as will this setup be too slow to 8 table, etc.

I've left out the part about getting a canadian bank accnt. and related things because these are covered in other threads (if you are willing to go to canada to get the account and provide your friend/relative's address then no problem).

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Much of the discussion on becoming a virtual canadian has involved VPN/router config/etc., but for many of us technologically knowledgable non-experts, using Windows remote desktop might be a better (simpler, less fallible) option.

Can someone please point out any potential problems in the following:

1) Find a trusted friend or relative in canada (or use another country and substitute it throughout this example). Obviously this might be a non-starter for many, but for many others it will not pose a problem.
2) purchase a computer for ~ $1000 and install windows xp pro or windows server 2003. Set up this computer at the home of the trusted friend/relative. configure software (basically two clicks of a mouse) to allow incoming remote desktop connections. install software for all poker sites (e.g., party) on this computer.
4) from the states, connect to the canadian computer via Windows Remote Desktop and play poker/withdraw to neteller/etc. to hearts content.

Is this setup likely to get detected by the poker sites? Are there other issues such as will this setup be too slow to 8 table, etc.

I've left out the part about getting a canadian bank accnt. and related things because these are covered in other threads (if you are willing to go to canada to get the account and provide your friend/relative's address then no problem).

[/ QUOTE ]

I would assume that any program run from within a virtual machine would have a tough time determining if the pc on which the VM is running is being remotely controlled. Anyone more knowledgeable care to comment?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I would assume that any program run from within a virtual machine would have a tough time determining if the pc on which the VM is running is being remotely controlled.

[/ QUOTE ]

It'd be trivial to tell the machine is being controlled by RD (and btw, it is NOT a "virtual machine" in the example used). the output of the command netstat -n | find ":3389" would not only show if the XP/2k3 machine is being controlled by RD, but also by what (US) IP address. This is something any poker client could determine if they wanted to...not necessarilly by running netstat...standard system hooks can get the same info.

edit: I've also heard not all poker sites play smoothly enough via RD although I have no experience in that area. Why redirect everything that happens on the screen when all you need to do is redirect your network traffic? You'd still need to do router/firewall configuration to allow RD, so to me, a VPN still fits the KISS methodology.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I would assume that any program run from within a virtual machine would have a tough time determining if the pc on which the VM is running is being remotely controlled.

[/ QUOTE ]

It'd be trivial to tell the machine is being controlled by RD (and btw, it is NOT a "virtual machine" in the example used). the output of the command netstat -n | find ":3389" would not only show if the XP/2k3 machine is being controlled by RD, but also by what (US) IP address. This is something any poker client could determine if they wanted to...not necessarilly by running netstat...standard system hooks can get the same info.

edit: I've also heard not all poker sites play smoothly enough via RD although I have no experience in that area. Why redirect everything that happens on the screen when all you need to do is redirect your network traffic? You'd still need to do router/firewall configuration to allow RD, so to me, a VPN still fits the KISS methodology.

[/ QUOTE ]

BPN, what I'm referring to is a say XP machine running VMWare that has an virtual Win2k instance that is running a client. So in this case, can the client inside the VM tell that XP is running remote? Just double checking here that we are on the same page.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
BPN, what I'm referring to is a say XP machine running VMWare that has an virtual Win2k instance that is running a client. So in this case, can the client inside the VM tell that XP is running remote? Just double checking here that we are on the same page.


[/ QUOTE ]

k, I saw nothing in the OP that mentioned VMWare.

VMWare machines can't tell much of anything about the external environment other than the fact that it is a VMWare machine (due to unique traits used for networking to the host machine). If the host OS was RD'd into, and the VM was run inside it, then there would be no indication of where the machine was being controlled from. The only indication of the source of the RD connection would be on the host OS (XP in your example), the VM running 2k would give no tells other than that it is a VM.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BPN, what I'm referring to is a say XP machine running VMWare that has an virtual Win2k instance that is running a client. So in this case, can the client inside the VM tell that XP is running remote? Just double checking here that we are on the same page.


[/ QUOTE ]

k, I saw nothing in the OP that mentioned VMWare.

VMWare machines can't tell much of anything about the external environment other than the fact that it is a VMWare machine (due to unique traits used for networking to the host machine). If the host OS was RD'd into, and the VM was run inside it, then there would be no indication of where the machine was being controlled from. The only indication of the source of the RD connection would be on the host OS (XP in your example), the VM running 2k would give no tells other than that it is a VM.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I wasn't very clear in my first post. Anyways the VPN solution is probably more elegant, just throwing some ideas out and checking to see if my understanding was correct.

Also, I am not super familiar with remote pc control via windows/pcanywhere/whatever -- is there some way to adjust the rate at which the desktop is refreshed? For example if you are using macro express to control mouse movements you wouldn't need that frequent of screen refreshes. Just curious. Again, the VPN solution sounds like the way to go if one has sufficient technical knowledge.

Thanks for your replies.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Thanks for the helpful comments in this thread. I assume that if I tried to set up VPN that I would get most things right but probably one small thing wrong that would give me away and I could KISS a few grand goodbye.

Is there anything less technical than VPN? For example, I've seen it mentioned that a person might purchase a canadian ISP dial-up account and connect to it through vonage (which has free long-distance US to Canada). It would certainly be...ironic if I was paying for a cable internet connection (as i do now) and scaled that down to dial-up to play poker. But would it work?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Dialup over vonage or other VoIP system may or may not work reliably. Converting analog modem signals to digital for VoIP transport then back to analog either won't work at all, will only connect at low bit rates, or will drop more often than a plain ole telephone line. If you're lucky, then it could be stable enough to work, but it's a real sketchy method.

If you had a good long distance plan to Canada over a standard copper telephone line, then the dialup route would work as well as any other dialup service to the US. You may need to disconnect your local network cable to ensure the dialup gateway gets used as the default and not your cable connection.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Thanks for the heads-up. I think I will purchase a verizon unlimited long-distance plan (US, Canada) for $61 per month, and purchase a canadian ISP dial-up account for probably about $15/month. Dedicate a poker computer to this line (no high-speed line attached) and I am good to go, right?

So this setup costs app. $1000 per year (hell i pay over 10K per month just in rake). I recall that someone asked percula a question about the cost of setting up a reliable VPN and it seemed the costs far exceeded that. So why aren't US poker players simply going the (apparently) foolproof route of long-distance over copper-wire to canadian ISP? It just doesn't seem that important to have a high-speed connection to poker sites, which transmit relatively small amounts of data back and forth. Or am I wrong?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Although the setup would be higher for a VPN, the monthly runs $59/mo so it's actually cheaper in the long run, and faster...likely more stable, less lag than dialup, and just plain cool lol. Dialup should work fine tho....as good as it did before most everyone had broadband, anyway.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Oh, and hey here's another snag. I was looking at Verizon, ATT, etc. and they all state explicitly that the free calls to canada cannot be used to connect to canadian isp (and if you do connect, they will bill you something silly like $.10/minute). I called ATT and felt the rep out and got a clear impression that such an account trying to make long-distance data connections would be immediately 'audited' and converted.

So now I'm thinking that a calling card (at about $.01/minute) is the way to go. 40 hours/week works out to about 100 bucks per month. Yes, a bit expensive but i'd be willing to pay it if this solution was foolproof. Again, I'd love to hear comments about why THIS plan won't work before I actually try to implement it and get my money locked in limbo.

(PS Not sure why I mention this but I am a semi-regular poster/contributor to 2+2 mag and just registered a new nick because my 2+2 name was the same as username for a few poker sites i don't want to be banned from...please don't hate me because i'm a stranger!)

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

bah...no hate...non-copyrighted info is intended to be free [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

I see no reason for a calling card plan to "fail"....but it's paying more for less. A properly configured VPN solution won't put you in danger as best anyone knows (and there are people playing on VPN's as we speak). Even at a $500 setup.$60/mo, in 5 months that's $800. 5 months under your $0.02/min calling card plan at $200/mo is $1k.

I'm still a VPN fan. That's my $0.02. Everything changes, and I'm all for hearing better solutions...currently, I don't consider foreign dialup as a cost effective solution (unless you're lucky enough to have a vonage setup that works for alanog dialup reliably).

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

In the main proxy thread Freakin was asked the name of the easiest piece of software for VPNs that could be set up in 5-10 minutes that he had alluded to, and said "no comment". Would you care to comment? OpenVPN?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

Also for jackflash and others, am I right in saying to them that with either the solution he is proposing or a VPN one, you are basically putting in an extra hop in the internet routing between your PC and the poker site server. The difference though with either jackflash's solution and RDP of any kind, is that you are putting in a laggier and less stable hop, whereas with VPN you are putting in what should be a fast and totally stable (as well as secure) hop?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

If you've done a bunch of VPN installs then yeah, OpenVPN/OpenSwan/FreeSwan, etc would be old hack and simple to set up. 1st time tho? It could take weeks, months, or never depending on your VPN knowledge.

I think Net-to-Net IPCop box VPN's using a PSK (Pre-Shared Key) are super-easy to set up. Others prefer poptop on a Linux or Net/Free/OpenBSD system. Windows server 2k3 is fairly striaght forward for PPTP or even L2TP if you set up a certificate server. Running a hardware concatinator like a 1U cisco rack unit in a colo facility could easily handle numerous VPN clients of varying client software. Anyone proficient in any VPN methods could prolly set one up in minutes for the server-end if the hardware or server already is basically ready for VPN connections and merely new accounts need to be added.

"Easy" is a relative term. Sorry....this prolly wasn't the response you were looking for [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

I wasn't looking for a certain response, but just an answer to a question Freakin wouldn't answer. Your answer makes sense and it should be obvious that what is fast for someone with experience won't be fast for someone without it.

On another point that I don't think got covered in other threads, some people gave links for a couple canadian VPN providers where you can contract for your own dedicated server as well as a shared hosting solution. With those kind of VPN providers, is it correct to assume they are providing their customers with the client software as well as the server VPN software? I would think it is implied, as otherwise they wouldn't be a VPN service per se, but rather just another, albeit canadian, web host service.


jackflash,

I just thought of something else regarding your "simple" solutions, and that is that you will also obviously need a canadian email account that gets read as such. Possibly you could do this through google or yahoo canada, but it is worth noting that with either a packaged canadian VPN solution as I reference above in my question to BPN, or with your own where you set up same on a canadian web host, you will get several email accounts with same and they will obviously be recognized as canadian.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

basically, hosting companies give you a server. Period. Be it a linux, NetBSD, or Windows 2K3 server doesn't matter...they provide you the server of your choice. You then go in and configure it as needed....be it as a web server, mail server, DNS, VPN, Terminal Server, etc....bottom line is you (or your IT guy) takes the core OS and tweaks it to preform what you need.

In general hosting companies don't care what you use the servers for, although most of their customers are setting up websites. They usually frown on spam. I told a couple hosting companies *exactly* what I was planning on using their connection for....VPN access from the US to get a foreign IP to play poker to circumvent sites that banned US players. They didn't have a problem with it (although I had to paste some links to the law to reassure one of them).

I told them exactly what I was planning on doing, why, and for who (well...general description of player types, not like name/social/dob info lol), and haven't met any resistance. It's not like there's anything illegal being tried by the players, hosting companies, or setup guys.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Easy" is a relative term.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft. it seems to me that the calling card method is only paying more for less relative to the (1) risk i or someone i would hire would screw up VPN and get money locked, or (2) risk unexpected costs come up with VPN (e.g., i have to fly back to canada and tweak server settings or pay someone in canada to tweak these settings when something unexpected occurs).

since reading BPN and percula's comments in other threads, i've been convinced that vpn is the best solution in an ideal world (which will be the real world of some people). i'm not sure vpn is the best solution in my world and the world of many other technologically competent non-experts.

It seems to me that if the calling card method works, there are a few advantages, among them:

(1) anybody with even the slightest technological competence could use it immediately (takes about 5 minutes to purchase dial-up ISP access from anywhere in the world and an international calling card)
(2) gets around obstructions for any particular country (if a site blocked access from canadians tomorrow you just switch to mexico or wherever).

maybe the bottleneck is showing residency in the country from which one desires the IP address in order to cash out to a bank account in that country. some have stated that THIS is the biggest problem, but I'll qft one more time:

[ QUOTE ]
"Easy" is a relative term.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

You seem to be saying that a hosting company that advertises itself as a VPN solution, usually for enterprise purposes and not the ones we are talking about here, is not also providing the VPN software. That doesn't seem to make sense, as othewise they are just a web hosting outfit and wouldnt' need to advertise themselves as a VPN provider, except to list that as one possible use for their services.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
BPN,

You seem to be saying that a hosting company that advertises itself as a VPN solution, usually for enterprise purposes and not the ones we are talking about here, is not also providing the VPN software. That doesn't seem to make sense, as otherwise they are just a web hosting outfit and wouldn't need to advertise themselves as a VPN provider, except to list that as one possible use for their services.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you've found bona-fide VPN providers targeting the corp world, then go for them. I highly doubt that's the case, tho, as corp VPN's are typically used to gain access to their corp local network (file shares, network apps, etc). If you found a public service offering VPN's specifically, I'd guess it's findnot.com. They're bad news for a number of reasons I can go in to detail about if necessary.

I'm speaking from the perspective of VPN's I've set up. They've been from hosting companies offering virtual or dedicated servers, and primarily concentrated on web hosting solutions. If you have found other service providers then great....they may be viable options and may not even require much in the way of any special setups....like if someone offered VPN service through their network and you only had to download a certain VPN client to connect. Provided it's not a trojan'd download and is from a reputable company then cool....go for it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. I'll gladly review any specific site/company you have in mind and give you my $0.02....which you can read as law, toss in the garbage, or hold as one opinion from the jury you build [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. All I know is back in late September when I first started suggesting a VPN solution and before I did any setups for any players, I was just spitting out info. Once peeps started requesting specifics, I did some searches to find a VPN service company that sounded good....what I found was near nothing except places like findnot.com, which have several major red flags as reasons not to use them. I have not done a search in the past few months and there may be new services that have cropped up that I'm not aware of. I'm willing to get feedback and check out options and offer my thoughts free of charge. I think I'm going horizontal for the night right now tho....so PM or post here and I'll check it out tomorrow if you have something specific you're thinking of.

I'm still operating from the perspective of my rather disappointing search for VPN services last Sept/Oct.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

In the other thread regarding a link that a poster provide re a canadian hosting service, Freakin said the following:

" the most popular (and therefore cost-effective) VPS runs SWSoft Virtuozzo. The easiest piece of software to use to get VPNs set up in less than 5-10 minutes is not supported by virtuozzo. So a virtuozzo VPS will not work for easy setup of VPN servers (there are other options in both VPS and VPN service)".


Now in fact I haven't seen one that doesn't use Virtuozzo, although the same company, SWSoft, produces Plesk Reloaded which does distinctly state it has a VPN module to work with VPN software like OpenVPN (though I'm not sure if only the server has to be run on Linux or the client does as well).

Nonetheless, Freakin's response above seems to imply that although some VPN software isn't compatible with Virtuozzo, there is some that is, although I don't know which apps he means.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
BPN,

In the other thread regarding a link that a poster provide re a canadian hosting service, Freakin said the following:

" the most popular (and therefore cost-effective) VPS runs SWSoft Virtuozzo. The easiest piece of software to use to get VPNs set up in less than 5-10 minutes is not supported by virtuozzo. So a virtuozzo VPS will not work for easy setup of VPN servers (there are other options in both VPS and VPN service)".


Now in fact I haven't seen one that doesn't use Virtuozzo, although the same company, SWSoft, produces Plesk Reloaded which does distinctly state it has a VPN module to work with VPN software like OpenVPN (though I'm not sure if only the server has to be run on Linux or the client does as well).

Nonetheless, Freakin's response above seems to imply that although some VPN software isn't compatible with Virtuozzo, there is some that is, although I don't know which apps he means.

[/ QUOTE ]

Virtuozzo only works if the os on your server is linux, if you want win2k3 then you need somthing like microsoft virtual server.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

jamin,

My comments are as to what client software you need on the PC. Perhaps someone can comment on whether a Virtuozzo installation on the VPN server means that you have to run a linux client to run the VPN or can run a windows one.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
jamin,

My comments are as to what client software you need on the PC. Perhaps someone can comment on whether a Virtuozzo installation on the VPN server means that you have to run a linux client to run the VPN or can run a windows one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this what i was trying to say above

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
BPN,

In the other thread regarding a link that a poster provide re a canadian hosting service, Freakin said the following:

" the most popular (and therefore cost-effective) VPS runs SWSoft Virtuozzo. The easiest piece of software to use to get VPNs set up in less than 5-10 minutes is not supported by virtuozzo. So a virtuozzo VPS will not work for easy setup of VPN servers (there are other options in both VPS and VPN service)".


Now in fact I haven't seen one that doesn't use Virtuozzo, although the same company, SWSoft, produces Plesk Reloaded which does distinctly state it has a VPN module to work with VPN software like OpenVPN (though I'm not sure if only the server has to be run on Linux or the client does as well).

Nonetheless, Freakin's response above seems to imply that although some VPN software isn't compatible with Virtuozzo, there is some that is, although I don't know which apps he means.

[/ QUOTE ]

there are several major pieces of software that work on any linux box with an available IP.

The solution I refer to that will not work on Virtuozzo (last I checked) is trivial to set up, which is why I stick with it.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Do you have to be a Microsoft-certified engineer to make this project happen?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do you have to be a Microsoft-certified engineer to make this project happen?

[/ QUOTE ]

definitely not... im far from a MC anything and I've got it working...

My only problem is that i don't have any interest in running a business that involves recurring payments or customer support.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

The best way (in my opinion)to accomplish the network traffic redirect (without VPN/RDP)is through a socks proxy. I have done this before with CCProxy (Server) and SocksCap (Client). All you would need to do is configure the Proxy Server on a machine outside the US, and then run the Poker Site shortcut in Sockscap. Configuring the proxy is fairly simple and would require a port open on the firewall of the machine you are on. You could easily rent a cheap offshore dedicated server for 50-100$ a month and accomplish this.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The best way (in my opinion)to accomplish the network traffic redirect (without VPN/RDP)is through a socks proxy. I have done this before with CCProxy (Server) and SocksCap (Client). All you would need to do is configure the Proxy Server on a machine outside the US, and then run the Poker Site shortcut in Sockscap. Configuring the proxy is fairly simple and would require a port open on the firewall of the machine you are on. You could easily rent a cheap offshore dedicated server for 50-100$ a month and accomplish this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Proxies only forward TCP traffic, typically only on http ports (80 & 443). Party phones home on another UDP port. Any gaming site could add this capability (or change the port) at will via a poker client update. While it is true that you can connect to Party and play through a foreign proxy, be aware they know full well your connection is coming from a computer in the US and is running through a proxy.

I don't know their motives in allowing proxy play currently, but I wouldn't be surprised if funds were seized at some point. Proxies work, but at higher risk IMO. Personally, I'd opt to not play if a proxy was my only option.

Proxies would be fine for web interfaces to sportsbooks tho, since there is no client software being used.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCKS

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The best way (in my opinion)to accomplish the network traffic redirect (without VPN/RDP)is through a socks proxy. I have done this before with CCProxy (Server) and SocksCap (Client). All you would need to do is configure the Proxy Server on a machine outside the US, and then run the Poker Site shortcut in Sockscap. Configuring the proxy is fairly simple and would require a port open on the firewall of the machine you are on. You could easily rent a cheap offshore dedicated server for 50-100$ a month and accomplish this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Proxies only forward TCP traffic, typically only on http ports (80 & 443). Party phones home on another UDP port. Any gaming site could add this capability (or change the port) at will via a poker client update. While it is true that you can connect to Party and play through a foreign proxy, be aware they know full well your connection is coming from a computer in the US and is running through a proxy.

I don't know their motives in allowing proxy play currently, but I wouldn't be surprised if funds were seized at some point. Proxies work, but at higher risk IMO. Personally, I'd opt to not play if a proxy was my only option.

Proxies would be fine for web interfaces to sportsbooks tho, since there is no client software being used.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

I'm well aware of SOCKS proxies...their capabilities AND their drawbacks. I was pointing out a drawback. I'll say again: Proxies do NOT forward all ports used on all protocols by all poker clients.

Edit: I just fired up Party twice back to back. One time it established a TCP connection on a non-web port to 2 different Party servers (in addition to normal table traffic). The other time it only connected on TCP 443 (standard HTTPS port). I did not see the UDP traffic I had seen earlier. Either way, it is quite obvious Party uses ports that generally are not going through a proxy.

Granted, extra configuration could be done to add more ports to redirect...so tell me, what additional ports and protocols would you propose to forward via a proxy for this to be a low/no risk solution?

I just do not see a proxy solution as being "safe" at all. Yes, you can connect and play via a proxy. Yes, Party *WILL* know your real US IP address via non-web connections. I don't see it being worth the risk, but I do have lower risk tolerance than many.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]

so tell me, what additional ports and protocols would you propose to forward via a proxy for this to be a low/no risk solution?


[/ QUOTE ]

um, all?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]
um, all?

[/ QUOTE ]

lol....10-4 on a VPN

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

I've got some questions on this last exchange here:

1) Can the socks proxy indeed be used and configured so that all ports/protocols are routed through that proxy? And how much effort is involved in same (i.e. do you manually have to list all such or can you just check "all"?)?

2) If the answer to #1 is yes, is your last post basically saying that you might as well just use a VPN in that case, and if so why?

3) Are you saying that right now with a less robust configuration through socks, party is ignoring information from other port connects that would determine a user is from the US? I ask this because you say above you don't understand their motivations in allowing proxy play.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Why are people still discussing proxies? What advantage do they have over VPNs?

Am I missing something?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

Freakin,

That was why I asked the questions above.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

IMO any method that involves installing software on the host or adding special settings likely is going to eventually fail based on Kyleb's statements.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BT:

1) No. All ports/protocols cannot be redirected through a proxy.

2) N/A

3) I wouldn't say Party is *ignoring* the info. They are certainly aware of it. Judging by their actions, they don't seem to be doing anything actively about it....perhaps just flagging accounts (or for the tin foil hat crowd, perhaps they're waiting until the accouts reach a certain level to confiscate funds due to violating T&C.

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

BPN,

Thanks for your reply. Re #3 so I guess they keep the US losers for their euro/canad customers and dump the sharks [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]?

Re: KISS principal: Virtual Canadian via Remote Desktop?
 

[ QUOTE ]

It seems to me that if the calling card method works, there are a few advantages, among them:

(1) anybody with even the slightest technological competence could use it immediately (takes about 5 minutes to purchase dial-up ISP access from anywhere in the world and an international calling card)
(2) gets around obstructions for any particular country (if a site blocked access from canadians tomorrow you just switch to mexico or wherever).


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll just throw this out there, but I tried doing this once during a period of a few months when I was travelling around the country. I wanted to use a calling card to connect my laptop to my home isp (back when we only had dial-up) from various hotel rooms (back before most hotels had some sort of internet connection available).

It was a huge headache because most cards involve a few steps before dialing a number. You have to call the 1-800 #, sometimes choose a language/menu option, then dial the number you want. At each point you have to wait some amount of time before the next step. All of this is difficult to configure in your dial up settings. There is a character you can enter telling it to wait that helped, but I don't think I ever got it to work properly. If I did, it was still a huge pain, and I ended up using the AOL free trial disks since they had local access numbers from most places in Canada. But that option won't help you.