For many internet users in Pakistan, using any VPN has become less of a privacy concern and more of a daily gamble. One day it connects without friction, the next it stalls, drops, or refuses to connect altogether. People have taken to Reddit to express their exasperation, as they wonder if PTA has finally won.
The pattern is so familiar to Proton VPN users, as they have been going round and round in circles for more than ten months, as many users cannot make the service work all the time.
One user posted a whole essay of their observations on r/PakTech as follows:
Increased Censorship via National Internet Firewall
byu/armujahid inPakistaniTech
To answer, users started meming the chaos, with some of the comments downright hilarious. One user said:
Now you need VPN to connect to a VPN!
Kudos!
And another one said, trying to be somewhat helpful:
same thing is happening with proton pass too. I have internet connection but the extension and desktop/ mobile app keep showing this. Yesterday I was locked out my Github and I litr backed up everything just in case it is blocked for once and for all. Extension shows this now despite being logged in. I am moving to bitwarden for now.
Another lamented, “same thing is happening with proton pass too… Yesterday I was locked out my Github,” while a third sneered, “The whole point of a VPN is to circumvent censorship. The fact that these VPNs are failing means they’re pretty shit to begin with.”
Proton VPN, that Swiss-based champion of no-logs and censorship resistance, was supposed to be the hero for activists, journalists, and everyday folks dodging throttles or prying eyes.
In Pakistan, it gained cult status for its free tier and Stealth protocol that usually outsmarted blocks. But oh boy, has that changed. Users report the app, extension, and even the website going down in waves Even the official site gets hit with no apparent cause.
The chaos traces to PTA’s 2024-2025 crackdown on “unregistered” VPNs, ramping up deep packet inspection that sniffs out protocols and IPs like a digital bloodhound. Proton’s Stealth mode bought time, but by early 2025, complaints exploded for that too.
It is also not that Proton has not come out to explain. Users have shared screenshots of their official correspondence such as:
However, the tale takes a turn when some more people join the discourse who do not necessarily use Proton VPN. According to them, 2025 saw widespread disruptions for other popular VPNs too.
Based on user reports from Reddit, forums, and news, several popular VPNs faced issues like slow connections, protocol failures, or outright blocks on major ISPs (PTCL, Jazz, Zong). While registered VPNs (e.g., Alpha 3 Cubic, Crest VPN) work smoothly, unregistered consumer ones struggle. Here’s a list of commonly reported problematic VPNs:
- ProtonVPN: Intermittent failures, Stealth mode slow or ineffective; app/website access blocked sporadically.
- NordVPN: Obfuscated servers work but with delays; WireGuard detected on some ISPs.
- ExpressVPN: Lightway protocol inconsistent; high latency reported.
- Surfshark: Camouflage mode failing against DPI; connection drops common.
- Mullvad: WireGuard heavily targeted; requires manual configs.
- Cloudflare WARP: Mobile works intermittently, desktop often blocked.
- Psiphon: Slow to crawl during peaks; still functional but unreliable.
Out of these, WARP was the only one that worked for some people on phones but not desktop, as pointed out by users on the same subreddit:
Cloudflare Warp isn’t working in Islamabad or at least it’s not working for me. The workaround I’ve found is cloudflare’s zero trust version. The speed is a bit affected but overall it’s stable and working fine.
There is nothing officially declared by any government institution. What we know for a fact is that the PTA’s policy requires all VPNs to register for legal operation, labeling unregistered ones as “security risks” that could be used for accessing restricted content or sensitive information. Initially announced in November 2024, the deadline for registration was November 30, after which unregistered VPNs faced progressive blocking via advanced Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology, which detects and throttles VPN traffic by analyzing packet signatures.
Forums like Reddit’s r/PakistaniTech and r/pakistan are filled with complaints from December, with users reporting ProtonVPN as “hit or miss,” requiring constant protocol switches or self-hosted alternatives. Which raises more questions about the nature of developing internet culture in Pakistan and how it gets regulated safely, with no answer for the near future.
