Free VPN "Hotspot Shield" Bandwith Fix Tutorial

[kazuya]

Hotspot Shield is essentially a free private secure VPN tunnel service that routes through a US server with USA location IP address. And thus, it has been used not only for security unencrypted wireless connection connected to public WiFi access point, but also been used as a tool to access websites restricted only to visitors from United States, or as a ‘proxy’ to surf anonymously or download shared files from RapidShare, MegaUpload, etc.

Unfortunately, Hotspot Shield now limit the free bandwidth usage (data that been transmitted and tunneled through AnchorFree VPN server) to paltry 5GB over a rolling 30 days period.


>>Download Hotspot Shield<< (http://hotspotshield.com/downloads/thank-you)

Hotspot Shield is quite simple to use. Just download Hotspot Shield (less than 1MB) and install. You can either run “Hotspot Shield Launch” shortcut from desktop or start menu and you’ll notice a shield icon appear at your tray. Your default web browser will open up Hotspot Shield by AnchorFree page. To connect to Hotspot Shield VPN server, you can either right click the tray icon and select Connect or click the big “Run Hotspot Shield” button at the webpage. When you’re connected, you’ll see a similar page like the image below.


http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4928/255p.png

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9073/125iox.png

Hotspot Shield service is totally free. If you wonder how can they run their servers to provide you with such service, well, they are funded by advertisements and that can get annoying.To disable that install ADBLOCK PlUS on Firefox.

Now to the point,
When the bandwidth limit exceeded, user may get one of the following error messages when attempting to connect to Hotspot Shield VPN server:

State: Disconnected (Auth Failure)

State: Disconnected (Bandwidth Exceeded)

State: Daemon Start Error

State: TCP Connect Wait

Hotspot Shield does not require user accounts which means that they must have different means to track user bandwidth.The Mac address is being used by Hotspot Shield to keep track of the bandwidth usage.The only thing left to do would be to change the MAC address to another one which would basically mean that the counter would be reset to 0 again and that the user could use another 5 Gigabytes with Hotspot Shield.

Now i will not write how to change Mac address sine we have here alredy a good tutorial about that:


>>How to change or spoof Mac address<< (http://www.sb-innovation.de/f59/how-change-spoof-mac-address-9761/)

Hotspot Shield is a easy and free way to surf anonymously trough web,web surfing speed is not bad,it's only about 20% slower then your real speed,much better then public proxy's ,only downloading is little to slow about 30-100 kB/s.

[anon]

Thanks for the info. I used to have HSS installed in my PC after finding out it was my ISP that was shaping P2P traffic, rather than slow downloads from public trackers. It worked very well and I could reach decent speeds with it, but it NATs you, and its IPs are banned from a lot of private trackers and eD2k servers (most likely for being an "anonymizer").

I stumbled upon the "Auth Failure" error one day, and had to work around it myself :biggrin: v0.936 didn't have this issue at all, but they changed their server IP ranges quite recently, so that using that version results on a "you're using an old version. Upgrade!" sort of message if you try to surf.

Tip: all the new server IPs resolve to hss.anchorfree.net, so commenting (put a # behind them) all lines starting with remote in v0.936's config file and adding this one:

remote hss.anchorfree.net 8044
should work - but I haven't tried it.

The program itself is based on a custom version of OpenVPN, so if you play around with registry keys and OVPN-GUI, you should be able to use it without the Web UI or that shield tray icon.

This is a great way to bypass geographical restrictions and enter sites such as Hulu or Pandora! :top:

[kazuya]

hmm i copied some files from Hotspot Shield folders "driver","bin" and "config" to same folders in OpenVPN.In Hotspot "bin" folder i just left openvpntray.exe and tapinstall.exe all other just copy to openvpn "bin" folder.and you need to rename config.hvpn to config.ovpn,just replace letter h with o.run openVPN ,right click on tray icon ,config,connect.there will be no more web interface and ads:wink2:


http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9766/77023660.png

[anon]

Exactly what I have done as well. :top: Glad you found the way. :smile:

[Help me please]

Hey I cant get HSS or OpenVPN to work. When I try using OpenVPN this comes up

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx141/Nidocin/untitled2.jpg

And when I try to connect with HSS this happens

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx141/Nidocin/untitled.jpg

Please help me you two I can tell you are both very good at this. What do I need to do to fix it?

[anon]

Can you post the contents of your OpenVPN config file? Remember to use the QUOTE or CODE tags.

[Horatio24]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I've been trying to use this to bypass throttling and I can't do it. Are there any tutorials on how to set this up with utorrent?

[anon]

Set this up "with" uTorrent? This is a VPN. Connect to it and all traffic will be tunneled through HSS's servers.

[Horatio24]

But I can't download any torrents when I have it on, thats what I meant.

[anon]

What's the "tracker status"?

[Horatio24]

Tracker status says proxy connect error

[anon]

Disable proxies in uTorrent if there are any.

Also, are you using the official installer or the method kazuya mentioned in post #3?

[Horatio24]

Yeah, running it now and all my torrents are red

[anon]

If you can browse while Hotspot Shield is running , then most likely the tracker is blocking HSS IPs. (There's nothing you can do about this. It may also be the opposite, HSS blocking trackers to save bandwidth, I haven't used this in a long time)

[th_wolfgang]

Hallo,

@anon, please can you give me the old Version of Hotspot shield and the Registry key's, for Hotspot not will be STOP and ask for "Download the new Version" Ads and Blocks, from Hotspot shield not remove on my PC with this.... :frown:

Sorry for the bad English and thank's
Wolfi

[anon]

Sure, here you are:

http://webo.com.hk/download.php?i=59320

Make sure you read post #2 or else this version will be just as useless.

[zup]

Sure, here you are:

http://webo.com.hk/download.php?i=59320

Make sure you read post #2 or else this version will be just as useless.

@anon: The link is dead. Could you reupload version 0.936 to somewhere else, e.g. rapidshare or megaupload? Thanks in advance.

[anon]

It works fine for me, but here you go:

http://www.mediafire.com/?imgynzmxizn

[Unregistered]

Talking of torrenting, the issue I now get, just after installing Hotspot Shield, is "Error (access denied, banned client)". It wasn't banned ten minutes ago, so I can only assume Hotspot Shield has changed some setting somewhere. Anyone got any helping ideas?

[anon]

There's no way HSS could have changed your client's ID, in most cases you can't do that even from within the program. I guess that's another way to say "your IP is banned".

[thecoolest]

i use openvpn it works like charm...i also make to bypass some special sites..too

i m working with it now ... recently..works amazing..

using vpn to bypass some special sites & most of all to come here secretly..lol

[anon]

using vpn to bypass some special sites & most of all to come here secretly..lol

Huh?

[saebrtooth]

thecooles, umm I dont think it illegal to come here on sbi

[thecoolest]

lol...my ip is caught by any site ...if i didnt use openvpn ..i just do it to access sb-i site..for more news on cheat..all that

[anon]

I don't get it... how is using your real IP on SB-I a risk? We aren't even logging them. :unsure:

[thecoolest]

still some trackers tracked me ...thats why..i m using this..also using iron with incognito..better privacy is good...
:biggrin:

[anon]

still some trackers tracked me ...thats why..

CSS leak?

But OK then, do as you please.

[thecoolest]

nope not with css leak they are watching the ip that connects to site as moderator told me when blocking me ..

after all 1 thing i got which is working..also some ip (coz of proxy using by others banned on sb-i)so this is the best option for me to get into

[anon]

they are watching the ip that connects to site as moderator told me

Well, that's not true. :dry:

[thecoolest]

yup...he gets my ip..then match it with my site addresss & also after it..catch my mratio too with speeds...

[anon]

yup...he gets my ip..

No, he doesn't - not even Mods here can get your IP :rolleyes:

[thecoolest]

but as the moderator told me the perfect specs which i was using ...but its k..i dont want that site either...from now on i try my best for it to hide....& clear all css leaks too:wink:

[anon]

but as the moderator told me the perfect specs which i was using ...

Which can be achieved by looking at the HTTP headers you send plus JavaScript.

[thecoolest]

yup..maybe..i have no idea about it..coz i m not that kinda whole pc programming geek ..lol...

[famtastic]

Hello, Im not able to connect to hotspot sheild V1.49, using XP and Mcafee antivirus, i get the following error
C:\DOCUME~1\Freek\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER8f63.dir00\open vpn.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\Freek\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER8f63.dir00\appc ompat.txt

[anon]

i get the following error
C:\DOCUME~1\Freek\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER8f63.dir00\open vpn.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\Freek\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER8f63.dir00\appc ompat.txt

That's not an error, that's a list of files. :unsure:

[Vation]

Does Hotspot Shield have bandwidth limit?

No. You can use Hotspot Shield as much as you would like.

Source = Hotspot Shield Facebook profile/Hotspot Shield FAQ:
Hotspot Shield FAQ | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AnchorFree?v=app_7146470109)

[anon]

That's a Facebook link, don't make me click it. Post a screenshot. :wsmile:

Anyway, if that page is official, they must have removed the 5GB/month/MAC limitation. Many people didn't know they could bypass that by changing their MAC, so prepare for the extra load...

A lot of people in the Middle East and Asia use HSS to bypass their countries' filters.

[Unregistered]

hmm i copied some files from Hotspot Shield folders "driver","bin" and "config" to same folders in OpenVPN.In Hotspot "bin" folder i just left openvpntray.exe and tapinstall.exe all other just copy to openvpn "bin" folder.and you need to rename config.hvpn to config.ovpn,just replace letter h with o.run openVPN ,right click on tray icon ,config,connect.there will be no more web interface and ads:wink2:


image (http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9766/77023660.png)

Hi !
I was looking for a way to accomplish this for weeks !

Unfortunately, I could'nt make it work. Maybe due to last version of HSS ? I can't find any "remote server" line in the config files anymore.

Would you have any updated instructions please ? It would also be fantastic if it worked with portable openvpn version !

Thanks a lot for your help !

[anon]

I can't find any "remote server" line in the config files anymore.

I think the server address is "injected" into the custom OpenVPN executable nowadays. Did you try skipping that step and using the EXE file that comes bundled with HSS?

[Unregistered]

I think the server address is "injected" into the custom OpenVPN executable nowadays. Did you try skipping that step and using the EXE file that comes bundled with HSS?

Thanks for your quick answer !

I guess you're meaning the openvpn.exe ? Actually I did it following strictly the instructions from the post.
But finally it works !
I simply added the "remote hss.anchorfree.net 8044" line into the config.opvn file.

(I also reinstalled the HSS app first, instead of simply copying files extracted from another pc, maybe this was necessary to register some dlls..)

Unfortunately, my other vpn configs/profiles don't work anymore on this same openvpn mod version :(

PS. portability:
The same mod to bin/config folders (portableapps) looks to be working !
I'm not convinced it's still portable (not writing anything), at least, it seems it is for install/uninstall of TAP drivers, and can be launched from an usb drive..
(I haven't tested it yet on another pc or fresh install without existing TAP Drivers)

I'm also trying to do the same with the other VPN from anchorfree : expatshield.com that gives UK IP.

It's exactly the same files than HSS install.
But I'm desperately trying to find the server name/IP to replace the "remote hss.anchorfree.net 8044" line...

Is there any way to "sniff" it when we connect with the original client ? I cant find any clues in logs.

Thanks again !

[anon]

I'm also trying to do the same with the other VPN from anchorfree : expatshield.com that gives UK IP.

Thank you, didn't know about that one. I'll have a look.


Is there any way to "sniff" it when we connect with the original client ? I cant find any clues in logs.

You can use Process Explorer to see what command-line parameters openvpn.exe has been launched with. That may tell you the right server address.

[Unregistered]

You can use Process Explorer to see what command-line parameters openvpn.exe has been launched with. That may tell you the right server address.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any informations about the remote server :(

---------- Post added 22.10.10 at 05:08 ---------- Previous post was 21.10.10 at 19:39 ----------

Here is a small update :

- Once modified, it's the authentication process that prevent openvpn to run any other vpn profile than HSS. I'm afraid there's no way to fix it..

- About portability : I tried on a fresh install and it's actually not working. Its Connexion is looking for the TAP adapters installed with the original HSS installation. Modified openvpn works only when HSS client has already been installed on the pc. Doesn't works any more after a "proper" uninstall, but it's possible to manually delete the HSS files and folders from the machine. Same for a non portable openvpn.

- for ES remote server, I'm quite optimistic about finding something interisting whith WireShark ! ;)

[Yota4]

what about bandwidth monitor you can try use ProteMac Meter (http://protemac.com/Meter/).It;s really nice prog)