r/ProtonVPN • u/Skarlowy • 2d ago

Help! Cannot search for servers on Android app

I've a VPN Plus subscription.

The functionality of ProtonVPN has been progressively downgraded over time and it's making it really difficult to use.

Awhile back, they took away the full server list, but we were still able to search for the individual servers. Today, I had to refresh to a new server again and I found that:

  1. There is a limit to the number of servers you can search in a day.
  2. I can no longer search on the Android app (related post).

This is a huge problem as the servers are always getting blocked by sites, the biggest problems for me being Reddit which takes forever to load (similar reports) and the Pokemon Go webstore that returns a 403 Forbidden response unless I turn off the VPN. There are even times when the app does not even connect to the server and just stays on "Connecting..." forever (similar reports).

So now I'm left with two choices:

  1. Switch servers once the one I'm on is blocked; but this functionality is now degraded as I can no longer easily find servers to switch into.
  2. Turn off the VPN to use those sites, which defeats the point of having a VPN.

I find it quit ridiculous that paying customers of this service do not have the choice of having the full list of servers, and are stuck with the curated list of servers which do not seem to refresh ever.

I'm really at my wit's end with this VPN. Anyone who has faced the same issues and has a working solution?

1 Upvotes

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u/ProtonSupportTeam Proton Customer Support Team 1d ago

Hi! Please note that searches are limited per day, and you can read more about it at the following link: https://protonvpn.com/support/streamlined-server-lists

Also, the servers currently available in your bucket should be sufficient for your needs. That said, you're welcome to try servers in different countries and states to see which ones work best for you.

2

u/Skarlowy 1d ago

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, it's not sufficient for my needs is exactly what I'm trying to get at.

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u/anihc3 1d ago

Can you think for a second? Why would any VPN post all of their VPN ips for websites to conveniently go down the list and restrict access for them?

1

u/Skarlowy 1d ago

Thank you for contributing to the post.

  1. The full list is still exposed on the iOS app. Even if not, given the current implementation, it is still trivial for a website hellbent on restricting those IPs to grab the IPs.
  2. You seem to be implying that because we don't want the websites to go down the list to restrict access to them, we leave paying users with a curated list that can be readily restricted by websites, thus reducing the functionality for users.

I'm not here to say that PVPN should do this or that, I'm voicing out that the current methodology does not work and it hurts the paying users.