VPN? Does it affect Screen Mirroring (Smart View) between android and Smart TV? Why Bluetooth ON?

[UTUSN]

Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, no? Well, I don't, so feel free to be as BASIC as you can be, tia!1

I'm the most basic of home users, don't do fancy traveling using devices (now, less than ever). Router. Both android and tv are Samsung. For the past few months I was having a blast linking the devices (not the laptop), able to see cable stations on the tv via a streaming site.

Two days ago, the SmartView (screen mirroring) stopped working. But then also the website started saying a VPN is required for the best of the channels - yes, the premiums, but also E!, Bravo, sometimes even CNN and MSNBC. So I did some googling and ended up with a free VPN, ProtonVPN. I don't know that the problem connecting got worse with the installation of the VPN, but yesterday, totally unable to link.

The website was pushing hard to sell me a VPN (Nord something).

I tried things like activating Airplane mode (to refresh tower?), then back to WiFi, and Restarting the phone, even looking at the Set-up for the tv. One time, the connection happened after the Airplane. I did a Reset on the phone, too, via phone Tech support.

Also, on the android, the navigation screen kept showing Bluetooth as ON, and turning it OFF wouldn't work, or rather it was ON again as soon as I looked again.

Do I need VPN just for home? Is it supposed to be ON all the time or just when trying for the channel? Why was the Bluetooth auto ON even after manual OFF?

[canetoad]

1. I don't want to alarm you unneccesarily

in these troubling times, but you should really read this;

Fake ProtonVPN Website Distributes AZORult Malware

ProtonVPN website distributes AZORult Malware since November 2019 to potential victims in the form of fake ProtonVPN installers, as discovered by Kaspersky security researchers. This was being used to steal users information.

ProtonVPN is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service provider built and controlled by Proton Technologies AG, the Swiss business behind the encrypted end-to-end email service ProtonMail.

AZORult is an ever-evolving, data-stealing Trojan selling on Russian underground markets for approximately $100, also known as a downloader for other malware families when used in multi-stage campaigns.

Researchers previously spotted this trojan as part of large-scale malicious campaigns that spread ransomware, data, and cryptocurrency stealing malware.

https://diriga.com/2020/02/21/fake-protonvpn-website-distributes-azorult-malware/

And this:

Beware: This fake VPN installer is stealing users' passwords

[UTUSN]

2. Thanks, on the contrary I appreciate the warning and will probably uninstall it, but

I came by it through PC Magazine recommendation, which also cited APPROVINGLY that it is the outfit behind that e-mail whatever-it-is.

"Kaspersky security researchers" - yes, I come by my paranoia naturally, but Kaspersky triggers all my red (no pun) flags (mixed metaphors), like, I wouldn't look to them for kind advice.

And as I said, my problem with the pairing started BEFORE the install of the VPN?

********If I uninstall this particular ProtonVPN, setting it aside as a factor, I will still be left with wanting to see the channels that require a VPN, so if I get it elsewhere, even paying the Nord thing $3/mo like they're pushing for me to do, my question remains: Does VPN affect the Screen Mirroring? And if there is a VPN, is it supposed to be turned off after use or left on all the time?

Again, thanks for the taking-care.

[UTUSN]

3. So the whole article refers to *fake* ProtonVPN sites/installers. I loaded through the PC Magazine

link, and has at least the appearance of being legit?

The 2nd link has been removed.

[UTUSN]

8. Here's ProtonVPN's answer to this:

**********QUOTE*********

Dimitar (ProtonVPN)

Apr 23, 14:07 CEST

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

Can you please clarify from where have you downloaded the ProtonVPN application?

If you've downloaded the app from our official website or the Google Play Store, we can confirm that this is the official ProtonVPN application that does not contain any malware. More information on this can be found here: https://protonvpn.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-device-from-fake-proton-apps/

Regarding your question, to further clarify, even though both devices are connected to the same network, one of the devices has a different IP address and Geolocation with an encrypted connection. This is the device connected to one of our servers. Since the other is not, they cannot properly "communicate" and therefore the screen mirroring feature cannot work.

It is possible to achieve this with a VPN connection if you connect to one of our servers directly on your router. More information on this can be found here: https://protonvpn.com/support/installing-protonvpn-on-a-router/

That said, if you activate the Allow Lan connections feature in the ProtonVPN Android device you do not need to make any additional changes to your Smart TV. By activating this option those two devices should be able to properly communicate with each other.

************UNQUOTE*******

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

9. I have been interested in the topic and reading this thread

This info from Proton sounds correct. Screen sharing is like picking up the extension on a wired house phone allowing both people to listen to the caller. This only works when both phones share a common line. Lots of VPN configurations make sharing impossible like having 2 house phones on 2 separate lines. I have used a software tool called Synergy which allows me share a single mouse and keyboard across 2 or more computers. The computers "talk" to each other over the LAN and coordinate the sharing of the mouse and keyboard. This stops working if one of the computers connects to my VPN at work.

The best solution (IMHO) is to configure the VPN connection from the router rather than an individual device. That allows all of the devices on your LAN to still "talk" to each other.

I have a Synology RT2600ac router which allows configuring a VPN at the router. I would use this option since it would allow any device on your LAN to access the VPN and screen share with any other device.

[ManiacJoe]

4. A VPN should play no part in the screen sharing.

Screen sharing is done by your phone/tablet talking to the TV using IP addresses that are local to your home network. The router-modem combo hardware uses only the router part to pass the data from the internal phone to the internal TV.

The VPN software is used to change the internet routing of your data when your device is talking to an external internet server. This often happens when your phone is streaming a movie from a cloud service.

Now, if the VPN software on your phone is not coded correctly, then all bets are off.

[UTUSN]

5. Thanks, very helpful. But I always need more help.

I went through Tech support from both the smart tv & smart phone (both samsung). The phone one got the pairing to work. Which it's doing I think with the VPN turned off. My reason for getting into this VPN thing was that the USTVGO website that has all the cable outlets on it (MSNBC, CNN, HBO, and everything else), says that the premiums "REQUIRE VPN."

That said, the ProtonVPN people responded promptly to my questions about the screen mirroring problem, adding the little problem detail that both devices, besides being on the same router need to be on the same VPN.

I haven't turned on the VPN, and have stuck to the non-VPN channels. I'm not a movie viewer, so all those special channels don't mean much to me, just HBO for MAHER, but I can see that on YouTube.

See how my "problems" multiply?

[ManiacJoe]

6. I greatly question the VPN requirement for the premium channels.

It makes it sound like USTVGO is doing something shady.

[UTUSN]

7. Well, when I first started using it (thanks to a DUer), everything was available (open)

Every window has an ad for NORD vpn, like always pushing for the paid VPN. But the channels were all open (without VPN).

Then after i've used USTVGO a few weeks, the good stuff (Bravo, especially the real premiums, but some of the lesser things like Discovery) demanded VPN to see.

I still get my main things like MSNBC CNN History and lots more as OPEN. I'm waiting for ProtonVPN's answer about what Poster #1 said, which sounds really scary.

I haven't turned on Proton since the screen mirroring problems and haven't had any need to see the premiums.