Goodbye NymConnect, hello NymVPN

Nym phasing out NymConnect app in advance of coming NymVPN

Author: Nym

June 16, 20244 mins read

Nym phasing out NymConnect app in advance of coming NymVPN

Important changes for NymConnect and mixnet users.

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In anticipation of the commercial launch of the NymVPN app, Nym will be phasing out the NymConnect interface in four weeks. The SOCKS5 client will remain active for developers and those looking to manually run the proxy through specific applications. By securing all user traffic with the click of a button, the NymVPN app will significantly improve access to the mixnet and give more comprehensive privacy protections for users.

Here’s what you need to know about the transition from NymConnect to NymVPN, as well as the possibility of continuing to use the SOCKS5 client.

NymConnect so far

To date, SOCKS5 has been the proxy protocol for users to access the Nym mixnet through desired applications. NymConnect was designed as the front end graphic interface for the SOCKS5 proxy. NymConnect provided an easy click-and-connect interface for apps such as the Bitcoin Electrum wallet, Monero wallet, Telegram, etc., enabling users of those apps to route their traffic from SOCKS5 via the Nym mixnet. Messages and transactions could be anonymously sent to and received from remote application servers without leaking metadata.

How has this worked until now? When a compatible application is configured with SOCKS5, the TCP data stream from that app is divided into Sphinx encrypted packets before being sent to a network requester authorized by the Nym network. The data packets are then mixed up by the 3-layers of mixnet nodes before being reassembled by the exit gateway.

So far, the NymConnect client has had a number of limitations:

Application Specific: Users must manually configure each application to use NymConnect, specifying the port and IP address each time.
Compatibility: It only functions with applications that support SOCKS5.
Network: It only supports TCP streams.
Maintenance: Over time, NymConnect proved to be too resource intensive for the Nym dev team to maintain. Continuing NymConnect would ultimately slow down more essential work in fine-tuning NymVPN and the mixnet.

In four weeks, NymConnect will be disconnected. Thankfully, the new NymVPN app will not only replace all its functionalities, but also provide click-and-go privacy coverage for all users’ traffic, applications, and network connections. Users and developers will still be able to manually configure Nym’s SOCKS5 client on desired apps.

Benefits of NymVPN

NymVPN is a new client in which users can route all their traffic through the mixnet by default (not just TCP, SOCKS4–5, etc.). There is no longer a need to proxy-configure specific applications or to select network requesters.

NymVPN has a number of other key features:

Choice between advanced privacy through Nym’s 5-hop mixnet mode, or faster connections through its WireGuard 2-hop dVPN mode
Choice of entry and exit gateways by country
And coming soon, split tunneling to custom configure what traffic uses the mixnet and what bypasses it.

All of this is now possible through a single app.

Goodbye NymConnect, Hello NymVPN

NymVPN is currently in its alpha testing phase for users invited from the waitlist. Sign up today for a chance to test and provide feedback on NymVPN Alpha — there’s still time! Following the alpha testing phase, NymVPN will be launched as the first commercial app to run on the Nym mixnet.