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startpage.com blocking VPN? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) by copyscam@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

edit: I changed my location and that seems to have worked for now. still a strange thing that it was localhost and not "site blocked" or something if my location was the issue. my VPN (ExpressVPN) was set to NJ. I switched to Toronto. ___ 🤷

hi all!!

has anyone else had this issue and been able to fix it? it happens on any browser (vivaldi, brave, lightning, vivandium...), phone or desktop, if I'm connected to my VPN.

I'm using startpage specifically because it's supposed to be privacy-focused... I don't want to keep disconnecting my VPN every time I have to make a search.

(internet connection is working perfectly and no issues with other sites)

(I have some other search engines I use for specific things, but looking to troubleshoot this if anyone knows the solution...)

all 17 comments

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[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org 9 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Reminder: Startpage was sold to System1, an Ad-Company.

[–] raqqed@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 minutes ago

thanks for the info! so what are recommended alternatives?

[–] m33@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 hours ago

That doesn’t sound good 😐

[–] Jerry@feddit.online 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I deleted what I wrote before. If it federated, ignore it.

Your browser is trying to find startpage.com on your local machine instead of the Internet.

While on the VPN, open a command window and ping startpage.com. Does it return localhost or the real IP address? If it returns the real IP address, then the problem is related to the browser. Try another browser to see if it's Vivaldi-related.

If it returns localhost then maybe it's a setting in protonVPN?

This is strange. Just try to find clues.

[–] copyscam@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago

thank you! yea it's really weird that it was going to "localhost" that's what was tripping me up. I tried changing locations of the VPN and that seems to have worked for now, but I don't really get why. computers, man.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 7 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Tried it with VPN on and on Vivaldi on Android and it works just fine. I think you have another gremlin in your setup.

[–] copyscam@lemmy.ml 4 points 8 hours ago

thanks for checking...I'm extremely confused!

[–] Undertaker@feddit.org 0 points 3 hours ago

This happens unfortunately more often since a year or so with Tor as well. It should not depend on DNS because I use always Mullvad. I guess, it's a weird blocking behaviour.

That's why I switched to brave and use startpage much less

[–] Cat_Daddy@hexbear.net 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I've got my VPN on and I can connect fine. Have any settings changed in your VPN client? Or can you try changing the endpoint you connect to?

[–] copyscam@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

omg ok I changed the location and it worked. thanks! this is still really weird, because it was happening before on another location, but maybe I'll just try to change that next time.

[–] Cat_Daddy@hexbear.net 1 points 3 hours ago

Maybe they block connections to that endpoint's IP? Whatever the reason, I'm glad it worked.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

why does it say localhost...? I can use startpage.com just fine through my ProtonVPN (japan)

[–] copyscam@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

that's what I'm confused about. when I turn off my VPN, it loads normally, without changing any settings within the browser or computer/phone.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 hour ago

try running nslookup with/without VPN, also try changing your DNS (Quad9 recommended)

[–] user28282912@piefed.social 1 points 7 hours ago

If you are using a VPN app it may be intercepting and proxying web traffic for you (whether you realize it or not). This would explain why it works when you 'turn off the vpn'.

If your VPN provider requires an app, well, that sucks and you should consider using another provider that does not.