{"id":504939,"date":"2022-10-29T19:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/"},"modified":"2022-10-29T19:00:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T16:00:36","slug":"decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"#Decentralized VPNs vs. Tor: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a294c5b7b0af\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a294c5b7b0af\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/#%E2%80%9CDecentralized_VPNs_vs_Tor_Whats_the_Difference%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Decentralized VPNs vs. Tor: What\u2019s the Difference?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/#How_Tor_Works\" >How Tor Works<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/#Node_Upon_Node\" >Node Upon Node<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/#Tor_Issues\" >Tor Issues<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decentralized-vpns-vs-tor-whats-the-difference\/#How_dVPNs_Could_Fix_Tors_Issues\" >How dVPNs Could Fix Tor\u2019s Issues<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CDecentralized_VPNs_vs_Tor_Whats_the_Difference%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Decentralized VPNs vs. Tor: What\u2019s the Difference?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-842616\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/shutterstock_1952321194.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Digital illustration of a globe surrounded by nodes with labels reading &quot;Tor.&quot;\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-illustration\/tor-anonymity-network-internet-privacy-online-1952321194\">Immersion Imagery\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>dVPNs and Tor both rely on nodes to reroute traffic around the world. However, dVPNs incentivize you by letting you get paid for allowing your device to be used as a node, and there are other ways dVPNs could potentially set themselves apart in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Decentralized VPNs (or dVPNs) are an interesting new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> that borrows heavily from VPNs, unsurprisingly, but also from Tor. There are some clear distinctions\u00a0setting dVPNs apart from VPNs, but how do dVPNs compare to Tor?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Tor_Works\"><\/span>How Tor Works<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In many ways, dVPNs have more in common with Tor than with regular VPNs\u2014the name notwithstanding. All three types of technology share the fact that they serve as ways to anonymize your browsing. When using any of these programs, you\u2019ll <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ear to be browsing from a different location than where you actually are and nobody should be able to track you.<\/p>\n<p>Tor does this by rerouting your traffic through so-called nodes. Nodes act like servers, but are usually devices owned and operated by individuals. Your smartphone could be a node, as could your laptop, your gaming rig, whatever you\u2019d like; you could set up a server to act like a node, it\u2019s just not required.<\/p>\n<p>When you connect to a node, you assume the IP address it\u2019s using and thus appear like you\u2019re in the location that node is in. This is great for when you want to access a specific country\u2019s version of a website, or even just to spoof your location to mislead possible surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>However, there\u2019s a catch: when using nodes, the person that runs the node can see what you\u2019re doing, at least on paper. Also, anybody that\u2019s tracking you, like what happens in countries that censor the internet (China and Russia spring to mind), could conceivably see what you\u2019re doing, as well. The connection between you and the node isn\u2019t encrypted, like the way VPNs work.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Node_Upon_Node\"><\/span>Node Upon Node<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This lack of encryption could be an issue, but Tor deals with it in an interesting way: instead of using a single node, you use more and \u201chop\u201d between them. It works like this: you \u201center\u201d the network using an entry node, then hop to two more nodes before accessing the site you want to visit. The reason for this three-node setup is simple: no one node has all the information.<\/p>\n<p>Your entry node might know who you are, but can\u2019t see where you\u2019re going besides the inter<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>te node, while the last node\u2014called an exit node, unsurprisingly\u2014can only see the intermediate one, too. The node in the middle can see the exit and entry nodes, but nothing beyond them, either.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, this daisy chain should keep you safe: somebody tracks the exit node, only finds the intermediate node, which in turn only has the data pertaining to the entry node. When using Tor, you\u2019re basically layering the connection\u2014it\u2019s why it\u2019s called the onion router\u2014so you can\u2019t be tracked.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tor_Issues\"><\/span>Tor Issues<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>However, that\u2019s also a significant downside to using Tor: security feels a bit iffy. As there\u2019s no encryption to speak of, it\u2019s theoretically possible to track somebody using Tor, a scary thought for anybody who wants to avoid attention by law enforcement, for moral or immoral reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue is that all this hopping around slows down your speed extremely badly. If your base speed is bad\u2014like it is in the United States and developing countries\u2014then using Tor sentences you to some of the slowest internet you\u2019ve ever experienced.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, there\u2019s also the issue of who runs the nodes: Tor is maintained almost exclusively by volunteers, who are kind enough to sacrifice some bandwidth to help strangers access the internet anonymously. As a result, the Tor network can be a bit small at times, especially if you\u2019re trying to hop around less developed parts of the world.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_dVPNs_Could_Fix_Tors_Issues\"><\/span>How dVPNs Could Fix Tor\u2019s Issues<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Enter decentralized VPNs. Also known as dVPNs or even DPNs, this technology uses the node-based system of Tor, but boasts that it can improve upon it by using some of the tools employed by VPNs, as well as some very much unique to them. One <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hackernoon.com\/decentralized-vpn-the-evolution-of-tor-hkv3uix\"><em>Hacker Noon<\/em><\/a> article even calls dVPNs the \u201cevolution of Tor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One big difference is that dVPN nodes aren\u2019t run by volunteers. Instead, users pay each other to use one another\u2019s nodes, using cryptocurrency minted by the operator of the network. As a result, dVPNs aren\u2019t really services, they\u2019re more like network operators connecting people who want to rent out nodes to people that want to use them\u2014not that these two groups are mutually exclusive. It\u2019s a pretty nifty fix to one of Tor\u2019s real issues.<\/p>\n<p>However, the improvements dVPNs aren\u2019t as clear cut in other areas. One big issue is security: as we discuss in our article on whether or not dVPNs are safer than regular VPNs, it\u2019s hard to pin down exactly what dVPNs do better than Tor.<\/p>\n<p>In an email, Derek Silva, the global community manager for dVPN <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orchid.com\">Orchid<\/a>, explains that \u201cOrchid and Tor nodes handle logs similarly, in that they don\u2019t log any traffic data and can only see connection data for the next device in the circuit.\u201d When talking to another source, who preferred to be anonymous, they confirmed that this was the case for their network, too.<\/p>\n<p>This means that dVPNs seem to suffer from some of the same caveats surrounding security that Tor does. This includes the fact that having to use multiple nodes means you\u2019ll get a slowdown. In some of the whitepapers we read, there are claims that dVPNs could use regular VPN protocols to connect to nodes, thus negating the need to use more than one, but as far as we can tell, that\u2019s not been implemented yet.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, right now dVPNs are really just a different kind of Tor, where you pay for nodes and hopefully can get paid for putting your devices up for use, too. Other than that, it\u2019s hard to see what the significant differences are right now. Since they\u2019re relatively new to the scene, though, dVPNs will likely evolve as the technology matures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>How (and Why) to Get Started With Decentralized VPNs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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However, dVPNs incentivize you by letting you get paid for allowing your device to be used as a node, and there are other ways dVPNs could potentially set themselves apart in the future&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":504940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/shutterstock_1952321194.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-504939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}