Speedygonzal
Member
VPN is kind of like insurance to me, one wants a good policy, but most of us would likely want to spend the minimum on it. Also vpn implementation can get pretty complicated for numpties like me - in fact, I am not sure if there is any other way to deliver fibre speed (say 30 mbps) without firstly spending over £100 on a suitable router (in addition to a vpn subscription), and then one still has to look up and try ways to install firmware/configurations to make it work. To put VPN directly on each and every Enigma/iptv/firestick/etc device individually is of course a potential solution for committed skinflints, but ime it is often beset with technical difficulties, is subject to kernel and version/build updates/changes, and has none of the freedom and ease of use of a vpn enabled router/access point, which is the objective here.
This note is the result of my observation that the option of using a moderately modern pc as an access point, running vpn, has not been mentioned much here. It is fast (my modest intel i3 cpu laptop running windows 10 can deliver openvpn by wifi at 30 mbps down at my phone from a 50 mbps isp feed using pia), and cheap - the only cost, apart from the electricity of running the laptop, is the pia subscription at £35 a year.
For reference, depending on compression ratio, 6 mbps is generally adequate for a single hd stream.
To implement, I would suggest to do it in two steps. First to ensure your pc is capable for providing a wireless hotspot. A good guide that works very well for me is at https://www.windowscentral.com/how-turn-your-windows-10-pc-wireless-hotspot
If your pc can deliver a wireless hotspot successfully (you can test it easily by trying it out with your smartphone e.g.), then you should be able to, and it is generally really straightforward (unless you happen to have Virgin as your isp and certain superhub as your router), to implement vpn on your pc. Once you have done that, every and any device you have that is accessing the pc's wireless hotspot will access the internet through vpn (when vpn is turned on at the pc).
To see how straightforward it is to put vpn on a pc, look up e.g. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/installer/download_installer_win
In principle it is possible to do the same with a smartphone instead of a pc, but I suspect most smartphones are not powerful enough to perform the encryption/decryption necessary for a decent vpn protocol, while delivering a decent download speed as a wireless hotspot for other devices.
Of course the above will not suit everybody, because not everybody has a pc, or a pc that can act as a mobile hotspot. Also as mentioned if you have certain versions of Virgin superhub you will have difficulties getting it to play ball with vpn without restricting its function to a modem. Also not everybody only want vpn to be on only at 3pm for two hours, so to dedicate a pc to be an access point might be an issue for some. If I have some time over the next couple of days, I will also try to write up Part 2, which is based on an inexpensive, but imho adequately powerful vpn-ready router costing under £40. Afaik it is the only router at such skintflint price that can deliver 18 mbps running openvpn.
Cheers!
This note is the result of my observation that the option of using a moderately modern pc as an access point, running vpn, has not been mentioned much here. It is fast (my modest intel i3 cpu laptop running windows 10 can deliver openvpn by wifi at 30 mbps down at my phone from a 50 mbps isp feed using pia), and cheap - the only cost, apart from the electricity of running the laptop, is the pia subscription at £35 a year.
For reference, depending on compression ratio, 6 mbps is generally adequate for a single hd stream.
To implement, I would suggest to do it in two steps. First to ensure your pc is capable for providing a wireless hotspot. A good guide that works very well for me is at https://www.windowscentral.com/how-turn-your-windows-10-pc-wireless-hotspot
If your pc can deliver a wireless hotspot successfully (you can test it easily by trying it out with your smartphone e.g.), then you should be able to, and it is generally really straightforward (unless you happen to have Virgin as your isp and certain superhub as your router), to implement vpn on your pc. Once you have done that, every and any device you have that is accessing the pc's wireless hotspot will access the internet through vpn (when vpn is turned on at the pc).
To see how straightforward it is to put vpn on a pc, look up e.g. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/installer/download_installer_win
In principle it is possible to do the same with a smartphone instead of a pc, but I suspect most smartphones are not powerful enough to perform the encryption/decryption necessary for a decent vpn protocol, while delivering a decent download speed as a wireless hotspot for other devices.
Of course the above will not suit everybody, because not everybody has a pc, or a pc that can act as a mobile hotspot. Also as mentioned if you have certain versions of Virgin superhub you will have difficulties getting it to play ball with vpn without restricting its function to a modem. Also not everybody only want vpn to be on only at 3pm for two hours, so to dedicate a pc to be an access point might be an issue for some. If I have some time over the next couple of days, I will also try to write up Part 2, which is based on an inexpensive, but imho adequately powerful vpn-ready router costing under £40. Afaik it is the only router at such skintflint price that can deliver 18 mbps running openvpn.
Cheers!
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