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The author suggests the following use cases: Mask your IP address, Hide from snooping ISPs, Extra security on public Wi-Fi, Unblock geo-restricted content, Con

by maweki 7y ago

The author suggests the following use cases: Mask your IP address, Hide from snooping ISPs, Extra security on public Wi-Fi, Unblock geo-restricted content, Connect to your home network from anywhere Snooping ISPs, public IP, and geoblocking are not prevented by a VPN server in your home network, which the author does not warn about. The other two cases work if you make your VPN server accessible from the internet, which the author also does not expand upon or even mentions. It's a good tutorial but the question about VPN servers is often now how, but where. And this question is not asked.

w0utert 7y ago
>> Snooping ISPs, public IP, and geoblocking are not prevented by a VPN server in your home network, which the author does not warn about. It helps for these things when abroad, e.g. when travelling I can stream Netflix content and live TV that are region-locked to where I live. Having the VPN on all the time while not on home WiFi also makes it impossible for sites/services to figure out when I'm moving around and where, and basically thwarts any attempt to derive where I am at any point in time.
- maweki 7y ago
  Then the second part applies, that your VPN server needs to be reachable from the internet, which the author does not expand upon.
  - w0utert 7y ago
    Ah ok, I didn't actually read the article (or all of your comment, apparently ;-). I just assumed it would explain at least that much. What's the point of a VPN server that isn't reachable from the internet?
    - maweki 7y ago
      > What's the point of a VPN server that isn't reachable from the internet? exactly... The tutorial only explains how to set up a VPN server but nothing of the surrounding infrastructure to make it useful for any of the use cases the author mentions.
  - sbarre 7y ago
    I think that will vary based on ISP, etc.. Opening up ports on your home router is not a hugely difficult thing but I can see why it's not in scope of the tutorial.. Mentioning that it's a required step could have been helpful though.
Sohcahtoa82 7y ago
Thank you! Other than DNS or other traffic filtering, do you gain anything by using a VPN on a Raspberry Pi on your home network?
- throwaway55554 7y ago
  You can access your own files when you're away. But, personally, that's the only reason I run a VPN on my own network. I use a VPN service when I want a foreign IP or when I'm sitting in a coffee shop.
- sp332 7y ago
  I don't have a use for a "virtual private network" that just connects me to the public internet. My primary use case is to connect to stuff on my home network (or my work network).
- henryfjordan 7y ago
  If you trust your home network / ISP / Government more than you trust the Starbucks (or any public) network, you get to at least transfer your risk. But you also don't get much more than that for using a paid-VPN, you just transfer the risk of being snooped on to their network/ISP as opposed to your own. Same with running a node on AWS/Digital Ocean. VPNs do not make you anonymous. A shared VPN might give you some plausible deniability but it's hard to trust that your specific traffic isn't being logged.
  - moooo99 7y ago
    > VPNs do not make you anonymous. A shared VPN might give you some plausible deniability but it's hard to trust that your specific traffic isn't being logged. That's true. But unfortunately, a lot of product placements on YouTube suggest exactly that. The claims of companies like NordVPN are highly misleading if not simply wrong. But especially on non-tech related channels, the audience is unlikely to know how VPNs work and what they do.
    - speedplane 7y ago
mr__y 7y ago
>Snooping ISPs, public IP, and geoblocking are not prevented by a VPN server in your home network It really depends... If you are connecting to that VPN from remote location it does. Whatever is your actual physical location your IP will appear to be your home IP. Geoblocking might also be solved if you happen to be in a country that has the content blocked while your home location can access that content. However, as you pointed out, making a VPN accessible from outside is not covered.

by maweki 7y ago

w0utert 7y ago

>> Snooping ISPs, public IP, and geoblocking are not prevented by a VPN server in your home network, which the author does not warn about. It helps for these things when abroad, e.g. when travelling I can stream Netflix content and live TV that are region-locked to where I live. Having the VPN on all the time while not on home WiFi also makes it impossible for sites/services to figure out when I'm moving around and where, and basically thwarts any attempt to derive where I am at any point in time.

maweki 7y ago
Then the second part applies, that your VPN server needs to be reachable from the internet, which the author does not expand upon.
- w0utert 7y ago
  Ah ok, I didn't actually read the article (or all of your comment, apparently ;-). I just assumed it would explain at least that much. What's the point of a VPN server that isn't reachable from the internet?
  - maweki 7y ago
    > What's the point of a VPN server that isn't reachable from the internet? exactly... The tutorial only explains how to set up a VPN server but nothing of the surrounding infrastructure to make it useful for any of the use cases the author mentions.
- sbarre 7y ago
  I think that will vary based on ISP, etc.. Opening up ports on your home router is not a hugely difficult thing but I can see why it's not in scope of the tutorial.. Mentioning that it's a required step could have been helpful though.

Sohcahtoa82 7y ago

Thank you! Other than DNS or other traffic filtering, do you gain anything by using a VPN on a Raspberry Pi on your home network?

throwaway55554 7y ago
You can access your own files when you're away. But, personally, that's the only reason I run a VPN on my own network. I use a VPN service when I want a foreign IP or when I'm sitting in a coffee shop.
sp332 7y ago
I don't have a use for a "virtual private network" that just connects me to the public internet. My primary use case is to connect to stuff on my home network (or my work network).
henryfjordan 7y ago
If you trust your home network / ISP / Government more than you trust the Starbucks (or any public) network, you get to at least transfer your risk. But you also don't get much more than that for using a paid-VPN, you just transfer the risk of being snooped on to their network/ISP as opposed to your own. Same with running a node on AWS/Digital Ocean. VPNs do not make you anonymous. A shared VPN might give you some plausible deniability but it's hard to trust that your specific traffic isn't being logged.
- moooo99 7y ago
  > VPNs do not make you anonymous. A shared VPN might give you some plausible deniability but it's hard to trust that your specific traffic isn't being logged. That's true. But unfortunately, a lot of product placements on YouTube suggest exactly that. The claims of companies like NordVPN are highly misleading if not simply wrong. But especially on non-tech related channels, the audience is unlikely to know how VPNs work and what they do.
  - speedplane 7y ago

mr__y 7y ago

>Snooping ISPs, public IP, and geoblocking are not prevented by a VPN server in your home network It really depends... If you are connecting to that VPN from remote location it does. Whatever is your actual physical location your IP will appear to be your home IP. Geoblocking might also be solved if you happen to be in a country that has the content blocked while your home location can access that content. However, as you pointed out, making a VPN accessible from outside is not covered.