Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When someone in a censored environment uses Psiphon, their device looks for an available Conduit Station. If matched, their traffic is routed through a secure, peer-to-peer connection to that station, and then forwarded (still encrypted) to Psiphon's servers. From there, Psiphon completes the connection to the wider internet. Your Conduit Station acts only as a transport relay, not as an exit point.

All Conduit traffic is brokered and coordinated by Psiphon infrastructure. Psiphon servers manage station discovery, pairing, routing logic, and final internet access. Conduit Stations do not independently decide who connects or where traffic goes.

The broker is a Psiphon-operated system that dynamically matches Psiphon users with available Conduit Stations. It selects stations based on availability and network conditions and helps prevent direct enumeration or probing of stations by adversaries.

Hosted Conduit is a subscription based feature that runs a Conduit Station for you using Psiphon-hosted cloud infrastructure. Instead of using your own device, your station runs continuously in the cloud and remains active even when your device is offline.

When you run Conduit on your device, it uses your internet connection, bandwidth, and device resources locally. Hosted Conduit runs on Psiphon-managed servers instead, so it does not use your device's battery, data, or connection.

When you subscribe, two Conduit Stations are created for you: • A Global Hosted Station that helps support Psiphon users worldwide • A Personal Pairing Station that you can share directly with people you trust Both are managed by Psiphon and run independently of your device.

Personal Pairing allows you to share your Personal Pairing Station with friends or family. When they use Psiphon, their app can attempt to connect through your station first before using the broader Psiphon network.

You can share your Personal Pairing Station using a link or code provided in the app. Anyone you share it with can use it in Psiphon to connect through your station.

Your Public Pairing Station supports up to 99 simultaneous connections at any given time. You can share your pairing link with as many people as you like, but only 99 can be connected at once.

Your Personal Pairing Station supports up to 99 simultaneous connections at any given time. You can share your pairing link with as many people as you like, but only 99 can be connected at once.

If your Personal Pairing Station is at capacity, additional connection attempts may not succeed. In that case, users can connect through the standard Psiphon network instead.

You control who you share your pairing link or code with. There is no per-user approval or management system, so anyone with access to your pairing information may attempt to connect.

No. There is currently no way to remove individual users. If someone has your pairing information, they may continue to use it while your subscription is active.

Your Personal Pairing Station is tied to your active subscription. If your subscription ends and you resubscribe later, a new station and pairing information will be created.

On supported platforms, you can continue running Conduit on your device while also using Hosted Conduit. The hosted infrastructure runs separately and does not affect your local station.

No. Hosted Conduit runs entirely on Psiphon-managed infrastructure and continues to operate even if the app is closed or your device is offline.

No. Hosted Conduit runs in the cloud and does not use your device's connection, battery, or data.

Yes. The app provides real-time information about connections and usage for your hosted stations.

No. You cannot see what users are doing or identify individual users. Only aggregate or real-time connection counts are shown.

Hosted Conduit is designed to run continuously, but like any internet service, it may be affected by network conditions or blocking.

Connections depend on real-time demand and network conditions. Your station contributes to overall capacity even when there are no active users.

There may be several reasons, including network conditions, station capacity, or availability. If a connection cannot be established, users can connect through the broader Psiphon network instead.

When your subscription ends, your hosted Conduit Stations are deactivated. People using your Personal Pairing Station will no longer be able to connect through it and can continue using the broader Psiphon network instead.

Yes. Personal Pairing works with the Psiphon app, which handles connection and routing through your station. It is currently only available to receive on Android, and IOS is coming soon!

No. All traffic passing through a Conduit Station is encrypted end-to-end. You cannot see websites, messages, files, or any content. Data remains encrypted until it reaches Psiphon servers.

No. Conduit only relays network traffic through a dedicated networking component. Users cannot access your files, applications, camera, microphone, or personal data.

Conduit is designed to operate in real, imperfect network environments where traffic must pass through multiple systems to reach the internet. When a user connects through a Conduit Station, their traffic is encrypted on their device and remains encrypted until it reaches Psiphon's servers. The Conduit Station relays this traffic but cannot see its contents, destinations, or purpose. Like all internet relay systems, Conduit participates in standard networking processes required to move data between devices. This allows connections to function but does not provide visibility into user activity or identity. In many cases, network addressing information represents shared infrastructure, such as mobile or carrier networks, rather than individual users. Conduit traffic uses widely deployed encrypted transport technologies and is coordinated through Psiphon's infrastructure. This helps connections blend into normal internet traffic while remaining flexible under changing network conditions. While casual observation won't distinguish Conduit from ordinary everyday traffic, a well-resourced adversary analyzing traffic patterns over time could potentially identify it as circumvention traffic.

A Conduit Station can see the IP addresses of clients that connect through it. This is inherent to how internet relay systems work: data packets must be addressed to travel between devices. However, in many cases—particularly on mobile networks using CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT)—many users share the same public IP address. An IP address often identifies shared infrastructure rather than an individual person.

Conduit is designed with a strong security posture. It uses modern cryptography, encrypted peer-to-peer transport, and multiple protections against probing, enumeration, and traffic analysis. The system is built so that Conduit Station operators cannot inspect or control user activity.

Yes. The Conduit library and its integration have undergone independent third-party security audits by Cure53. No critical or high-severity vulnerabilities were found, and identified issues were addressed and verified. Links to the audit reports are publicly available.

Conduit is a relay/proxy tool. In many countries, running relay or proxy software is legal and commonly done. There is no law that makes Conduit itself illegal by default. However, laws vary by country, and some governments restrict or prohibit proxies or circumvention tools. Internet service providers may also have acceptable-use policies that affect relay-style software. You are responsible for understanding the legal and contractual environment where you live.

A Conduit Station is not an exit node. It only forwards encrypted traffic and does not originate, terminate, inspect, or control user activity. Because of this, operators generally cannot see what users are doing or intervene in their actions. In many jurisdictions, responsibility for online activity typically rests with the end user rather than with intermediate infrastructure that has no visibility or control over the traffic. However, laws and enforcement practices vary by country, so operators should consider local regulations and ISP policies when deciding to run a station.

Conduit is available on Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It works on both mobile and fixed-line internet connections.

Conduit works on both, but home Wi-Fi or fixed-line connections are generally more stable and cost-effective. These are recommended for most operators.

For best performance and reliability, run Conduit on a stable internet connection, preferably Wi-Fi or fixed-line. Keeping your device plugged in and allowing the station to run continuously improves availability and helps support more users.

Conduit uses bandwidth to relay traffic. Any data transferred through your station counts toward your data plan. You can control usage through the app's settings.

This setting limits how many users can connect to your Conduit Station at the same time. A higher value allows more simultaneous connections but requires more bandwidth and system resources.

This setting limits how much bandwidth each connected user can use. Lower values reduce overall impact on your connection, while higher values allow faster connections for users. The app shows estimated bandwidth usage to help you choose settings appropriate for your connection.

Yes. Psiphon has been committed to open source development since 2011. The Conduit open source repository can be found here (github.com/Psiphon-Inc/conduit)

Open source allows independent experts to review, test, and improve the code. It strengthens security, encourages collaboration, and supports the broader internet freedom ecosystem.

Connections depend on real-time demand and network conditions. Even if no one is currently connected, your station increases overall network capacity. If you recently changed settings, try restarting your station and allow time for users to connect.

Yes. Conduit is designed to run in the background while your device is in use or idle.

No. Conduit is not a VPN. It is a relay tool that helps Psiphon users reach Psiphon servers. If you want VPN-style browsing for yourself, Psiphon provides that functionality.

No. Conduit and Psiphon are independent applications. You do not need Psiphon installed to run a Conduit Station.

You can review Conduit's open source code on GitHub, read published security audit reports (2023 audit, 2022 audit), and learn more about Psiphon at psiphon.ca. For technical or security questions, contact conduit@psiphon.ca.