[tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread Paul Blakeman
Hi all

Wondered if anybody could help out/advise as to what’s happened here…

I’m based in UK and have domestic internet with Virgin Media.  
This service is fibre optic based - config: 30Mbps d/l  2Mbps u/l [mine is the 
SLOWEST package!]

Last year I finally configured a Dell server (running Debian 7.3 - wheezy) to 
run a Tor relay (0.2.3.25)
Everything has been running fine except for the last few weeks I’ve noticed a 
few irregularities.

The first one has been Tor itself where I have noticed (using Arm to monitor) 
that it has been downloading far more data than uploading. 
A ratio of say 5:1 — it hasn’t always been this way!

The other is my general difficulty in accessing certain web sites online (that 
once worked)
e.g.
Access to lovefim.com this weekend has now resulted in no longer able to stream 
and watch films.
I can log onto system but if I try and stream I get the error message “INVALID 
LOCATION.  Sorry, but the requested content is not available in your current 
location.”
Opened a service desk ticket but the response was “you are trying to stream 
from outside the UK”
WTF?

My IP provided by my ISP has been the same all this time (82.42.215.16)
I have spoken with them I would have to switch off for 48hrs and MAY NOT (in 
fact I was told “probably not”) be assigned a different one!

SO…
Can using a Tor relay result in your IP getting a “bad” flag?
Is there anyway of running a relay where you “hide” your IP?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes,
Paul


___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread renke brausse
Hi Paul
 The first one has been Tor itself where I have noticed (using Arm to monitor) 
 that it has been downloading far more data than uploading. 
 A ratio of say 5:1 — it hasn’t always been this way!
[..]
 Access to lovefim.com this weekend has now resulted in no longer able to 
 stream and watch films.
 I can log onto system but if I try and stream I get the error message 
 “INVALID LOCATION.  Sorry, but the requested content is not available in your 
 current location.”
 Opened a service desk ticket but the response was “you are trying to stream 
 from outside the UK”
 WTF?

Did you configure your browser to use your local Tor daemon as SOCKS
proxy? Would explain both the upload/download ratio (normal web browsing
is async) and a foreign (Tor exit) IP

Renke




signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature
___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread Matthew Harrold
If possible I'd suggest changing the MAC address of your router or swapping
router entirely, unless you are using on of their 'super' hubs with a
combined modem/router. This will force a new IP address on Virgin Media.
On 28 Jan 2014 19:26, renke brausse re...@mobtm.com wrote:

 Hi Paul
  The first one has been Tor itself where I have noticed (using Arm to
 monitor) that it has been downloading far more data than uploading.
  A ratio of say 5:1 -- it hasn't always been this way!
 [..]
  Access to lovefim.com this weekend has now resulted in no longer able
 to stream and watch films.
  I can log onto system but if I try and stream I get the error message
 INVALID LOCATION.  Sorry, but the requested content is not available in
 your current location.
  Opened a service desk ticket but the response was you are trying to
 stream from outside the UK
  WTF?

 Did you configure your browser to use your local Tor daemon as SOCKS
 proxy? Would explain both the upload/download ratio (normal web browsing
 is async) and a foreign (Tor exit) IP

 Renke



 ___
 tor-relays mailing list
 tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
 https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread mick
On Tue, 28 Jan 2014 19:02:32 +
Paul Blakeman blakey...@mac.com allegedly wrote:

 
 SO…
 Can using a Tor relay result in your IP getting a “bad” flag?

Yes. Running a Tor node on an IP address you share with your domestic
usage can result in you being unable to reach sites which blacklist Tor
nodes. This sometimes only happens with exit nodes, but some site
operators are even more draconian than others and just block all Tor
IPs. This can be particularly unfortunate if the site in question is
your bank.

 Is there anyway of running a relay where you “hide” your IP?

No. Tor relay IP addresses have to be visible to be reachable.

Mick
-

 Mick Morgan
 gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B  72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312
 http://baldric.net

-



signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread Paul Blakeman
Renke

It is a standalone server, therefore no browser runs on the machine.



On 28 Jan 2014, at 19:22, renke brausse re...@mobtm.com wrote:

 Hi Paul
 The first one has been Tor itself where I have noticed (using Arm to 
 monitor) that it has been downloading far more data than uploading. 
 A ratio of say 5:1 — it hasn’t always been this way!
 [..]
 Access to lovefim.com this weekend has now resulted in no longer able to 
 stream and watch films.
 I can log onto system but if I try and stream I get the error message 
 “INVALID LOCATION.  Sorry, but the requested content is not available in 
 your current location.”
 Opened a service desk ticket but the response was “you are trying to stream 
 from outside the UK”
 WTF?
 
 Did you configure your browser to use your local Tor daemon as SOCKS
 proxy? Would explain both the upload/download ratio (normal web browsing
 is async) and a foreign (Tor exit) IP
 
 Renke
 
 
 ___
 tor-relays mailing list
 tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
 https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread renke brausse

 It is a standalone server, therefore no browser runs on the machine.

Tor can be configured to act as proxy, not restricted to local
connections. I'm not sure about the defaults but typically the SOCKS
proxy is listening on [torserver]:9050.

But as you're not aware of this option my idea in the previous mail was
most likely incorrect :)

Renke



signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature
___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread Mike Perry
mick:
 On Tue, 28 Jan 2014 19:02:32 +
 Paul Blakeman blakey...@mac.com allegedly wrote:
 
  
  SO…
  Can using a Tor relay result in your IP getting a “bad” flag?
 
 Yes. Running a Tor node on an IP address you share with your domestic
 usage can result in you being unable to reach sites which blacklist Tor
 nodes. This sometimes only happens with exit nodes, but some site
 operators are even more draconian than others and just block all Tor
 IPs. This can be particularly unfortunate if the site in question is
 your bank.

This is correct, *if* you are running a Tor relay (even a non-exit). And
unfortunate.

  Is there anyway of running a relay where you “hide” your IP?
 
 No. Tor relay IP addresses have to be visible to be reachable.

This is not fully correct. You can run your Tor relay as a Tor Bridge,
in which case its IP is not visible in the public node directory. We
only hand it out to people who solve a captcha on
https://bridges.torproject.org/bridges

We're also looking for people to run Obfsproxy bridges, which are also
unlisted but additionally obscure their traffic so the traffic does not
look like a Tor. As far as I know, we don't provide packages for this
yet, but if you are technically inclined, you can set one up manually on
Linux by following these instructions:
https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy-instructions.html.en#instructions

-- 
Mike Perry


signature.asc
Description: Digital signature
___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays


Re: [tor-relays] Problems with domestic ISP blocking publicly listed relays

2014-01-28 Thread Jobiwan Kenobi

On Jan 28, 2014, at 20:02 , Paul Blakeman wrote:

 
 The first one has been Tor itself where I have noticed (using Arm to monitor) 
 that it has been downloading far more data than uploading. 
 A ratio of say 5:1 — it hasn’t always been this way!

I see that too from time to time. 
At the times that download is much higher than upload, do you also see many 
more inbound connections, more handshakes (in the log) and high CPU usage? I 
do. Sometimes it goes on for up to 10 hours. (I run a low end box and it 
sometimes makes me lose Guard, HSDir or even Stable.)

First I thought it was some kind of DoS, but I think it may be caused by people 
using bittorrent through Tor, and the excess download data is residue of 
abandoned connections.


 My IP provided by my ISP has been the same all this time (82.42.215.16)
 I have spoken with them I would have to switch off for 48hrs and MAY NOT (in 
 fact I was told “probably not”) be assigned a different one!

It may help to change the MAC address on the WAN port on your router. 

___
tor-relays mailing list
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays