How can we help?

The app will not connect, shows a connection error or stays “Unprotected” — let us go through it in order, from the top.

1. Let the app check the connection for you. “Settings” → “Check the connection”. The app tries every route one by one and shows which of them does not get through for you, and sends us the report as well. It takes about a minute; the connection is off while it runs. After that it is clear what to fix — and we do not have to interrogate you.
2. Check that the internet works without Mayak. If the app says “The phone has no internet — check your connection” — the problem is the network, not us.
3. Look at the line under the button. “Access has ended” — it needs renewing (see “Plans and payment”). “Maximum number of devices in use” — disconnect an extra device right in the app: “Settings” → “My devices” (the same thing is in your account, in the “Devices” section).
4. Try another country in the list under the button.
5. Press “Disconnect”, then “Connect” again; if that did not help — restart the app.
6. If the direct path never gets through in your network, turn on “Settings” → “Always use the backup channel”: the app will stop spending time on detection.

If nothing helped — send a log, it is the fastest route. In the app: “Settings”, right at the bottom — the button “Send log”. From it we see at which step everything stopped, and we do not have to interrogate you. After that describe in words what is happening: with the form in your account or by email to support@mayaknetworks.com.

How the app tries the routes one by one, and why it sometimes takes a moment — “One button, three routes”.

The app notices this on its own and says so plainly: “There is a connection, but no traffic — reconnect” (in the notification shade — “No traffic — you are not protected”). What to do:

1. Press “Disconnect” and “Connect” — most often that is enough.
2. Look at the very bottom of “Settings”: it says the date your access is valid until. Expired access looks exactly like this — the connection comes up, but traffic no longer flows.
3. Try another country.

If it keeps happening — send a log (“Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”) and write to us.

A separate write-up of this symptom, with every cause in order: “Connected”, but no internet.

It happens: home Wi-Fi lets the connection through, and the carrier’s mobile internet does not. It is neither your phone nor your plan: some carriers recognise protected connections and get in their way. Masking cures that, and in recent builds it is on by itself.

What we measured ourselves (Moscow, July 2026):

• Megafon — without masking the connection did not come up at all: a full minute of “Connecting…”. With masking it comes up and works.
• MTS — the connection came up, but traffic died after two or three seconds. With masking it works.
• Beeline — no interference, before or after.
• Yota — that is Megafon’s network (a virtual operator on its towers), so expect the same behaviour. We did not measure it separately.
• Tele2 (also known as t2, also Rostelecom mobile) we have not tested — and we will not claim anything about it.

What to do.

1. Update the app. “Settings” → “About the app”: if an update is offered, install it. Older builds cannot do masking, and on Megafon and MTS that alone decides everything.
2. “Settings” → “Check the connection”. The app goes through all three ways of connecting and tells you which one does not work for you. A minute of your time instead of guessing.
3. If the direct route never works on your carrier, turn on “Always use the backup channel”. The connection takes the detour straight away, without trying the direct route first: slightly slower, but no waiting.
4. Try another country in the list under the button: routes to different countries differ.

What exactly we measured and why the advice “move it to port 443” does not work — in “Why it will not connect on mobile data but works on Wi-Fi”: a table for three carriers and the decisive measurement.

Did not help — send a log (“Settings” → “Send log”) and tell us your carrier and city: with the form in your account or at support@mayaknetworks.com. We keep our own carrier measurements, and your case will go into them.

The connection is unstable: it lags, drops, breaks mid-call. First look at which path you are connected through: next to the status on the main screen there are sometimes the marks “Backup” and “Via Russia” — both paths are slower than the direct one, and that is expected. What you can do:

1. Change the country: tap “Ping” above the country list and pick the one with the lower latency.
2. Open “Connection details” — the ping is shown there, and the speed appears if you turn its display on in the settings; with those numbers it is much easier for us to help.
3. If it breaks when switching between Wi-Fi and mobile internet — the app brings the tunnel up on its own, and a short break at the moment of switching is normal.

If it drops regularly, start with “Settings” → “Check the connection”: the app goes through every route on its own and shows which one is shaky for you, and sends us the report. That replaces half of the correspondence.

If it drops often, send a log as well (“Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”) and write to us — we will look at the diagnostics.

Usually the network is not to blame. When the screen goes dark, Android puts apps to sleep to save the battery and may unload Mayak Networks from memory — in a lift, in the metro or simply in your pocket. Protection falls away at that moment, and the phone is left without internet until you open the app again.

This is cured by one system setting — the always-on connection. Then the phone itself holds the protection: it brings it up after sleep and after a reboot, without waiting for you to open the app. The setting lives in Android itself, not with us — we cannot turn it on for you, but we can take you to the right screen.

1. In the app: “Settings” → the section “Protection” → “No protection — no internet”. The button will open the right Android system screen.
2. There pick Mayak Networks and turn on the always-on connection (on different phones the item is named slightly differently; next to it there is usually also a block on connections that bypass it — worth turning on too).
3. If the button did not open the screen, go there by hand: phone “Settings” → “Network and internet” → the always-on connection item.

In the same “Protection” section it is worth turning on “Auto-connect”: then the app will bring the last working connection up on its own when the phone is switched on.

It happens both with a website in the browser and with a separate app — a messenger, a social network, a video service. The order is the same:

1. Check that the connection is really established (the app shows “Protected”, not “Unprotected”).
2. Open the website again or refresh the page — sometimes the browser holds an old session.
3. Try another location: some services are only available from a particular region. Russian services need a Russian location, foreign ones — a foreign location; which ones you have is visible in the list of countries.
4. If it is a Russian bank or government services — they need your real address: turn on the “RU Apps” preset on the app’s main screen, and such services will go around the tunnel.
5. Clear the browser cache or open the website in incognito mode.

If the website does not open with any location — write to us, giving the website address and the country you chose.

The app says what exactly is wrong — start from that:

• “Wrong email or password” — these are the same email and password as for your account. Forgotten them — tap “Forgot your password?” right in the app or recover them on the login page; the code arrives by email, check the “Spam” folder too.
• “Confirm your email on the website” — open your account and enter the code from the email we sent you at registration.
• “The password is correct — a code is needed…” — you have two-factor authentication on: enter the code from your authenticator app or one of the backup codes.
• “Your session has expired — log in again” — an ordinary thing after a password change, just log in once more.
• “Maximum number of devices in use” — disconnect a device you do not need in the app (“Settings” → “My devices”) or in your account, in the “Devices” section.

The order is the same for a lost phone and for “there is something unfamiliar in my device list”. Go top to bottom — each step is stronger than the one before.

1. Revoke the device. In your account, section “Devices” — the “Delete” button next to it. A revoked device stops connecting immediately and its slot in your plan is freed. The same thing is in the app: “Settings” → “My devices”.
2. Change the password. If an email is linked — “Profile and login” → “Change password”, the code goes to that email. If there is no email — the password is changed right in your account, asking for the current one.
3. Turn on the one-time code at login. Account, “Settings” → “One-time code at login”: after that a password alone is not enough. This is the only step that prevents a repeat.
4. Link an email if you had none. Without it the account has two keys only — the number and the password — and losing both leaves nothing to recover with.

Your account number does not change through any of this — it stays yours. If you cannot log in at all, or the device list looks wrong, — write to us and give the account number: we will find you by it.

Use password recovery on the login page — or right in the app: “Forgot your password?” on the login screen. The email with the code goes to the address you gave at registration; check the “Spam” folder.

If no email is linked to the account (you registered without one or received the account as a gift), there is nowhere to send the code. While you still remember the password — log in with your account number and password and link an email in your account, in the “Profile and login” card: after that recovery will work. If the password is already forgotten — write to support and give your account number.

The code arrives within a minute or two — both on the registration screen and on the password reset screen. Under the field there is a line “No code?” and a button “Send again”: for the first minute it is inactive and shows a countdown — that is spam protection, not a fault.

1. Check the “Spam” folder — emails with the code sometimes end up there.
2. If this is registration and the code still does not arrive: you may have registered with this address before — in that case a code is never issued, deliberately (that is how we stop people from checking other people’s addresses by guessing). The link under the field says exactly that: “You may have registered before — in that case recover your password”.
3. Made a typo in the address? The confirmation screen has a link “Enter a different one” — it takes you back to the form with the address already filled in, so you can correct it.

The simplest way is right in the app: “Settings” → “Delete account”.

Through your account: scroll the page right to the bottom, to the section “Danger zone”, and press “Delete”. You will need your password and the checkbox “I understand this cannot be undone” — that is the confirmation that it is really you deleting it. The final button is called “Delete account permanently”.

What is deleted immediately and irreversibly: the account, the linked devices, the issued connections and their history, the subscription. They cannot be restored, and the remaining days of the subscription are not refunded. Technical logs (the fact of connections, without the contents of your traffic) are kept anonymised for as long as the law requires and do not allow the account to be restored.

If you cannot log in to your account — write from the address the account is registered to, at support@mayaknetworks.com.

Most often this is not a fault in the app but the system: Android closes apps that are “asleep” in the background to save the battery. The connection breaks at that moment, while the screen still looks as if everything is fine.

What helps, in order:

1. Allow background work: phone “Settings” → “Apps” → Mayak Networks → “Battery” → remove the restrictions (different manufacturers name the item differently: “Autostart”, “Don’t save battery”, “Unrestricted”).
2. Update the app to the latest version — some of these breaks are already fixed.
3. If it closes immediately on launch — reinstall it: delete it and install it again from the website. Your account and subscription will not suffer, and you log in with the same email and password.

That did not help — send a log: “Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”. From it we can see what exactly happened before the app closed.

A little extra drain while the connection is on is normal: the phone encrypts and decrypts all the traffic. But noticeable heating and fast discharge are NOT normal, and they usually have a specific cause.

1. A weak signal. In a network with one bar the phone heats up on its own, and the tunnel amplifies the effect: packets are lost and sent again. Check whether it repeats in a good network.
2. The connection keeps coming back up. If the status in the shade jumps between “Protected” and “Disconnected”, the drain grows sharply. That is a separate problem — see the answer “The connection drops or is slow” above.
3. It may not be us at all. Look at phone “Settings” → “Battery” and see who is first in the drain list. If Mayak Networks is not near the top — the cause is another app.

If the drain is clearly abnormal — send a log (“Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”) and write to us with your phone model: that way we can see whether it repeats for others on the same firmware.

If you are registered — write from your account. Open the “Support” section in your account: choose a topic, describe what is happening, press “Send”. The whole correspondence stays there — our reply arrives in that section, and you can answer it without starting a new request. It is an ordinary form — it works on a phone where email is not set up, and on someone else’s computer. The plan, access period, number of devices and app version are attached by us, so there is no need to state them. The reply goes to your account’s email, usually within a day.

If you do not have an account yet or cannot log in — write by email to support@mayaknetworks.com. If you have an account but cannot get into your account — write from the address it is registered to: that way we will know straight away whose account it is.

What to attach when it is “cannot connect”. A log: in the app go to “Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”. From it we can see at which step everything stopped. The log is a technical connection journal, and the contents of your traffic are not in it (what exactly is sent is written in the Privacy Policy).

1. The simplest way is the store. Open the app page on Google Play and press “Install”. Then steps 2–4 are not needed — go straight to step 5. The two channels are incompatible: a build from the store cannot be installed over one downloaded from the website, or the other way round — the signatures differ; to switch channels you have to uninstall the app and install it again.
2. Or download the file. Press the button “Download APK” on the home page or open the link from your account. A file will download: .apk.
3. Open the downloaded file. It is usually in the “Downloads” folder — tap it.
4. Allow the installation. If Android says that installation from this source is not allowed, tap “Settings” and turn on “Allow installation from this source” for the browser or the file manager, then go back and confirm the installation.
5. Get past the Google warning. Android may show a window “App blocked to protect your device” with the note “Play Protect has never checked apps from this developer”. That is not a virus report: this is how Android greets any program installed from outside the store. Tap the grey line “Install anyway”. The large blue button “OK” at the bottom, on the contrary, cancels the installation.
6. Open the app after installation.
7. Log in — with the same email and password you set at registration (the same account you created at registration).
8. Choose a country and press “Connect”. On the first connection Android will ask for permission to create a secure connection — agree to it.

The APK is signed with our key — during an update the app checks the signature, so you always install the genuine version.

This is a warning from Play Protect — Android’s built-in check. In full it reads: “Play Protect has never checked apps from this developer”. It says exactly what it means: Google has not met this program before. No virus was found in it — Android shows this window for any app installed from outside the store.

What to tap. The window has a grey line “Install anyway” — that is what continues the installation. The large blue button “OK” at the bottom looks like the main one, but it cancels the installation. Tap exactly the grey line — it is above the button and looks like ordinary text.

If there is no “Install anyway” line in the window. On some phones the check has to be turned off for a moment: open Google Play → your profile icon in the top right → “Play Protect” → the gear icon → turn off scanning apps. Install Mayak and turn the scanning straight back on: it protects your phone, and there is no need to leave it off.

It did not work — write to us, we will help and advise for your phone.

These are the details of your Mayak Networks account: the same ones you set when registering in your account. There is no need to create a separate password for the app.

The login field accepts an email or an account number — nine digits in the form 472-918-563, written in your account and in the app (“Settings”). If the account has no email, log in with the number: it is the same name in your account, in the app and in a conversation with support.

To change the password, go to your account, the “Profile and login” card: the “Change password” button. If an email is linked, we send a code to it — that is how we make sure it is you and not whoever got hold of an open tab. If there is no email, the password is changed right there, using the current password.

Right now the app is ready for Android. Versions for iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux and a browser extension are still only planned: we have not started on them and promise no dates. We will mark them as ready when they actually come out. Watch for updates on the home page.

This does not mean “you cannot use it”: your account issues a config file. On a Linux computer it works for us; about iPhone, Mac and Windows read the item below — it is honest about the limitation.

Our app is for Android only so far, but the config file is issued to everyone. Your account has a “Config for a computer” card: choose a country, press “Get config” — and you get a file .conf and a QR code.

Where it definitely works: a Linux computer with the AmneziaWG client (amneziawg-tools) — we checked that with a live connection. Version 3.0 or newer is required: the config contains header protection, which older clients do not understand and will simply refuse to open.

Where we do not promise anything yet: iPhone, Mac and Windows. Our config includes protection against traffic recognition (AmneziaWG 3.1 parameters), and the third-party Amnezia apps on those systems do not accept it yet — the tunnel may not come up at all. Want to try — write to us: we will advise you and say honestly if it will not work.

The file contains a secret key — keep it like a password. The key does not stay on the server, so the same file cannot be downloaded again: every new config for a country disables the previous one. One config takes up one device of your plan — like another phone.

MikroTik and Keenetic routers, Smart TVs and Kodi boxes will not understand our config today: it contains protection against traffic recognition, which plain WireGuard does not have, while the firmware of those devices can only do the plain one. We do not support those devices; if we take it on, we will say so here.

If your TV has Android TV, you can install the ordinary APK too, but we do not support that officially yet.

Mayak Networks tells you when a new version is out — what happens next depends on where the app came from, and that part matters.

• You downloaded the APK from this site. The app offers to update — agree, and it installs the fresh version over the old one, keeping your data and login. You can also download the new APK here by hand.
• You installed it from Google Play. The app tells you a new version is out and opens the Play listing — the store does the update. Our APK from this site will NOT install on such a phone: the two channels are signed with different keys.

You can ask at any time: “Settings” → “About the app” → “Check for a new version”. The number of your current version is right above that button.

If Google Play does not offer the update yet, it is still on its way to your phone — the store rolls new versions out gradually. Check back a bit later.

1. Install the app and open it.
2. Press “Create account” — the app makes up the password for you, and all you have to do is confirm that you are human. Your login becomes the account number, shown large on the screen. To start using the service, confirm your email — it opens 7 free days; you can link it later, in your account. Write down the number and the password — without them there will be nothing to restore access with.
3. Choose a country (or leave the automatic choice) and press “Connect”.

If you already have an account — “Log in” on the same screen: both an email and an account number will do. And if it is more convenient from a computer, an account can be created in your account — then just log in to the app with the same details.

The first connection to a new location may take a couple of seconds longer — the app is bringing up the secure tunnel.

You choose the country in the app, on the main screen: the “Pick a country” list right under the connect button. Which countries are available to you is shown by that list — it changes, so we do not duplicate it in the help centre. A foreign location is for access to foreign services, the Russian one is for going out in Russia. Mark the one you need. Which one is faster is shown by the “Ping” button next to the list title: it measures the latency to each country’s server.

These are two different cases, and the app tries to say which one it is.

• The list arrived, but is empty. Usually not for long — refresh the list in a minute. If nothing changes, look into your account: it happens that access has not been opened yet or the term has ended — and then there are no countries either.
• The list did not load at all. Then the countries are most likely fine — it is the loading that failed. Check that the internet works without Mayak, and try again in a minute.

If it does not get through in a minute or in an hour — write to us.

If you are abroad and need to get into a Russian service that only opens from a Russian IP — choose the location “Russia” when it is in the list of countries. Your traffic will reach the internet from a Russian address, and services such as online banks, government services and Russian streaming will work again as if you were at home. If it is not in the list, it is not connected at the moment; write to us, and we will tell you when it appears.

The other side of this — when Russian apps go directly, bypassing the tunnel, and everything else goes through it — is described below, in the answer “Russian services directly”, and does not depend on the list of countries.

The app is not tied to a country: all it needs is internet — mobile, hotel Wi-Fi, any. Your account, plan and devices stay the same, nothing has to be moved or re-issued.

Worth knowing beforehand:

• Russian services from abroad. Banks, Gosuslugi and other services that only work “from the inside” open up if you pick the Russia location — see “What the ‘Russia’ location gives you”.
• Install the app in advance. On the road there may be no convenient moment, and installing and signing in need internet.
• Roaming is about your carrier’s money, not about us. We do not add traffic on top of what you spend anyway; watch your carrier’s plan.
• We promise nothing about countries with heavy network filtering. Our measurements were made in Russia; China, Iran and the like we have not tested and will not claim anything about. If you go — write and tell us how it went: such reports are valuable to us.

If it does not come up on the spot — “Settings” → “Check the connection”, and then “Always use the backup channel”: it is meant exactly for networks where the direct route does not work.

If you move from Wi-Fi to mobile internet or the other way round, the app brings the tunnel up again on its own — there is no need to turn the connection on by hand. A brief break at the moment the network switches is normal.

Russian apps — banks, government services, marketplaces, Russian streaming — can go directly, bypassing the tunnel, from your real address: they often refuse connections from foreign IPs. The rest of your traffic stays inside the secure connection.

It is turned on with the preset bar on the app’s main screen: switch on the toggle of the preset “RU Apps” — it is sent by our core and already contains the list of Russian services. The bar is shown by default; if you hid it, bring back the item about presets on the main screen in “Settings”.

The list of Russian apps updates itself, and there is nothing to type in by hand. The setting is applied on the next connection: press “Disconnect” and “Connect”.

If you need to send some app of your own around the tunnel, open “Settings” → “Split tunnel” and mark it.

It depends on the plan: “Start” — up to 3 devices, “Family” — up to 5, “Max” — up to 10. One subscription works on all your devices at once. The app is Android only (phones and tablets); on a Linux computer a settings file from your account works, and for iPhone, Windows and macOS there is none yet.

If the connection suddenly breaks, the phone will go to the internet directly by default. To stop that, Android has a system mode that blocks the internet while there is no secure connection (in the phone settings it is labelled “always-on VPN” — that is what Android itself calls it).

Turn it on like this: “Settings” → the section “Protection” → “No protection — no internet”. The button will open the right Android system screen: there turn on the always-on connection for Mayak Networks and the block on connections that bypass it (on different phones these items are named slightly differently). Together with auto-connect (see below) this means traffic never leaves without protection at all.

The same system screen cures another trouble — the connection dropping while the phone is in your pocket: why that happens and what to turn on.

“Settings” → “Auto-connect”. The app will bring the last working connection up on its own when the phone is switched on — from the config saved on the device, without waiting for the network. Connect by hand once, so that the app has something to restore.

In some networks (more often mobile and corporate ones) the ordinary connection path does not get through. The app notices this on its own and looks for a way around — on the way you will see the lines “Direct is blocked — trying via Russia…” or “Not getting through — trying the backup way…”. When a way around is found, the mark “Backup” or “Via Russia” stays next to the status: the connection works, but is slower than the direct one. That is normal and usually temporary.

If the direct path never works in your network, turn on “Settings” → “Always use the backup channel”: you will not have to wait for detection every time.

The line “Trying the usual path…” is a separate matter: it means not a way around but a second attempt at the same direct path. The app first reaches the server over a newer-style address (IPv6), and if there is none or it does not get through — over the familiar one. It is the very same server, and no mark appears next to the status afterwards.

There are two numbers labelled “ping” on the main screen, and they measure different routes — so they are not supposed to match.

• “Ping: N ms” under the button is the latency inside the secure connection: that is how long your own traffic takes to reach the server through the tunnel. It is live — the app keeps refreshing it while the connection is up.
• The numbers in the country rows (they appear after you tap “Ping” next to the card title) are the latency outside the tunnel, straight to each country’s server. It cannot be otherwise: to compare countries you have to measure the road to each of them, not the detour through the one you are connected to right now.

That is why the numbers come out different: the packets take two different roads with different company along the way. The number under the button is usually the smaller one, and that is not a measurement error: we compared both roads with the same method, to the same server, six packets each a second apart — 55 ms inside the tunnel against 79 outside it. The reason is that a bare ping is a service packet, and networks often let it through last, while inside the tunnel the very same request travels as ordinary data. A gap of a couple of dozen milliseconds is normal, not a fault; on your network it may be larger or barely visible.

Which one to use: the country numbers to pick a country, the number under the button to see how the current connection feels. If it suddenly triples compared with its usual value, see “The connection drops or is slow”.

“Settings” → “App lock”. Then the app will ask for your fingerprint, face or device PIN when opened — whoever gets hold of an unlocked phone will not see your account, the settings or the config. It does not affect the connection itself. The phone must have a screen lock set.

“Settings” → “Use IPv6”. Brings IPv6 where your carrier does not provide it. The “IPv6” badge on the main screen lights up only when it really works. If something has stopped opening — turn it off and reconnect.

Note: this switch governs not only the addresses inside the tunnel but also how the app reaches the server. With it on, the app first tries the newer address path — with some carriers that is both faster and less congested. Turning it off costs you that attempt: the connection still works, but with some carriers it may become slower.

“Settings” → “Filtering”. Four options: no filtering (an ordinary fast resolver), ads and trackers (blocks them in apps and in the browser), kids mode (the same plus adult websites and safe search) and your own DNS server — one or two public IP addresses, if you already have your own resolver or a corporate filter.

The setting is shared by the whole account: it will also apply on another phone and in the config for a router, and you can change it in your account as well. A new profile takes effect on the next connection.

Pull down the Android shade → “Edit/pencil” → drag the tile Mayak Networks to the others. After that connecting and disconnecting take one tap, without opening the app: the last working connection comes up. If the app has never connected yet, the tile simply opens it.

Everything we write to you is in the app, in the section “Messages” — the bell in the top right corner of the main screen; the number on it shows unread ones. Payment receipts, the “access is ending” warning, invitations to shared access and support replies all arrive there.

The notification shade shows only a short headline — without the amount, the date and the rest. This is deliberate: a notification on a locked screen is read by strangers too, while the full text opens inside the app.

Between 23:00 and 09:00 messages arrive silently — with no sound, but visible in the shade.

You decide yourself what to show: “Settings” → “Notifications” in the app — or the same switches in your account, in the “Messages” section. “Access and money” cannot be turned off — that is how the service works, and we are obliged to warn you. “Service” and quiet hours can be changed from either place. “News and offers” are OFF by default; they can be turned off in your account too, but turned on only in the app: we accept consent to the mailing where it is written next to it what you are agreeing to.

If the account has an email address, we also send the important things by email. No email — then the app is the only channel, and it is better not to turn it off entirely.

“Settings”, right at the bottom: the date your access is valid until and how many of your available devices are in use. A month before the end a countdown appears, and three days before the line turns red — so that it does not become a surprise when you try to connect.

Right after the payment the confirmation arrives in the app, in the section “Messages” (the bell on the main screen): the amount, the plan and the date access is extended to. It stays there — you can read it again a week later.

The history of all payments is in your account, the “Plan and payment” card. If the account has an email address, we send a confirmation there too.

The money was taken but access was not extended — write to us from your account (“Support”) and give your account number: we will find the payment by it at once.

Plans in roubles: “Start” — 300 ₽/month (up to 3 devices), “Family” — 500 ₽/month (up to 5), “Max” — 700 ₽/month (up to 10). 7 days free on one device, no card required. More details — in the section “Plans”.

There is no need to buy a second account and no need to share your password. The slots of your plan can be handed out to people close to you: each of them gets their own account with their own login, and only you pay — it uses up your device limit.

How to do it: in your account open “My group” → “Invite a person”. There are two ways:

• by link — send it any way you like; the person opens it, creates an account (or logs in to theirs) and confirms the invitation. The link is one-time and has an expiry, and it is shown once — copy it straight away;
• by account number — if the person already has an account. Everyone can see their own number in your account and in the app: nine digits in the form “472-918-563”. The invitation will appear in their account, and they confirm it.

No link appears without the person’s consent — they have to press “Accept” themselves. The consent screen shows them plainly what the person who pays will see: the number, the devices, the times of the last connections, the exit country and the traffic volume. And, in a separate list, what nobody sees, including the payer: which websites and apps the person opens. We do not store that at all.

Slots can be passed on further if you allow it with a checkbox: for example, you gave five slots to your daughter, and she kept two and handed three out to her own people. In total there are three levels below you.

You can take slots back or break the link at any moment, and your account tells you the price in advance: how many devices will move to your plan and how many will be disconnected. The person’s account stays alive — the number, the email and the support correspondence are all in place, but they will only be able to go online by paying for their own plan or joining a group again. They can also leave the group themselves.

⚠️ The whole group’s access rests on your subscription: when it ends — theirs ends too. Every member can see in their own account whose plan they are on and until what date, so that it does not look like “it broke for no reason”.

The trial is 7 days on one device, and no card is needed. After that — in your account: the “Plan and payment” card, choose a plan and a term and press “Pay”. A secure payment page will open — a Russian card or SBP. Access is extended as soon as the payment is confirmed, usually within a few seconds.

There is also a wallet there: you can top up your balance with an amount from 50 to 100,000 ₽ at a time and pay for the plan from it.

A card issued outside Russia will not go through. Our payment provider takes Russian bank cards and SBP transfers only; there is no PayPal, crypto or wire transfer. The trial needs no card at all, so you can try the service first — and someone with a Russian card can pay for your account, because the plan belongs to the account, not to the card. If you are outside Russia and want to pay, write to support@mayaknetworks.com and say where you are paying from.

7 days free on one device, no card required. Confirm your email, install the app and use it — payment is only needed when you want to continue.

Those 7 days are opened by a confirmed email. Until it is confirmed there is no access: confirm the mailbox and the week opens.

Open your account, the “Plan and payment” card: choose a plan (“Start” / “Family” / “Max”) and a term, press “Pay”. Access is extended as soon as the payment is confirmed.

Moving to a more expensive plan in the middle of a paid month means paying the difference: what is left of the old plan is credited, and you only pay the difference.

Auto-renewal is turned on and off in the same place, in your account, with a separate toggle. It takes money from your account balance — not from a card; we warn you about the charge in advance.

You can start for free, with no card — the service is easy to try before you pay, and we ask you to do exactly that. A paid period is not refundable: the plan is priced for the whole term. A mistake on our side is a different matter — a double charge, money taken with no access appearing, or a payment for a period you had already paid for: write to support and we will put it right. The payment terms are in the offer — that document is currently available in Russian only; if anything in it is unclear, write to support and we will explain it in English.

Every account has its own invitation code. The code and the invitation link are in your account, in the “Invite a friend” card — together with the counters: how many people came, how many of them paid and how much money has already been credited.

How it works:

• your friend enters your code when they register — there is a field for it both in the app and in your account. A code can be applied within 14 days of registration and only once in the life of an account; you cannot apply your own code to yourself;
• applying the code credits nothing to anyone by itself — it only links the two accounts;
• your friend pays for a plan and stays paid for 31 days. After that they get 50 ₽ and you get 100 ₽ to your account balance.

The reward is money on the balance, not days: the balance pays for any plan. There are up to 10 credits a month for the person inviting; the invited person is not affected by that limit — they get one reward and it is already paid for by their own money.

If your friend gets the payment refunded before the reward matures, there is no reward at all. If they get it refunded after — we take the credited money back from both balances; we never push a balance below zero.

The code is typed in by hand whichever way you install: there is nothing to put it into the APK file (it is the same for everyone), and we do not pick it up from the store yet.

We do not record the contents of your traffic — which websites you open. Technical logs are kept to run the service and keep the connection quality. What exactly we collect and why is described honestly in the Privacy Policy (in accordance with Federal Law No. 152-FZ).

Why the service costs money at all, and what users of free ones pay with instead — see “What you really pay for a free VPN extension”.

Traffic is encrypted with modern protocols (AmneziaWG 3.1, based on WireGuard®), so that the connection stays stable even in difficult networks.

How AmneziaWG differs from WireGuard, and why masking is not “stronger encryption”, is explained in “AmneziaWG vs WireGuard”. To check your own connection — four checks in a minute.

AmneziaWG is a protocol based on the fast and reliable WireGuard® with extra protection against traffic analysis. Plain WireGuard has a recognisable connection pattern; AmneziaWG changes it, so Mayak Networks holds the connection where an ordinary tunnel no longer gets through. The speed and the low battery use are kept.

In your account, in the “Settings” section, there is a filtering choice:

• Off — an ordinary fast DNS.
• Ads and trackers — advertising and tracking domains are not resolved, so ads disappear in every app at once, not only in the browser.
• Kids mode — the same plus adult websites and enforced safe search.
• Your own DNS server — if you already have a filter of your own (NextDNS or an AdGuard account, for example), enter one or two of its IP addresses, and configs will be issued with them. A server name will not do: at the moment of connecting there is nothing to turn it into an address. Home network addresses (192.168.…) will not do either — they are unreachable through the tunnel.

The filter works at the DNS level: there is nothing to install. The setting is applied on the next connection — reconnect in the app. If some website you need has stopped opening after you turned it on, set it back to “off” and reconnect.

Torrents and other file sharing (P2P) — not allowed. Not out of greed: almost all of that traffic is somebody else’s films, music and games, and rights-holder complaints arrive at our addresses — the service answers them, not you. We do not look inside your connection and do not intend to; but on a justified complaint access is suspended — that is what the Terms of Use say too. We try to write to you and sort it out first.

Games — yes. One thing worth knowing: any tunnel adds latency, and the further the chosen country, the more of it. For competitive games pick the nearest location and watch the ping inside the game rather than the download speed.

Video and streaming — yes. There is enough speed: our own measurement on a mobile network gave over 100 Mbit/s. If a particular service will not let you in — most often it is about the country: try another location in the list under the button. If that does not help — write to us, we look at such cases one by one.

Mayak Networks is a tool for privacy and connection protection. The user is responsible for complying with the laws of their own country.

It is a separate app — with a purple icon and the name “Mayak Networks Dev”. New versions come out there first: testers look at them, and only what has been checked goes to the website and to Google Play. We hand the build out by invitation — if you were not invited, there is no reason to install it: the normal app is the checked version.

The build is raw, and that is the whole point. It may fail to connect or lose the connection out of nowhere — precisely so that this happens to a tester and not to people. Such a case is not an accident, it is the channel doing its job: tell us about it, that is the help we need.

The normal app does not go anywhere. Dev is installed next to it, not over it: there will be two icons in your app list — a dark one and a purple one. If dev breaks — you open the normal app and carry on, with your own login and settings.

1. Download the file — mayak-dev.apk. There is no need to remove the normal app first.
2. Install it like any APK. The steps are the same as in “How to install Mayak Networks on Android”: Android will ask for permission to install from this source, and then show the Play Protect window — what to tap there is covered in a separate answer.
3. Look for the purple icon. The phone trims the captions under icons (“Mayak Netw…”), so the colour tells the builds apart faster: dark — the normal one, purple — dev.
4. Log in with the same account — email or account number, as usual. No separate account is needed.

After that dev updates itself, inside its own channel: updates of the normal app do not reach it, and dev builds do not reach the normal app.

Dev gets along with either version. It has its own package name, so it sits happily next to the build from the website and next to the one from Google Play. The website build and the store build, on the other hand, still cannot be installed over one another — their signatures differ (this is covered in “How to install…”); dev is not affected by that limitation.

One phone, two apps — and for us these are two different devices: each takes its own slot in your plan. That is by design: otherwise the two builds would share one record and get in each other’s way when connecting.

Count it up in advance. Trial access — one device: install dev and there is no room left for the normal app. “Start” (3 devices) → 2 left, “Family” (5) → 4, “Max” (10) → 9.

Not enough room — write to us before installing. For testers we assign a separate plan, “Beta tester”: 20 devices, nothing to pay for it. It cannot be bought and it is not in the plan list — we assign it by hand.

In the device list both builds are named the same. The caption of a row is the phone model, not the app name, so you cannot tell dev from the normal app by the name: go by the time of the last connection. We know it is awkward; that is how it is for now.

To go back, just open the normal app. It has not gone anywhere: its own login and its own settings are still in place.

The builds keep their data separately. The login, the chosen country and the list of apps that go directly, outside the tunnel, are dev’s own. They cannot be moved from one build to the other — for Android these are two different apps.

Finished testing — remove dev and revoke its device. Until the device is revoked, the slot in your plan stays taken even if the app is already deleted. Revoke it in your account, the “Devices” section, the “Delete” button next to the row; the same thing is in the app: “Settings” → “My devices”.

If dev broke — send a log from it (“Settings”, right at the bottom — “Send log”) and write to us. That is exactly the kind of failure the channel is there to catch.