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How discreet is 3dxchat over a home network?


U-E

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So here's a question for those who know...

 

 As per the title, how discreet is the game over a network?

 

I imagine not at all.

 

In a strange sounding nutshell, when I last played some time ago I was in my own home with my own phone line. Since then I moved to a far more expensive area due to a career change and I'm momentarily  living in a place with a shared network - its fast, but also manually monitored (not blocked, just monitored by the house owner). I can explain, but....

 

Anyway, when I start playing this again, I wonder just how obvious it will look to someone looking at the traffic logs? And if generally obvious, is there a way (as my knowledge is limited) to mask/bypass/hide the exact game I am playing and have it assumed I am just playing any old MMO? 

 

Thanks for your input to this ominous sounding question (I promise its nothing like you'd imagine)! :D

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Uhm, I'm pretty sure it is illegal for the house owner to monitor anyone's network activity O_o

 

As for 3dx, it uses 2 separate servers.

The first one is a generic php/database server used for storing static user data (characters, home layouts, profiles and so on). The connection is not secure and the data most of the time is sent in plain text format.

The second one is a nodejs (or something alike) node-peer server used to pass in-game commands and messages between players (including chat messages). The data itself is in plain text format which is then binary-serialized by the networking module. I haven't looked inside it a lot, so I don't remember if it uses any kind of encryption, but most likely not.

 

So yeah, it's all pretty much laying in the open :)

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Good and helpful info, thanks guys!

 

Its been a long time since I thought about VPN's. But I cant get my head around whether the traffic is still visible on the house network before exit to the VPN, or whether its locked down from my device?

 

 It makes the difference in not having to investigate getting my own line run in when I am not staying here for much longer, or looking at the unlikely prospect of a 4G dongle or tethering safe contract on my mobile. 

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the traffic is encrypted and hidden between the two VPN endpoints, that is for one part your computer (where you install the VPN client on) and for the other part the VPN server you are connecting to.

 

The only thing someone monitoring the network will see is the connection between your computer and the VPN server, but not what kind of traffic is sent, because it is encrypted.

 

VPN cannot be used for plausible deniability, if that is important for you. In other words: your shared home network owner can detect *that* you are using a VPN connection, but if that doesn't bother you, then you'll be fine and perfectly safe.

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Uhm, I'm pretty sure it is illegal for the house owner to monitor anyone's network activity O_o

 

Sorry to nitpick, but under whose jurisdiction? 

 

It always bothers me a little when people talk about "legalities" without specifying where and how such legalities are enforced. If you want to assert that the US government could shut down the server if it had a reason to, yes, I can understand that. But a landlord monitoring network traffic over a service he is providing to tenants is something that I am almost certain would only be regulated under individual state law in the United States. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that there are federal laws against such things in the UK or somewhere in continental Europe.

 

So blanket statements like this are pretty much meaningless in a forum where users are from all over the globe and subject to quite diverse legal systems. 

 

FWIW

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Thanks! :) I've bypassed free ones, and looking mostly at nordvpn and expressvpn which are roughly the same price and with the 30day money back guarantee. Its a worthwhile investment for my career as well, and as you say, its possible to stream otherwise unobtainable regional things in some cases.

 

Thanks all for your input, its put me perfectly on the right track with options - hopefully this thread will aid others with the same kind of questions in the future too :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Choosing between nordvpn and expressvpn, I recommend using the first one, as I’ve been using it for a long time, and haven’t faced any problems. Actually, I used it for unblocking streaming services (this guide was helpful while choosing a proper vpn), and it really works. Besides, the speed is always great. 

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  • 1 year later...

Choosing between nordvpn and expressvpn, I recommend using the first one, as I’ve been using it for a long time, and haven’t faced any problems. Actually, I used it for unblocking streaming services (this guide was helpful while choosing a proper vpn), and it really works. Besides, the speed is always great. 

 

Thanks for sharing this helpful information buddy. 

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