Astrill Application:OpenWeb Features

Browser Selection

Browser selection helps you to select which browser will tunnel through the Astrill Application

1. Click SETTINGS

2. Make sure the Tunnel browsers only option is enabled

3. Click Browsers

4. Select the Internet browser you want to tunnel

5. Click OK

Site Filter

Site Filter is one of the Openweb features that will give you options for which sites you want to go through VPN.

1. Site Filter feature is under the SETTINGS menu.

2. Once you click on the Site Filter feature, you will see it is set to "Tunnel all Sites" mode as default.

3. Site Filter modes, Click on the drop-down arrow button to show the Site Filter modes, such as "Tunnel all sites", "Tunnel only these sites" and "Exclude these sites".

Tunnel all sites

This mode will allow all sites to go through VPN and is highly recommended for privacy protection.

1. To choose Tunnel all Sites mode, click on the SETTINGS menu and then choose Site Filter.

2. By default it is set to Tunnel all Sites mode.

3. Click OK, now all sites will go through VPN.

Tunnel only those sites

This mode will allow you to specify the only site(s) you wish to go through VPN.

1. Click on the SETTINGS menu and choose Site Filter.

2. Click the drop-down arrow and select Tunnel only these sites.

3. Enter the site you want to tunnel only via VPN (example: google.com)

4. Click OK to save.

Exclude these sites

Exclude these sites, this mode will allow you to exclude site(s) to go through VPN.

1. Click on the SETTINGS menu and choose Site Filter.

2. Click the drop-down arrow and select Exclude these sites.

3. Enter which site(s) you do not want to tunnel through VPN, for example, google.com.

4. Click OK to save.

Ads Blocker

Ads Blocker is used to block annoying ads. It works in all browsers. Ads Blocker consists of a set of rules which are compatible with Ad Block Plus for Firefox.

1. Ads Blocker is under SETTINGS.

2. By checking the box Block Ads, you can block ads on websites.

Smart Mode

Smart Mode (a.k.a. GFW Mode) is made specifically for customers in China with a goal to accelerate web surfing. When Smart Mode is enabled (in the Settings Menu), only blocked sites will be opened through Astrill servers, while all other sites (local sites) will be loaded directly.

1. Click on the SETTINGS menu.

2. Checkbox Smart Mode to enable the feature.

OpenWeb Options

Under Openweb options, you are allowed to choose which port combination you want to use or you can test which port combination will work best for you.

1. Click on SETTINGS and then choose Openweb Options.

2. In Tunnel mode, you can choose whether to tunnel only web browsers (Browsers) or all applications (All Apps).

3. Auto Tunnel Apps. When this option is enabled, Astrill will use the system-wide Network Redirector Component to tunnel web traffic from applications automatically. No need to set system proxy. This option works with all major web browsers.

4. Set System Proxy. Sets the system global proxy automatically when Astrill is enabled. This affects all applications which use system proxy settings. This option is disabled by default. In case "auto tunnel apps" does not redirect your application automatically, try to enable this option.

Advanced Options

Advanced options will allow you to toggle on/off settings and features.

1. Click on SETTINGS and then choose Advanced....

2. Keep connection – This option lets you keep connection even when you switch to another Astrill server (from the drop-down list) or when you turn Astrill OFF (using the ON/OFF button). This is especially useful when you are downloading a file and want to switch to another server. Normally Astrill would disconnect all connections; thus, your download would be aborted. With this new option you can change this behaviour.

3. Auto Clear Cookies - This option, when checked, will tell Astrill to clear all browser and Flash cookies whenever you switch to another server or turn Astrill ON or OFF. This is very useful for some websites which remember you using cookies, so even if you are using a VPN, they will know your default location. We have also added an option to the tray/context menu, “Clear Cookies", which you can use to manually clear all cookies whenever you wish. This is very convenient too, as it clears nasty Flash cookies, which are normally very hard to remove (you would need to go to the Adobe website to do that). When we are at explaining how sites track your location by cookies, let’s mention that some sites (like syfy.com) track your timezone as well! Thus, even if you are using a VPN, that site will show you are not in the USA and will not let you watch any videos. This is very easy to fix – just set your system timezone to, let’s say, UTC-8, which is the California time zone. (You might need to restart the browser or refresh the page – Ctrl+F5.)

4. HTTP Keep-Alive - This option will keep connection with our server across browser request. Normally you should keep this enabled for faster surfing speed. If you have a lot of tabs open in a web browser or a lot of tabs with Facebook and you see the "Too Many Connections" error frequently, try to disable this option.

5. Click OK to save changes.