Welcome to the User Guide for Intego Privacy Protection, Intego's VPN software for macOS and Windows. Use the Table of Contents below to go to the different sections of the guide. For information about installing Intego Privacy Protection, see the article Installing Intego Privacy Protection.
Table of Contents
- Using the Intego Privacy Protection Widget
- Servers/Regions & Favorites
- IP Address
- Basic/Expanded Display
- Quick Connect
- Performance
- Usage
- Quick Settings
- Connection
- VPN Snooze
Settings
Intego Privacy Protection Support
Using the Intego Privacy Protection Widget
After installation, the Intego Privacy Protection VPN client software is intended to run in the background. The VPN connection is condensed to an interface that can be accessed from the menu bar, as circled in the image below.
From the menu bar icon, you can access the Intego Privacy Protection Widget, which provides direct access to enabling and disabling the VPN, as well as most of the features and settings.
Note: You can also access Intego Privacy Protection from the Applications folder.
Servers/Regions & Favorites
The most commonly adjusted setting for most users is the region they are connecting to. You can access a complete list of the region selections available to you by clicking on the VPN SERVER in this section, circled in the image below.
Clicking on the VPN SERVER selection shown above will present you with a full list of servers, as illustrated below. You can minimize or expand countries with the arrow next to a country's name. The latency shown next to each region is an indicator of the efficiency of the pathway between your device and the server. By default, the application is set to ‘Choose Automatically’ which is the option visible at the top of the server list; this option will connect to the server with the lowest latency. Some servers display a small globe next to their names, indicating this is a geo-located region. This feature allows users to access servers infrequently restricted or problematic locations, which are hosted outside of the physical location for the exit node. The heart next to each server can be used to indicate the region as a favorite. This will add the option to the QUICK CONNECT menu. Clicking on the left-pointing arrow at the top left of this interface will return you to the settings interface.
IP Address
The IP section will display your actual public IP address, and when connected, will also display the VPN IP you are being masked with. If you are using the Port Forwarding feature, the forwarded port will also be shown here as well.
Basic/Expanded Display
Returning to the DEFAULT DISPLAY, there is an arrow at the bottom that will open the EXPANDED DISPLAY view. This is what you will use to customize the DEFAULT DISPLAY as well as change advanced settings.
Clicking on this will display the EXPANDED DISPLAY which will look similar to the image below. We will systematically go over everything shown, starting with how to customize the DEFAULT DISPLAY. There is a switch that can be toggled in the top right of each section, below the VPN SERVER and IP sections are marked as favored, while QUICK CONNECT, PERFORMANCE, USAGE, SETTINGS, and ACCOUNT are not. If a section is marked as favored, it will also be shown in the DEFAULT DISPLAY.
Quick Connect
The QUICK CONNECT section allows you to quickly connect to your favorite servers as chosen from the VPN SERVER section. Select a flag from the list to connect.
Performance
The PERFORMANCE section will show your history of data that flows through the application. Every five seconds the display will update, showing how much was downloaded over the past five seconds. The numeric display at the bottom of this section shows live download and upload traffic, as well as the duration of the connection. Please note this is the traffic that is occurring (past and present), not a speed test.
Usage
The USAGE section shows the total amount of data you have downloaded and uploaded since establishing the connection.
Quick Settings
In this section of the guide, we will go over each of the options available in the QUICK SETTINGS section. This will cover all the extra features available in the Intego Privacy Protection application.
Desktop Notifications
In the image below, the DESKTOP NOTIFICATIONS option is turned on. Desktop Notifications will provide pop-up notifications in the corner of your screen to notify you of any changes to your connectivity, such as an unexpected disconnection.
MACE
In the image below the MACE feature is turned on. MACE is a DNS-based ad blocker that blocks known advertising and malware domains. As it operates at the DNS level, it can only block entire domains and as such won't block ads that are served from the same domain as legitimate websites. Inversely, it can also in some situations end up blocking an entire website because it tried blocking an ad. A famous case of this is: 'https://www.google-analytics.com/' which is used by the sponsored links in Google searches. As a result, some users complain about not being able to access Google results.
Port Forwarding
In the image below, the PORT FORWARDING feature is enabled. The Port Forwarding option can be used to potentially optimize torrent performance. To use this feature, you must connect to a server on which port-forwarding is enabled. In the image below, in the IP section, the message Not Available is displayed, indicating that port-forwarding is not available on this particular server. The next image will show how to identify servers that can use port forwarding.
With the Port Forwarding feature turned on, expanding the VPN SERVER section again will show a minor change. Servers that can be utilized for the feature will show in a brighter white text, while those that can not port-forward be grayed out and have an icon next to them indicating port forwarding is not available from that region.
With Port Forwarding enabled, and a server that supports the feature selected, the application will display the forwarded port that has been assigned to your connection. You can then input this information into your torrent client, or any other implementation.
Allow LAN
In the following image ALLOW LAN is enabled. If your network is properly configured to facilitate LAN communication, turning on the Allow LAN feature will allow you to do so with the VPN connected.
Debug Logging
In the image below the DEBUG LOGGING feature is enabled. This feature is important if you find that you are experiencing problems. This will allow the application to collect connectivity and functionality logs. In the event you need to contact customer support, this can be helpful for the support team and they may request you provide them with the Client logs. Rest assured, these logs are not traffic logs, Intego does not monitor, restrict, or block web traffic, not on our servers and not on your system; the logs this feature generates are exclusively for troubleshooting purposes and contain no information which may identify a user upon submission.
Light Theme
The image below is a demonstration of the LIGHT THEME feature. As you can see, this largely inverts the color scheme of Intego Privacy Protection. This feature is purely cosmetic.
More Settings
In the following image More Settings… has been highlighted in the SETTINGS section. Additionally, the top-right menu has been expanded to show another way to access the same thing. This option opens the most extensive menu of the client, containing all the settings available in the EXPANDED DISPLAY as well as a few more advanced settings.
Connection
The CONNECTION section displays your current VPN connection configuration. These settings can be altered to either troubleshoot a connectivity issue or provide additional support and security. You can modify your configuration from the Protocols section under Settings. This is covered in more detail in the Settings section of this User Guide.
VPN Snooze
With the VPN SNOOZE feature, you can set a predetermined amount of time you would like to pause your VPN connection. The time limit the VPN can be snoozed for is between one and thirty minutes.
Once an amount of time has been selected and you are connected to a server, press the Snooze button and the application will enter into snooze mode. Following the snooze button, the VPN will disconnect.
Settings
General
The General section controls the basic functions of the VPN and some graphical settings.
Launch on System Startup: This will ensure that the application is launched upon boot.
Connect on Launch: This will instruct the VPN to attempt to connect to a specified region on launch.
Show Geo-Located Regions: This will show which servers are provided using a Geo-Located region, meaning the server location may not share the same physical location as the server name listed.
Show Desktop Notifications: This will provide pop-up notifications in the corner of your screen to notify you of any changes to your connectivity, such as an unexpected disconnection.
Show Service Communication Messages: When toggled to the off position, this will limit the communication you receive from the application.
Language: will specify what language the application interface displays.
Theme: This allows for selection of Dark or Light, demonstrated in the explanation of the Light Theme option above.
Tray Icon Style: This allows users to select a particular icon based on personal preference.
Dashboard Appearance: This allows you to choose how the application displays when the GUI is open. The GUI is attached to the icon when Attached to Tray is enabled. A window will detach the GUI from the tray and allow for a more mobile experience.
Reset All Settings: This will reset all General settings to the default configuration.
Protocols
The Protocol section contains specific settings which can be altered to either troubleshoot a connectivity issue or provide additional support and security.
Protocol: The protocol radio buttons allow you to choose between the OpenVPN and Wireguard protocols.
Transport: This setting will allow you to specify the use of UDP or TCP. In general, UDP will usually provide the best performance for most users, but TCP may be necessary for certain networks.
Data Encryption: There are two available options, for both AES-128 and AES-256 encryption. Intego Privacy Protection exclusively uses encryption that has not been cracked and is known to be secure. All of these options will provide you security, but the higher levels of encryption will have a greater impact on performance.
Remote Port: This setting allows specification of the specific port to be used in association with the connection type. For security reasons, the Intego Privacy Protection VPN service only allows traffic on certain ports. Some users may need to specify a certain port for performance issues related to restrictions on the network they are connecting from.
Local Port: By default, the application will randomly select the local port used; the vast majority of users will never need to modify this setting. Advanced users operating with highly restrictive firewalls may utilize this setting to specify a port that will work with their configuration.
MTU: This option determines the maximum packet size allowed through the tunnel and offers three settings: Auto, Large Packets, and Small Packets. Auto detects automatically and is best for most connections. Large Packets can be considered the most efficient if the connection is reliable. Small Packets is less efficient but is best for unreliable connections.
Try Alternate Settings: When checked, by default, the application will change the connection type and remote port until a connection is established.
*Note: Torrenting software may compress data, which can cause packet loss. If you are experiencing issues, turning this on may resolve them.
Network
The Intego Privacy Protection Client will auto-connect you to Intego Privacy Protection's DNS Servers. It will also allow you to choose to use your device's existing DNS or to set up a custom DNS server. Also within this section, you will find another area to toggle the Port Forwarding and Allow LAN Traffic features, also available in the Settings section of the widget.
Privacy
The Privacy section allows access to the VPN Killswitch feature, which will prevent web traffic outside the VPN tunnel. You can also turn MACE on or off, which is a DNS level ad-blocker and can be easily accessed from the SETTINGS section of the widget.
Automation
The Automation tab will allow you to determine how the VPN reacts to certain conditions. This includes whether or not the VPN should connect on open WiFi Networks, Protected Networks, or the Network to which you connect in your home.
Split Tunnel
The Split Tunnel feature, when enabled, allows you to “exclude” specific applications or IPs. When excluded, these applications and IPs will operate outside of the encrypted tunnel.
When enabling Split Tunneling for the first time, you will need to grant Intego Privacy Protection access to adjust certain configurations within the settings of macOS.
Upon checking the box to enable Split Tunneling, you will receive an on screen prompt to load the Intego Split Tunnel System Extension.
Within the Privacy and Security window, you will see the option to Allow the "Intego Split Tunnel" system software. Click Allow. Authentication using your macOS password is required.
Once this is completed, you will be prompted to allow Intego Split Tunnel to add a proxy configuration to your Network Filters.
You can verify this has been completed successfully within the Network < Filters section of System Settings.
Multi-Hop
If you want to create a circuitous route to your destination of choice? We recommend using the Multi-Hop and Obfuscation checkbox to create a Multi-Hop setup and run your connection through two different servers (one a proxy).
Help
The final section is Help. In addition to being another location to toggle the Debug Logging feature, you will also find a shortcut to the Intego Support Portal, and see the version of the application you are using.
Enable Debug Logging:
Once this option is selected, you can share the debug logs with Intego Support if any technical support is required. You can view how to enable debugging logs and share with with Intego support here.
Intego Privacy Protection Support
Knowledge Base and Support
If you still have questions about using your Intego Privacy Protection software and cannot find the answer in this User Guide, please check our Knowledge Base for answers to the most common questions:
You can also contact our Support Team directly for assistance by completing a support ticket online here:
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