[tor-talk] TorBirdy seems to connect to the same exit node again and again

[goofyzrnssm at vfemail.net]

Sophie Hassfurther:

Maybe clicking the online/offline icon at the lower left corner of  
Thunderbird between different TorBrowser identities will work.  This  
process is based on instructions from Security in a Box [0].

1) Start a new Thunderbird (with TorBirdy) session in `offline mode.'
2) Start the TorBrowser Bundle (TBB),
   2a) Select `test Tor network settings,' and note the IP address.
3) In the current Thunderbird (TB) session,
   3a) Select `online mode,'
   3b) Open TorBirdy Preferences, click through the warning, and then
   3c) Click on `Test Proxy Settings' only.  A new tab opens in TB.
     3c-i) (Close the TorBirdy Preferences dialog.)
   3d) In the new tab, check to see whether TorBirdy's IP address is
     the same as or different than TBB's IP address.
     3d-i) If the two differ, try refreshing TBB.
   3e) (Hopefully) send and receive emails.
   3f) When finished with the particular email account(s) currently
     in use, reengage `offline mode' in TB.
4) In TBB,
   4a) if you've finished entirely then close TBB and proceed to step  
5), or, if
     you would like to connect to some additional email accounts using a
     different Tor network path than the previous email account  
connections have
     used during this same Thunderbird session, select `new identity.'
   4b) Go back to step 2a) and repeat.
5) Close the current Thunderbird session.

AFAIK this process works (I've checked and the IP addresses matched)  
on the same versions of Thunderbird, TorBirdy, and Enigmail as above,  
with the Lightning calendar addon.

cheers,
gz

[0] https://info.securityinabox.org/default/thunderbird_torbirdy


Sophie Hassfurther:
> Hi Leeroy,
>
> Thanks for the reply!
>
> I am using the latest Tor Browser bundle (4.0.8), and checked the
> signature before installing. Updating does not work for me anymore, I
> have to upgrade to a new machine and newer OSX, will do asap.
>
> I think what you describe might be correct - so far choosing a new
> identity in Tor did not work for me, but restarting the Tor Browser
> worked. So maybe some circuits did not close?
>
> Just a general question: is it normal to get connected to the same exit
> node almost all the time, when I start my mail program?
>
> Thanks for the support everyone
> S.

----- End forwarded message -----


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