VpnCilla

Matthias Meier

About this app

Attention: This VPN Client supports only the outdated IKEv1 variant of IPSec!!
For security reason YOU SHOULD NOT USE this Protocol resp. this App if your VPN Server supports a more recent VPN protocol as WireGuard or IKEv2 based IPSec. You have been warned!

Before you buy this software, please test with the free "VpnCilla (Trial)" (also available at the google play market)!

VpnCilla is a VPN Client for VPN Servers as FritzBox, Cisco PIX/ASA, Fortigate or other VPN Servers with IPSec Pre-shared Keying (Xauth IKE/PSK).

Features:
* Profile automatically taken from the Trial version (don't uninstall the Trial until the first run of this full version)
* No root access needed (if the device fully conforms to Android 4)
* Compatible with Fritzbox, Cisco PIX/ASA, Fortigate VPN Servers and others (?)
* Connects/Disconnects with a single click (by a Shortcut-Widget)
* Automatic Reconnect Mode on WiFi/Mobile failover/outage
* Supports Multiple Profiles
* Supports automatic Cisco Split Routing
* Passwords may be stored in profile or always manually entered when connecting (which is much more safe)

Advanced Settings:
* Possibility to specify WiFi Blacklists/Whitelists to explicitely deny/allow VPN on only specific WiFi ESSDs
* Possiblity to specify Manual Routes and/or DNS Server and much more...


Restrictions:
- Mention the security risk if passwords are stored in profile in case your device will be hacked or stolen!
- VpnCilla runs only if the TUN driver (tun.ko) as well as the the Android 4 VPN routing infrastructure is included in the firmware. UNFORTUNATELY NOT ALL DEVICE MANUFACTURER YET HAS INCLUDED IT!! Check with "VpnCilla (Trial)" first!
- Only IKE/PSK Xauth authentication is supported (no PPTP, no L2TP, no Hybrid RSA, no SSL, no Cisco AnyConnect, ...)
- supports IPv4 only (no IPv6)
- supports WLAN/WIFI as well as Mobile Data up to 3g. VpnCilla is unstable over 4g (LTE) on some devices / with mobile providers
- Active Screenfilter apps as Twilight or Lux might prevent selecting of the security dialog checkbox
- VpnCilla can't handle phase 1 rekeying initiated by the VPN server. On Fritzboxes this will occure after 1h connection time whereas on Cisco VPN servers the rekeying interval is configurable and by default after 8h. Typically the session stalls for 2-3 minutes until VpnCilla initiates a reconnect.

Ratings and reviews

Painless profile transfer from trial, and extended options - will give the boot options a try when i figure out a permanent way to stop APNs from preferring ipv6 - Response: the default APN changes edited preference after reboot (probably carrier controlled), i'll try to add one from scratch with a different naming convention, hopefully it survives a reboot. Although this is outside of the app's scope, i really appreciate the tips!

I like it very much, works great! But I have a suggestion: could you add a "sleep timer"? So that one can set a timer after activating vpn connection, it will automatically disconnect. Maybe you could bind that feature to a "only on mobile data connection" - condition. I would love that!

Works nicely with my Fritzbox (cannot get it to work without it) but ever since I upgraded to Android 9 the always on function doesn't work anymore. SSID Blacklist is now also ignored, so when coming home or starting it at home will still connect instead of going into 'waiting' state :(

What's new

Release 3.8.4 (still fighting with Android 13 mess)
• Android 13 Bugfix: Re-allow status bar notification (might be re-allowed again at Android Settings > Apps > VpnCilla > Notifications)
• Android 13 Bugfix: Blacklist/Whitelist needs now confirmation of Location and Background Location Permission
• If Bootoption is active, automatic restart of VPN after App Update