Safari and VPN

Question

Safari and VPN

On my work computer, a 2023 macbook pro M2, running Ventura 13.3 and Safari 16.4 when I'm running on a VPN (Endpoint Security by Checkpoint) when I try to open a number of web pages (such as google.com) the web page won't open for five minutes (!). When I turn off the VPN these web pages load immediately. The same is true when I'm using the VPN and try to open them in Firefox. This would happen only occasionally before the other day when I upgraded Ventura to 13.3. Now it happens with a lot of web pages. Has anyone else encountered something like this? Any suggestions as to how to track down this bug?

MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Apr 3, 2023 5:25 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 3, 2023 5:31 PM in response to Kurt Lang

I can't stop. It's the one that's supplied at work.

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2023 5:38 PM in response to Kurt Lang

It's clear that Safari did something which is incompatible with the endpoint. Clearly firefox plays better. It would be nice to track it down. Not everything that Apple does is correct.

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

64,154 points

Apr 4, 2023 5:49 AM in response to VictorSMiller

I never said, or would ever say Apple is perfect. I said VPNs are generally useless. Read this article:

Public VPNs are anything but private.

You have no choice with your employer as they require it. But for the general public, VPNs are a waste of both your time and resources.

Most sites you visit now are HTTPS. In other words, the data between yourself and the site you're visiting is already encrypted. A VPN is only uselessly pouring encryption on top of encryption.

The only marginal use a VPN has for the average user is to attempt to hide your location. Which as the article mentions, they aren't even very useful for that anymore.

So, the original statement stands. Use the VPN for your business as they require. Disable it for your personal use.