Usage of WebRTC Network Limiter

[hatrack]

Does anyone have any comments or advice on using the extension -- "WebRTC Network Limite" with Vivaldi ver: 1.8.770.54 (64-bit).

I have installed this satisfactorily but, unfortunately, I do not know enough about this subject to understand whether it is working or not.

Best regards to all ---

[hatrack]

To dLEON --
I thank you for your reply but I am afraid that I am not any the wiser !
Despite many years experience with PCs, I have never met the term "WebRTC" until a few days ago when I was installing Vivaldi and then a paid subscription to SurfEasy. I do not know what WebRTC does, do I want it or not ? I've tried some web searching and can easily find references but they all seem to assume that the person doing the searching knows all there is to know about the subject. Some, however, seem to imply that an Extension to prevent leakage of the IP address is essential if one is to enjoy privacy -- implying that such leakage defeats the objective of having a VPN, in the first place.
I guess what I am really seeking is a pointer to a good article on the subject plus, of course, any further relevant comments. Thank you again ---
Best regards

[hatrack]

To dLeon --
Thank you for continuing this discussion.
Taking first your suggestion - You "bet" I know more about Web RTC than you do -- I'm afraid you lose ! I quite literally do not know the first thing about the subject. I'll explain how all this started --

I have been a long term user of firefox but, just recently, they have announced that they shortly intend to change the rendering engine and that certain customisations will no longer function. This is important to me. I use a browser for research and I have more than 1000 bookmarks, all filed up and neatly organised. However, I am now over 80 yrs old and my sight is failing. I need visual clues to help me move around efficiently. So, my customisation of Frefox is critical.
To be told that the authors of Firefox have decided quite arbitrarily to "cancel" all my customisation is not just annoying, it means that the browser will be far less useful than at present. So --- I am looking at Vivaldi and am much impressed by the options available. I have already imported all my bookmarks and have confirmed that the directory structure has been preserved.
As part of all this, I decided that I wanted a VPN. I do not do anything illegal or reprehensible but I feel strongly that my activity should be private and should not form a target for some advertisement for goods I will never buy. In the course of setting this up, I encountered an extension called "IP Leaks" which (among other things) provides testing for WebRTC leaks. It seems my system is not leaking and the site of Gibson Research reports that it cannot see a return IP address for my browser. Since I have WebRTC Network Limiter ver: 0.2.1.3 running, it seems that this is doing what it is intended to do.

However, here's the $64000 question -- Do I need WebRTC and what are the consequences of blocking this by running the Network Limiter extension ?

Has anyone got any good ideas ?

My thanks to all who read my post and for any comments that may arise ---
Best regards to all -

[Steffie]

@hatrack -- Compare, with WebRTC blocked vs allowed:

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Tower & Lappy = Maui Linux 17.03 x64 Plasma 5.9.3.
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[hatrack]

To dLeon & Steffie -
Thank you both very much --- your posts provide the information I was seeking and completely answer my questions.

My usage of the web is essentially very simple --- I read newspapers, do some on-line banking, make on-line purchases (I am becoming more and more disabled and soon wont be able to leave my home at all) and finally, I research and read on scientific sites. So --- I will simply leave my webRTC blocker running. (A little point on that --- I have seen the toggle in "Privacy" settings but apparently this does not work in my system. I haven't explored this matter very thoroughly yet but, it doesn't seem to be due to an artefact introduced by either the blocker or the VPN software.

So --- judging by your posts and, in view of the usage that I list above, it would appear that I can effectively ignore webRTC in the future.

Thank you both very much for your efforts ---

Best regards to you both --

System: Dell 980 series with 8 GB RAM and over 100 GB of free disc space - 64-bit LinuxMint ver: 17.3 fully up-to-date