I hate how the ‘VPN’ term has been took over by companies selling services using VPN technology.
Agreed. What they’re really selling is a proxy service, I don’t know why that term isn’t used. The fact that VPN software is used to establish that proxy isn’t relevant, the end result is a proxy.
How is the term “proxy” more appropriate though? It’s also the technical name for a concept that already exists. VPNs are by definition broader in scope than proxies, they work at a lower level of the networking stack and have different capabilities even if most people don’t take full advantage of it. Anyway the point is that it’s not a more appropriate term.
AFAIK the only thing VPN providers let you do, like SurfShark, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, ProtonVPN etc., is to route all of your outgoing traffic through their servers. They don’t allow you e.g. to be in the the same fake LAN as a friend, which is what a VPN does.
They don’t allow you e.g. to be in the the same fake LAN as a friend, which is what a VPN does.
That’s not what a VPN does, that’s what a VPN can do, if desired. What a VPN does is set up an encrypted tunnel between you and some remote network. That’s it. How that remote network is laid out, how the traffic (and also what kind of traffic) is routed into/through/out of that network, and what the clients are allowed to do within are entirely up to the wishes of the network’s owner. It might very well choose to isolate you from all the other clients on the network; that’s not just a possibility, it’s actually one of VPN’s most important, most useful features.
That’s pretty much what those commercial “VPN” providers offer.
Those commercial VPN providers offer you a fully encrypted tunnel that you can route all your network traffic through if you wish. It’s just that people don’t generally use it as anything more than just a proxy. Still, the connection is a textbook VPN connection, it’s there, and it’s capable of things a regular proxy is not, if you choose to make use of them.
if I understand you correctly, these are my takeaways from your words: a VPN is a “swiss army knife” for remote networking, and can be used in a variety of configurations. The configuration may reveal clients to reach other, and may allow tunneling general internet traffic through it. Okay, I accept that correction. I’ll note that Nord/Express/Proton/etcVPN only offer one configuration, so they don’t live up to the broad capabilities of a VPN, they only offer one very specific option. This is not a complaint about the services, just about terminology.
Those commercial VPN providers offer you a fully encrypted tunnel that you can route all your network traffic through if you wish.
Isn’t this the definition of a tunneling proxy that I quoted?
It’s just that people don’t generally use it as anything more than just a proxy.
From the previous sentence, they use it as a proxy because that’s literally the only thing it can be used as. And I do mean literally.
Agreed. What they’re really selling is a proxy service, I don’t know why that term isn’t used. The fact that VPN software is used to establish that proxy isn’t relevant, the end result is a proxy.
How is the term “proxy” more appropriate though? It’s also the technical name for a concept that already exists. VPNs are by definition broader in scope than proxies, they work at a lower level of the networking stack and have different capabilities even if most people don’t take full advantage of it. Anyway the point is that it’s not a more appropriate term.
AFAIK the only thing VPN providers let you do, like SurfShark, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, ProtonVPN etc., is to route all of your outgoing traffic through their servers. They don’t allow you e.g. to be in the the same fake LAN as a friend, which is what a VPN does.
Quote from Wikipedia:
That’s pretty much what those commercial “VPN” providers offer.
That’s not what a VPN does, that’s what a VPN can do, if desired. What a VPN does is set up an encrypted tunnel between you and some remote network. That’s it. How that remote network is laid out, how the traffic (and also what kind of traffic) is routed into/through/out of that network, and what the clients are allowed to do within are entirely up to the wishes of the network’s owner. It might very well choose to isolate you from all the other clients on the network; that’s not just a possibility, it’s actually one of VPN’s most important, most useful features.
Those commercial VPN providers offer you a fully encrypted tunnel that you can route all your network traffic through if you wish. It’s just that people don’t generally use it as anything more than just a proxy. Still, the connection is a textbook VPN connection, it’s there, and it’s capable of things a regular proxy is not, if you choose to make use of them.
if I understand you correctly, these are my takeaways from your words: a VPN is a “swiss army knife” for remote networking, and can be used in a variety of configurations. The configuration may reveal clients to reach other, and may allow tunneling general internet traffic through it. Okay, I accept that correction. I’ll note that Nord/Express/Proton/etcVPN only offer one configuration, so they don’t live up to the broad capabilities of a VPN, they only offer one very specific option. This is not a complaint about the services, just about terminology.
Isn’t this the definition of a tunneling proxy that I quoted?
From the previous sentence, they use it as a proxy because that’s literally the only thing it can be used as. And I do mean literally.