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casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,439
5,587
Horsens, Denmark
What exactly are you asking? It's just a personal VPN system limited to 1 device setups.
Of course it's legal. Why wouldn't it be?
The point is to, for example, access your home network from afar
As for safety and security, it is closed source software and they even say it contacts their servers to check for pairing permissions - I would probably look for an open source solution if it were me, but if their FAQs don't lie, yeah, it's safe and secure. It's encrypted between devices according to them.

I wouldn't put too much into them saying they patented it though. I couldn't find the actual patent but I assume A) it's pending and not granted, and 2) It's very specifically about this way of connecting and nothing actually technologically interesting, because all the concepts they utilise are perfectly common techniques. VPNs are nothing new, and neither is peer-to-peer connections. And their server in the middle validating pairing is more a downside than an upside in my book.
Regarding hotspot data, you will still be limited to whatever phone subscription you have for traffic from your operator, but if they have specific caps for certain services or something weird like that, then yeah, this would circumvent that detection like any other VPN would. - What does hotspot have to do with it though? Is this one of those weird US operator things again, like how Unlimited apparently doesn't always mean unlimited over there?
 

BrianBaughn

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2011
9,646
2,416
Baltimore, Maryland
Good answer from casperes1996.

I don't see the word "unlimited" anywhere on that site.

If you VPN from your mobile device back to your computer at home the data is protected from whatever network your mobile device connected to. However, whatever you do on the internet through that VPN connection would be in plain site of your home internet provider.
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
2,027
Sorry I am talking about how it lets you get full high speed hotspot with any US provider easily.

No slow down.
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
2,027
The site doesn't mention anything about that that I saw. And even if it did, I wouldn't put any substance to such promotion rhetoric as talk like that is meaningless drivel and not accurate.

You are mistaken.

 

MacCheetah3

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2003
2,107
1,079
Central MN
Is it possible? Yes. However, I am extremely skeptical of the claim — and yes, I read the entire page.

Even if it did work, PariVPN’s claim assumes your wireless plan in general is “unlimited.” Additionally, at least in the U.S., there’s still a ‘soft’ cap/limitation. For example:

At T-Mobile unlimited is truly unlimited. No overages or data caps apply on our network. Data prioritization will only be noticeable when you access a congested tower and have used over 50GB of data in a particular billing cycle. You will continue to get unlimited high speed data on your smartphone when you aren’t accessing a congested tower. In that way it’s different from data throttling, which slows you down for the remainder of your bill cycle regardless of network conditions, all the time.
 

Bacong

macrumors 68030
Mar 7, 2009
2,607
1,109
Westland, Michigan
Is it possible? Yes. However, I am extremely skeptical of the claim — and yes, I read the entire page.

Even if it did work, PariVPN’s claim assumes your wireless plan in general is “unlimited.” Additionally, at least in the U.S., there’s still a ‘soft’ cap/limitation. For example:

dodging this is specifically what this program is for.
 

MacCheetah3

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2003
2,107
1,079
Central MN
dodging this is specifically what this program is for.
That’s not how I see it.

Preface:

• When Mobile Hotspot is enabled, your smartphone also becomes a Wi-Fi router.
• When a router packages data, it adds the To and From address plus an identifier for the tethered/attached/connected device (e.g., PC, gaming console, tablet), much like a suite/apartment/unit number appended to a physical street address.
• A commercial or similar VPN service (e.g., NordVPN) packages the data from your PC, tablet, etc to one of their data centers. At the data center, each data packet is repackaged in a new envelope with a new return address, the data center’s address appended with a temporary, random identifier. This seemingly obscure ID allows the data center to transmit data (back) to your device but essentially makes it impossible, or at least extraordinarily difficult, to know where the data is going, truly originated (i.e., anonymity).
• The presence of the ID or any additional marker, no matter how obscure, still provides a means for handlers and the destination/receiver to be aware/assume there’s some type of unknown relay in the transfer path. This is evident when some websites/services show “Checking your connection” or a gateway error only when you’re utilizing a VPN.

Regarding PairVPN...

PairVPN said:
Simply follow these steps:

  • Turn on Mobile Hotspot from the Settings app on iPhone or Android, and connect your computer or tablet (the client device). Verify Internet is working.
  • Install the "PairVPN" app on both sides (from app store or pairvpn.com). Run client mode on the computer/tablet device and server mode on your phone. (Don't choose the opposite mode!)
  • Pair the two devices(once) and Connect PairVPN.
This local VPN connection will pass all network traffics from the computer/tablet device through your phone's data connection.
To me, this describes PairVPN simply creating a VPN between your smartphone and tablet, laptop, etc. Basically, it’s trying to make it appear when Internet browsing on your laptop, for example, you’re browsing on your phone. However, there’s still the problem stated in point four under Preface.

Once again, even if PairVPN is able to fool the wireless carrier monitoring system into believing none of the network traffic is coming from a tethered device, you still have the overall limit. In other words, for example, downloading 50GB of data on your laptop, even if the provider thinks the laptop is your iPhone, is still 50GB of data transfer. You can’t hide that fact.
 
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casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,439
5,587
Horsens, Denmark
• A commercial or similar VPN service (e.g., NordVPN) packages the data from your PC, tablet, etc to one of their data centers. At the data center, each data packet is repackaged in a new envelope with a new return address, the data center’s address appended with a temporary, random identifier. This seemingly obscure ID allows the data center to transmit data (back) to your device but essentially makes it impossible, or at least extraordinarily difficult, to know where the data is going, truly originated (i.e., anonymity).

I would argue that to a large extent it’s a false sense of anonymity. Yeah IP tracking falls apart a bit but fingerprinting doesn’t. And fingerprinting has gotten powerful. With DrawnApart even small manufacturing differences in your gpu can help fingerprint you
 
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MacCheetah3

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2003
2,107
1,079
Central MN
I would argue that to a large extent it’s a false sense of anonymity. Yeah IP tracking falls apart a bit but fingerprinting doesn’t. And fingerprinting has gotten powerful. With DrawnApart even small manufacturing differences in your gpu can help fingerprint you
I agree. Tracking has gone far beyond TCP/IP-related identification. I use a VPN sometimes but don’t believe it provides a major hurdle for fingerprinting/tracking. In the realm of paranoia, I can’t imagine my Internet activity being captivating enough.
 
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casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,439
5,587
Horsens, Denmark
I agree. Tracking has gone far beyond TCP/IP-related identification. I use a VPN sometimes but don’t believe it provides a major hurdle for fingerprinting/tracking. In the realm of paranoia, I can’t imagine my Internet activity being captivating enough.
Yeah; I've just been rather annoyed by countless ads on YouTube by VPN providers talking about the "security and privacy" factor. Unless your ISP is the worry, it's hardly going to be that much more private to route your traffic through another company. There are valid use cases for VPNs but the advertisements strategies have annoyed me
 
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max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
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Yeah; I've just been rather annoyed by countless ads on YouTube by VPN providers talking about the "security and privacy" factor. Unless your ISP is the worry, it's hardly going to be that much more private to route your traffic through another company. There are valid use cases for VPNs but the advertisements strategies have annoyed me
Same.
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
2,027
Yeah; I've just been rather annoyed by countless ads on YouTube by VPN providers talking about the "security and privacy" factor. Unless your ISP is the worry, it's hardly going to be that much more private to route your traffic through another company. There are valid use cases for VPNs but the advertisements strategies have annoyed me

I don't see ads but that sounds weird.
 

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,439
5,587
Horsens, Denmark
After 40 GB or 50 GB of data usage
Right, well that ought to happen even with a VPN. If it's the amount of data used, the VPN can't do anything about it. The data has to travel through the carrier. The only difference would be that instead of seeing traffic to/from, let's say Netflix, the carrier would see the traffic as going through the VPN
I don't see ads but that sounds weird.
Well, it's not ads from YouTube; It's countless sponsored videos from tech YouTUbers. Used to be worse but it's still prevalent
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
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The only way a VPN is affecting data used is if it is similar to an RDP - where you’re watching a video of another computer pulling web requests. That and/or a web proxy of sorts that caches data. I know AdGuard Pro claims to do this but it takes many months of usage to see gigs of traffic savings.

But yes, normal VPN? You won’t see any savings so any claim of this is unrealistic.
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
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The only way a VPN is affecting data used is if it is similar to an RDP - where you’re watching a video of another computer pulling web requests. That and/or a web proxy of sorts that caches data. I know AdGuard Pro claims to do this but it takes many months of usage to see gigs of traffic savings.

But yes, normal VPN? You won’t see any savings so any claim of this is unrealistic.

Ok. That is not what the point of this is. (PairVPN)
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
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I wonder what the worst that could happen for using PairVPN to get around the hotspot high speed internet speed limit data usage of 40 GB or 50 GB (Depending on if you have Unlmited Elite grandfathered or new Unlimited Premium tier) ?
 

svenmany

macrumors demi-god
Jun 19, 2011
2,027
1,315
How does this exist ?

Is it legal ?

Does it really work? If so whats the point ?


Certainly my old plan with Verizon had different limits for when the phone is used as a hotspot versus when the phone is the original source of the data - the hotspot limits were far lower. So, if they can somehow convince the cell provider that the traffic is originating from the phone, rather than a tethered computer, then you would benefit.

I don't know if it works perfectly, though I suspect it does for basic kinds of traffic. Their iPhone application probably makes itself the originator of the traffic. Essentially they're replacing the iPhones masquerading firewall with their own. Apple's firewall probably marks the outgoing packets so that the carrier knows they are from a tethered device. The PairVPN application wouldn't do that.

Like you, I also wonder if it's legal. I suspect your carrier would drop you if they discovered the exploit.
 
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