Connect With TOR through VPN

Hello, I have been reading for months about how to use boh a VPN and TOR together. Now I finally have it setup but there is one small problem right before TOR connects to the internet . This is the error message

ME- TOR- VPN


The proxy server is refusing connections
Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections.
Check the proxy settings to make sure that they are correct.
Contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is
working.

What I have done is setup a VPN and then once the vpn is running and connected I start the TOR browser.It takes some time but the TOR browser browser start window finally opens but it will not resolve the first TOR page you normally see.
Can anyone help me to know how to configure things so this project of mine will finally work?

 

I fire up the VPN and then start the TBB. No problem. And if you have a decent internet connection and a fast VPN like PIA or Mullvad, it shouldn't take much time at all for the TBB to connect.

 

But it could be that I am using the wrong type of vpn. Do I not have to use a tcp only vpn?
I thought I read that to use TOR over a VPN that it has to be a tcp only vpn? Or no..?

 

No sir.

You can use udp or tcp if you are using TOR over a VPN. UDP is a much better choice if your connection allows for it. In fact I am on udp protocol via VPN(s) and then TOR on top while making this post. I would only have to switch to tcp if I also wanted to "wrap" my tunnel in SSL/SSH as well, such as for folks in China, etc.....

Same as Caspian mentioned above; with a strong VPN connection the TBB is pretty decent. I frequently get 5-6 meg via TOR in this configuration. Not always though!

One other suggestion is that you use a linux VM with the TBB on its desktop. The VM adds another layer of anonymity by removing any hardware identifiers specific to your machine. Several threads around here about it. Whonix is already assembled for you if you want to go that route.

 

Thank you for the response and the information. I have a question about running the whonix vm station on my linux system.Is this something that can be done with too much command line, more gui interface? It is a large file right? I have to downlad the server & client software packages.A total of out 2.4 gb yes?

Also I hope someone can help me to see why the traffic will not pass over the vpn.Maybe I have to use whonix and it will be better.

 

It will pass through the VPN. The VPN tunnel will function as an obfuscated bridge between the ISP and your computer. All traffic should be tunneled so that traffic is restricted to ONLY the tunnel. Then -- : you mount a VM, which is NAT connected to run TOR or Whonix. The traffic from TOR will ride along inside the original VPN tunnel but the encryption is layered by TOR. In other words even the VPN provider cannot read the traffic because the TOR circuit is encrypted. Both the VPN encryption AND the TOR encryption are active in the tunnel. Your ISP will not be aware that you are using TOR and will only see you are connected to hop ONE (the VPN server).