I have been using Avast Premium Security and SecureLine VPN for a few years now. However, I never tested it for DNS leaks till now. Time has come to renew my SecureLine subscription and I find that the cost is too much compared to other services. I decided to check out SurfShark.
It was SurfShark that alerted me that I have a DNS leak even when the Avast VPN was on.
Using DNSleaktest.com without SecureLine I find that my IP address is 104.229.30.96
and the “Extended Test” for my DNS gives, for IP, Hostname, ISP and Country
162.253.129.82 None Amanah Tech Toronto, Canada
which is a surprise as I use Time Warner (aka Spectrum) as my provider, but not really worrisome.
Now, I turn on Avast SecureLine, with the location set to New York, USA and test again.
DNStest.com gives my IP address as: 156.146.36.113, and the DNS test results say
162.253.129.82 None Amanah Tech Toronto, Canada
Well, that means that SecureLine is masking my IP address, but doing nothing about the DNS.
I am also not sure what exactly the Avast servers are doing in the process. Why do they not get listed by the test?
Turing off SecureLine and turning on SurfShark, with Avast Premium Security still on, I find that
DNStest.com gives my IP address as 43.225.189.107 and the test for DNS leaks gives
162.253.129.82 None Amanah Tech Toronto, Canada
Ahem! The same results as APS + SecureLine!! Finally, turning of Avast Premium Security shields, but with SurfShark on, and doing the test gives
IP address: 43.225.189.107
43.225.189.107 None HostRoyale Technologies Pvt Ltd Boston, United States
which, finally, says that there are no DNS leaks and the SurfShark works.
For fun, my final test was to run the DNS test with just SecureLine on (no APS, no
Surfshark).
IP address: 156.146.36.89
156.146.36.90 unn-156-146-36-90.cdn77.com. Datacamp Limited New York, United States
This is a total surprise! No idea where this comes from.
It appears that 1) SecureLine does not do anything to prevent DNS leaks, 2) running
Avast Premium Security interferes with SurfShark’s ability to stop the leaks and 3)
possibly, APS has something that prevents DNS security from working.
The Surfshark tech who helped me guided me through all sorts of settings, including the
making on an exception to it in APS. In spite of mucking around for nearly an hour, we
could not make SurfShark work with APS was on.
Is there any trick that can fix this?
Given the SecureLine does not seem to work for the money it costs, I would not mind moving to another anti-virus suite all together, one that can provide the required VPN security. In any case, SecureLine is out as it costs a packet and does no better than APS + SurfShark.
Any thoughts, suggestions and other help is greatly appreciated.