VPN Anonymity: How to Make a VPN Undetectable?

How Online Services Detect VPN Connections

Most online services and organizations block VPN connections due to various reasons. To know the VPN traffic to block, online services and organizations use mechanisms that employ the following techniques.

1. Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)

This advanced VPN detection and blocking technique is usually used in countries with heavy censorship and VPN restrictions.

Internet Service Providers (ISP) in these countries are tasked with detecting and blocking VPN connections using DPI.

This technique does a detailed inspection of connections and usually looks at the packet metadata. VPN packets usually contain metadata that give away VPN information.

Depending on the set rules, DPI can detect ports and protocols. If the rules are set to block VPN ports and protocols, then the VPN connection will be blocked.

An exemplary implementation of DPI is used in The Great Firewall of China. This is why bypassing the firewall using ordinary VPN connections is challenging.

2. VPN IP Address Blacklists

Organizations and online services such as streaming platforms use this method to detect and block VPN connections.

Usually, they have a system that keeps track of VPN IP addresses and blacklists them. When a user tries to access the service using a blacklisted IP address, the system knows it is a VPN connection and denies access.

Some systems are also designed to detect and block suspicious connections from VPNs. For instance, Netflix can know that a particular IP address belongs to a VPN by the sheer number of users connecting through the same IP address.

Check out our article about how to unblock Netflix with a VPN.

This is possible since VPNs use shared IP addresses to bolster privacy. If Netflix detects a VPN IP address, they block the whole range of IP addresses provided by the VPN server.

In a short time, Netflix can blacklist all IP addresses offered by a particular VPN service. This is why free VPNs and VPNs with a smaller network cannot unblock Netflix.

3. Location-based Services

Location-based services such as the GPS on your devices give out your actual location when requested by online services.

Since these services are hardware-based, they override geo-location provided by other means, such as IP addresses.

For instance, if your GPS says you are in the UK and you connect through a VPN server based in the US, online services are likely to pick the UK location.

Sometimes your connection will appear suspicious and online service will know you are using a VPN and deny you access to content.

This is why it is easier to bypass streaming geo-restrictions on desktop computers than on smartphones.

How to Make a VPN Undetectable

You can use various methods and VPN aspects to make your VPN connections undetectable to online services and organizations.

Before you can use the following methods to make your VPN connection undetectable, you must first have a premium and reliable VPN.

A premium VPN provides features that allow you to make its connection undetectable. Usually, a premium VPN has an extensive server network and updates its IP addresses regularly.

This ensures it beats low-level detection and blocking techniques like IP address blacklisting.

Additionally, a premium VPN offers a money-back guarantee. This guarantee allows you to test the VPN without incurring any cost.

Therefore, you can test if the VPN can bypass online restrictions without committing to a subscription.

If you have a premium VPN, let’s proceed with making it undetectable.

1. Use Obfuscation Features

VPN connections entail heavy encryption, and that’s how some systems and services detect them.

Obfuscation encapsulates VPN packets with SSL/SSH encryption. This additional encryption makes the VPN traffic look like regular internet traffic.

Other obfuscation techniques scramble the VPN encryption metadata; thus, the VPN packets will look like regular secure internet traffic (HTTPS) packets.

Concisely, obfuscation hides VPN encryption metadata from the VPN packets. To use the obfuscation feature, you need to enable it in your VPN settings.

Some premium VPNs won’t have the obfuscation feature on the settings. They might instead offer obfuscation-specialized servers such as NordVPN.

Other VPNs, such as Surfshark and ExpressVPN, offer obfuscation on their servers by default. For obfuscation to work effectively, you must use the OpenVPN TCP protocol.

2. Change the VPN Protocol

Protocols define how VPN connections are made. Protocols determine which port will be used and how encryption will be done.
Therefore, some protocols can be easily detected, while others bypass blocking mechanisms.

Commonly used protocols to bypass VPN detections on premium VPNs include OpenVPN, WireGuard, and other proprietary protocols.

OpenVPN TCP works effectively, but you need to use it with obfuscation or pair it with port 443 to bypass DPI.

WireGuard runs connections over UDP, which is easily blocked. However, VPNs can implement WireGuard to use UDP ports that are not blocked by firewalls.

Other configurations can tunnel WireGuard using TCP. In most cases, WireGuard can bypass VPN detection and blocks.

3. Use Unblocked Ports

There are universal ports that, if blocked, will cause detrimental effects on networks, including the internet. One of the ports that are rarely blocked is port 443.

This port is used to make secure internet connections (HTTPS); thus, blocking it might break internet access on various services and organizations.

Therefore, it is imperative to use this port to make your VPN undetectable. Usually, this port works with OpenVPN TCP and SSTP.

Some premium VPNs, such as Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN, allow you to change the default OpenVPN TCP port, and port 443 is among the options.

4. Use SSH Tunnel

This tech-savvy technique allows you to route your VPN traffic through another device. For instance, you can forward your VPN traffic from your work computer to your home computer.

Thus, the SSH tunnel bypasses blocks and will seem like regular internet traffic. However, SSH tunneling impacts your internet speeds.

It is recommended to use it with high-speed networks or for go online activities that require fast speeds, such as gaming, streaming, or VoIP.

5. Use a Dedicated VPN IP Address

VPN-shared IP addresses are a double-edged sword. They help boost VPN privacy but are also easy to detect and blacklist.

Most services that have blacklist IP checklists won’t allow VPN connections. This is why you can’t access most streaming services and sensitive online details, and you will even run into captchas every time you do a google search.

To make your VPN undetectable, you will have to sacrifice privacy and use a dedicated IP address. To ensure your privacy is still protected, use a premium VPN.

Dedicated IP addresses are rarely blocked because they are not shared among users; hence online services rarely associate them with VPNs.

Other than making your VPN connection undetectable, a dedicated IP address can also be used for remote access, accessing bank services, and other services that restrict shared IP addresses.

Premium VPNs may offer a free dedicated IP address for a single account. Other premium VPNs provide dedicated IP addresses for an additional subscription cost.

You can get a static or dynamic dedicated IP address depending on the VPN provider.

6. Turn Off Location Services

Location services such as GPS will give away your actual geo-location even when you are using a VPN.

Location services make it easier for online platforms to know that you are using a VPN. Always turn off your GPS when using a VPN to access geo-restricted content.

You can also disable location permissions on various platforms that you need to unblock. For best results, use a desktop browser to unblock geo-restricted content when using a VPN. Remember to clear the browser cache.

Wrap Up

A premium VPN is your best approach when you want to make your VPN connection undetectable.

Premium VPNs are reliable and offer features such as obfuscation, secure protocols, port configuration, a large fleet of servers, and other privacy and security features.