The First Non-Testnet, Blockchain-Backed VPN
Lethean community,
Today is a monumental day for us as a team and also for Blockchain utility in general. We are happy to release the first non-Testnet blockchain-backed full VPN client. At this time, the full VPN for Windows is in Alpha testing. However, users are encouraged to use, test, and provide feedback. We could not be more proud of our development team and all of the hard work and effort that has made this day possible. Thank you to the entire team for working so hard to make this a reality.
Although this is an Alpha testing stage full client VPN for Windows, we are well on our way to a final polished product, and we will not stop working until we achieve that. In addition to making changes to the full client Windows VPN, we will begin working on both Linux and MacOS. We will keep our community up to date with all of our progress as we continue to work towards having the full VPN client released on all major operating systems.
Providing a fully functional product for all operating systems is not our end goal. We will continue to grow as a company and make improvements that create ease of use for the end user and mass adoption. A few things that we will be working on as we move forward will be to add the Lethean wallet in the Windows Store, App Store for MacOS, and the Software Center for Linux, updating our user interface for better user experience and creating a mobile wallet/mobile Lethean VPN. These changes will bring us closer to mass adoption and will ensure that we make Lethean as easy to use as possible.
Getting started with Lethean VPN
Installing the Lethean VPN is a two step process. The first step is running the Lethean/OpenVPN installer, and the second step is acquiring the new v4.0.0 Dvina wallet.
VPN Install
We recommend using our all in one installer which is a very simple process. You can find and download the all in one installer here. This file will install OpenVPN and set everything up for you.
If you do not want to use our installer binary, you can instead manually install OpenVPN and the Lethean VPN service. After you have manually installed OpenVPN, please run the Lethean VPN service installation script. The installation script is a .bat file that will configure OpenVPN to allow it to work with the Lethean wallet.
Keep in mind that you will not need to run the install script or all in one download more than once per machine.
Acquire the latest wallet
You will also need the most recent version of the Windows wallet. You can find the most recent version of the Windows wallet here.
Once you have these prerequisites installed, you will be capable of selecting from either a VPN provider or a proxy provider.
Selecting “VPN” in the type of provider will lower the list to only VPN nodes. You must select a VPN node to use the full client VPN. Once you click connect, you will see a screen verifying that the exit node is waiting for your payment. Shown below.
IPv6 Caveat
Some VPN exit nodes do not currently support IPv6 protocols, which means you may need to disable them for the VPN to work properly. If you do not disable IPv6, your machine will still tunnel IPv4 connections through IPv4 VPN exit nodes as available, but any IPv6 connections will leak your real IP address. To disable IPv6 on your machine, follow the instructions in this article.
Lethean VPN Release Adds Versatility
As of release version 4.0.0, the Lethean wallet now accommodates users looking for increased privacy at all levels. The wallet still provides simple proxy functionality for those that do not wish to hassle with installing system requirements for a VPN and only need browser proxy (or browser VPN as we call it) functionality. The browser only VPN allows circumventing content blocks, geolocation restrictions, and enhances user privacy. Of course, using the browser VPN does require installing an extension in your browser (Firefox, Chrome). For users desiring total system-wide tunneling, no messing with browser extensions, and even more enhanced privacy, we offer a full VPN as described above.
Both the browser and full VPN are backed by rock-solid TLS encryption, ensuring users’ privacy and security while accessing the internet. Lethean VPN services are paid for using Lethean coins, backed by our anonymous blockchain. We are very proud to provide the only truly anonymous VPN product from start to finish: anonymous payments, no logging, and a vast number of decentralized VPN nodes.
Conclusion
When Lethean launched as Intense Coin in August 2017, it seemed like this day was much further away. But over this waiting period until the official VPN release, we have grown both as a project and as a community in leaps and bounds. We would like to once again thank our development team for the tireless hard work they have put into this project, and their dedication towards the ultimate goal of an open Internet. We would also like to thank our community for sticking with us and providing support and useful feedback to help us get to where we are today. We wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are without our community or our current dev team. We are incredibly grateful towards everyone who has stuck with us throughout the years.
Our community may also be glad to know that exit node hosting is available coinciding with the VPN release. Anyone can now establish their own full VPN exit node and earn Lethean by doing so, allowing further use of others’ nodes if so desired. We’re excited to see this feature in action, so we encourage anybody who has considered setting up a node to do so at this point. If you have trouble getting the node to work, we can offer live support on Discord (#vpn-exit-node) or Telegram.
