Recommend a VPN server?

[Steve V]

although not a VPN as such, hotspot shield still delivers a similar result mate...Oh by the way i have to say i would be pretty pissed if i paid full subs to get the programs that are on - repeat after repeat of the same programs - and a notice last week saying that all prices are increasing - but what is the additional value to those who do pay money to vm - nothing!!??

[TheCoder]

There's loads of relatively cheap VPN connections available these days or, if you want to be really geeky, why not get yourself one of the very cheap virtual private servers (around $10-$15 per month for a cheap one) and utilise some of its power for your very own VPN.

Remember, there's a lot more to VPN than SV/KV/Cardshare. With the likes of VM now actively snooping and censoring on just about all data packets (as now required by UK law) having a point-to-point encrypted link that they cannot snoop can be a useful thing for a variety of reasons.

Remember, if you do decide to get a VPN then make sure you go for one that is compatible with your equipment. If your going to use a router for one endpoint then i'd recommend running something like dd-wrt or openwrt (openwrt is much harder to set up but actually has many more options). Id also suggest using the OpenVPN protocol if your router can manage it (its heavyweight but very secure and exceedingly good at tunneling through cascaded router setups). Another option for a VPN router is to use an old PC with a couple of network cards. You can download a dd-wrt linux image to this to turn it into a full router or you can build you own router-like device using bog-standard linux or even Windows (if your a masochist).

[Charlie-Boy]

Originally Posted by TheCoder

There's loads of relatively cheap VPN connections available these days or, if you want to be really geeky, why not get yourself one of the very cheap virtual private servers (around $10-$15 per month for a cheap one) and utilise some of its power for your very own VPN.

Remember, there's a lot more to VPN than SV/KV/Cardshare. With the likes of VM now actively snooping and censoring on just about all data packets (as now required by UK law) having a point-to-point encrypted link that they cannot snoop can be a useful thing for a variety of reasons.

Remember, if you do decide to get a VPN then make sure you go for one that is compatible with your equipment. If your going to use a router for one endpoint then i'd recommend running something like dd-wrt or openwrt (openwrt is much harder to set up but actually has many more options). Id also suggest using the OpenVPN protocol if your router can manage it (its heavyweight but very secure and exceedingly good at tunneling through cascaded router setups). Another option for a VPN router is to use an old PC with a couple of network cards. You can download a dd-wrt linux image to this to turn it into a full router or you can build you own router-like device using bog-standard linux or even Windows (if your a masochist).

Interesting stuff.

[Charlie-Boy]

I have just found a VPN provider that seemed to fit the bill, but it requires a router that supports a larger build of DD-WRT than my DIR-615 D4 can handle.

The provider is called Astrill, and it seemed a good deal. Unfortunately, their set-up is software based, this connects to the router, then installs itself onto it, apparently, there is no work around.

The person trying to sell the solution said install it on the PC, which isn't what I need.

I thought about fitting a NIC featuring 2 ethernet ports into my PC, and then install a free software VPN solution, like 'Hotspot Shield'. I don't know if that would even work, and figured that the PC would always need to be on so that the TV would be available.

[TheCoder]

If you want to run OpenVPN on a router then I'd suggest you try using Open-wrt as the as the OS for the router. There is a pre-existing image for the dir-615 somewhere (the D1-D4 are practically identical) that includes OpenVPN. It can be fiddly to set up but once done it works well enough (although the wireless N is a work in progress so is best avoided at this time). I've used this setup with various 'free' VPN providers for a while now without problem (except that the 'free' VPN's tend to come and go so your always having to change accounts).

I've also set up my own OpenVPN server using a cheap virtual private server located in Romania - costs me $12 per month for a server running Centos Linux with 512K ram, 30Gig disk space and upto 500Gig per month internet traffic (includes a static IP address as well). As well as doing the OpenVPN this server also runs the free LXAdmin panel so can host 30-50 small websites with ease.

[gji25]

as said. but remember you need broadcom chip in your router w615(cisco linkysys) to be able to use vpn succesfully with ddwrt firmware as all chipsets are not compatable.. dont bother with v2 as you will get no luck.... you will need v1 or v3

[TheCoder]

Originally Posted by gji25

as said. but remember you need broadcom chip in your router w615(cisco linkysys) to be able to use vpn succesfully with ddwrt firmware as all chipsets are not compatable.. dont bother with v2 as you will get no luck.... you will need v1 or v3

There's quite a bit more than broadcom supported these days, mainly because broadcom chips are pretty much old hat and most of the newer more powerful devices today use alternative chipsets from companies like RealTek, RaLink or Atheros.

These alternative firmwares are often less developed than the broadcom variants but they do work (mostly) and are gaining ground fast !

tbh, one of the reasons I prefer Openwrt to dd-wrt is simply because the Openwrt variant includes a full build enviironment allowing you to create a completely custom firmware with only the modules you require. As such, adding OpenVPN support is relatively simple for a much wider range of devices. Think it took me about 6 hours to download the Openwrt environment and fathom how to build a firmware suitable for a dir-615-d4 (as supplied by VM and available on ebay for as little as £5)

[gji25]

you should,nt have to be paying anything with open wrt unless you are physically changing a component in your router

[TheCoder]

Originally Posted by gji25

you should,nt have to be paying anything with open wrt unless you are physically changing a component in your router

eh ?

I didn't pay anything for openwrt - its available freely !

The £5 was for a router device on ebay, not the firmware.