First Time VPN sign up Things to know

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huckster

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#3194422 12-Feb-2024 19:01

All I've been able to glean from this is you want a VPN for some Privacy.

Who is it that you are concerned about? A particular app or service?

Or rather under what circumstances are you wanting to hide data? When on public WiFi?

This might help people recommend a better solution.

shk292

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#3194426 12-Feb-2024 19:24

An interesting discussion. Here's what I want to do - use a travel router with VPN (eg this) to route traffic via NZ when overseas so that I can use Spark VoWiFi when overseas. There seems to be a few options for doing this and I'd appreciate any advice on which would work and be reasonably easy to set up:

Configure the travel router to use a commercial VPN service and select a server in NZ. Probably my least favourite due to ongoing costs involved
Use OpenVPN and install the server/endpoint on my home router. Only problem is, my available routers (Spark Smart "modem" and TP-Link Deco M5) don't have VPN functionality
Use something like Tailscale as an endpoint. I have a Raspberry Pi running 24/7 which could presumably be the endpoint. I don't have a static IP or DDNS currently

Any guidance greatly appreciated

Jase2985

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#3194436 12-Feb-2024 21:03

tailscale doesn't require a static IP address or DDNS, your devices connect to their server to establish the connection then they usually talk directly to themselves after the connection is established

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcRVkoeSN0E

Good explanation of it, but then from 10 minutes he goes into a lab scenario to show how it can work

shk292

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#3194437 12-Feb-2024 21:28

Thanks, I'll have a good look at that

muppet

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#3194441 12-Feb-2024 21:50

I am extremely anti-VPN.

Each month I print out my browser history in 8pt font on A3 paper and mail the ~500 odd pages to my ISP - I realise how hard it is for them to properly track us now as most websites are SSL, I so like I help them out and make it easy.

I know they enjoy getting them because so far they've sent me a "Thank you" package with 1 months free Internet, the next month I got a phonecall from Barry thanking me but something about it really not being necessary and this month I got a nice letter about how they're going to host a Disco Nection for me, which is great because being born in the 60s I grew up in the disco era.

gnfb

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#3194771 13-Feb-2024 16:22

after all the helpful comments, advice and suggestions I have decided to continue on as before VPN free! Thanks again.

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

elpenguino

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#3195600 15-Feb-2024 11:11

rscole86: Privacy from who and why?

I would certainly trust a NZ ISP more than a foreign company based in a foreign country.
While they may day they don't log anything, they may be compelled to in certain situations, which you would have no sight or recourse over

A VPN company could even be a front for a three letter agency who no longer has to decrypt your most secret traffic since you send it straight to them, and pay for the privilege.

We've seen this before in the form of the encrypted phone app not only used by criminals but directly marketed to them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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frankv

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#3195806 15-Feb-2024 13:06

Also wish I'd seen this before as well. Signed up to AtlasVPN a few months ago and it's completely useless for free F1 and other similar stuff.

A VPN company could equally be a front for a hacking group, or hacked by a hacking group, to acquire banking details, etc.

noroad

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#3195831 15-Feb-2024 14:15

This whole you should run a vpn for security at home is a scam to sell subscriptions. Use a VPN to get back into your home network if you need to access something on the home network externally or as suggested you are using a public wifi network. Also use a vpn to access work and or server services remotely. Everthing else is a scam. As someone who has worked at ISP's for many years in NZ I can assure you the "you are sharing a torrent, the cops are coming for you" notices stopped coming (and were largely ignored by ISP's as none of them conformed to NZ laws) years ago, so you don't need to worry about that.

Earbanean

937 posts

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#3195881 15-Feb-2024 15:05

gnfb:

Nope pay for my Netflix like a good consumer. I did use a free vpn for a while when hostgator had blocked slingshot's ip address

People using VPN/Smart DNS for Netflix generally pay for Netflix too. However, they then get the US catalogue, rather than NZ.

Kookoo

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#3195911 15-Feb-2024 16:01

In the entirety of this discussion I still don't see why you can no longer use "VPN" services to change locations. There was a mention that Netflix now recognises main VPN provider server addresses - doesn't seem to be the case.

Hello, Ground!

Rikkitic

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#3195971 15-Feb-2024 17:31

There are valid reasons for using a VPN. Geo-unblocking is one. Security is not.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Handle9

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#3195993 15-Feb-2024 18:48

Kookoo:

There was a mention that Netflix now recognises main VPN provider server addresses - doesn't seem to be the case.

Until it is

Until it isn't,

Until it is,

Until it isn't.

Netflix plays whack a mole fairly often

shk292

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#3199939 25-Feb-2024 20:43

shk292:

An interesting discussion. Here's what I want to do - use a travel router with VPN (eg this) to route traffic via NZ when overseas so that I can use Spark VoWiFi when overseas. There seems to be a few options for doing this and I'd appreciate any advice on which would work and be reasonably easy to set up:

Configure the travel router to use a commercial VPN service and select a server in NZ. Probably my least favourite due to ongoing costs involved
Use OpenVPN and install the server/endpoint on my home router. Only problem is, my available routers (Spark Smart "modem" and TP-Link Deco M5) don't have VPN functionality
Use something like Tailscale as an endpoint. I have a Raspberry Pi running 24/7 which could presumably be the endpoint. I don't have a static IP or DDNS currently
Any guidance greatly appreciated

In case anyone is wondering whether Spark's NZ-only VoWiFi can be made to work overseas with a VPN - yes it can. I configured a travel router as a wireguard client, then followed some online instructions to set up a Raspberry Pi, which I have running 24/7 anyway, as a wireguard server. I'm not on static IP so enabled DDNS on my router, and I had to open a port on the firewall and forward it to the RPi - not something I'd like to do normally. I've tested the setup by using a phone with a UK SIM as the travel router's internet connection, and can see that when I toggle the VPN on and off, VoWiFi is enabled and disabled. Finally, voice calls and SMS go to through when VPN is enabled.

The thing I would do differently is to get a travel router that supports tailscale, so that I wouldn't need to do port forwarding.

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