Home VPN Server

VPN
1

Hey guys, brand new to this forum and using VPN’s in general.

Little backstory. I am planning on traveling some over the next couple years and want to be able to access the internet as if I’m living at home. (netflix, hulu, etc.)

In order to accomplish this I bought and old workstation to set up as a VPN (also as a way to have a dedicated Minecraft server.) Currently, I have the Minecraft server up and running with no problem and am using a ddns to prevent myself having to update my ip address.

On to my problem. I am failing miserably I tried to set up a vpn service using openvpn on the server following the openvpn quick start guide for windows. However, I could not for the life of me get the service to work properly (or even properly understand all the config fields I was filling in.) After spending over 30 hours messing around, I ended up switching over to setting up a windows service vpn which I have been able to get to function. However, now amazon and several other sites sense that I am using a vpn and will not load. (I’m guessing this could possibly be due windows using port 1723.)

Anyway I have a couple questions.

A) is there anyway to get the windows integrated vpn to be undetectable by websites.

B) if not is there any other user friendly service (as in having a simple GUI) paid or unpaid that I can install on my server that is secure and easy to set up.

C) if does not exist is there a better guide that someone could point me toward that can walk me through the concepts (and failure points) behind the configurations that I’m setting up so that I can better troubleshoot and secure my server.

D) Do you have any suggestions for getting this up and running.

E) I have seen a lot of positive things about pfsense. Has anyone had experience setting up a virtual machine for use as a vpn? How involved was it?

Right now, I feel like I only understand about 10% of what I should. I’m not sure if I can properly set up an openvpn server within Windows and am unsure if I will be able to manage it correctly moving forward due to the amount of time I have already spent failing at setting it up.

Thanks!

TDLR: I’m floundering with a private home OpenVPN server and can’t get the windows vpn to do what I need. I am looking for a Newb friendly solution that will allow me to access the web like I’m at my house (and is secure).

P.S. Sorry for so much text!

Edit: Thanks so much for the responses so far guys really appreciated!

2

Wireguard is the easiest to setup, easiest to route and easiest to expand. It has binaries for all platforms.

3

Rarpberry Pi with PiVPN

https://pivpn.dev/

PiVPN is an OpenVPN wrapper which configures and creates ovpn files with one command. Super easy to use, basically one command to setup the whole thing.

Alternatively, an Asus router with ASUSWRT which has OpenVPN server builtin

I’d say PiVPN with a raspberry pi is the most simple, straightforward way

4

It’s best to setup vpn on a device that’s always on that requires low maintenance. Like a NAS or raspberry pi or even some routers now have the option built in. Do you happen to have a synology nas? Setting up pivpn or openvpn on synology is pretty easy. I’m curious why you need vpn to access Netflix or Hulu though?

5

I set up pivpn on a VM. Look it up, it’s a quick way of installing OpenVPN with a single command on Linux. You could install it on a Raspberry Pi as well, but I already had a server so I used a VM. I use it all the time and it works rather well even from the other side of the world. In fact I always use it when I am on public wifi.

6

Have a look at Algo vpn. It’s a script that install a wireguard vpn and you’re up and running in 5 minutes. GitHub - trailofbits/algo: Set up a personal VPN in the cloud

7

Also a noob but…

You could set up a VPN then REmote desktop onto the “home” machine and use it as if you were there. Nothing for websites to detect then.

8

If it’s just you or a few users, you should use WireGuard instead. It’s 5 times faster and best of all it doesn’t need security certificates to verify the users. The server configuration file consists of simple client keypairs.

That being said, the only reason why home users need to dial into OpenVPN is the ability to choose switch to TCP instead of UDP. This is because the firewall at some workplaces allows only HTTPS traffic and UDP port 53 for DNS traffic. So basically they set up OpenVPN server to listen on HTTPS TCP port.

9

Streisand vpn you can get it from github. Kinda a Swiss Army knife that does most of the setup for you.

10

I have setup OpenVPN Server on the router itself, and no problems, I have it for over an year.

11

I am using https://pritunl.com/

It gives you a nice gui with easy setup and user management. Switch to this from PiVPN, because I did not want to use ssh for user management.

12

Can’t your internet router handle this? Took me 2 min and like 5 clicks on my router and that’s it.

13

It’s also the most efficient by a large margin. OpenVPN is a hippo by comparison

14

So I can create a wireguard vpn on my linux server and connect to it from Windows? I thought wireguard was Linux only for now.

15

From what I’ve seen it seems dead simple (perfect for me) I’m starting to lean this way. Thanks for the tip! Tried settting up a VM with Linux for PiVPN tonight, but I wasn’t happy with the CPU usage. I think there’s a raspberry pie in my future!

16

Same here to recommend this.

Note that ufw may get upset - you’ll read to add ufw reload to your /etc/rc.local file to fix it.

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oint · 32 minutes ago · edited 24 minutes ago

It’s best to setup vpn on a device that’s always on that requires low maintenance. Like a NAS or raspberry pi or even some routers now have the option built in. Do you happen to have a synology nas? Setting up pivpn or openvpn on synology is pretty easy. I’m curious why you need vpn to access Netflix or Hulu though?

Netflix and Hulu region lock certain shows to certain areas (depending on licensing). For instance, I had a anime that I was working through on netflix while in the US and planned to finish while out of the country but couldn’t due to it being region locked to the US. Also, being able to watch some sports games through my cable provider is the other reason apparently they also region lock those and watching a text play by play is not fun…

I don’t have a synology nas unfortunately. Buying a Raspberry pi would not be an issue and might be a simpler solution. Also, sounds like it could/would be easier than what I have been trying to do so far…

I just assumed that hosting a vpn on windows computer would not be an issue, but it appears that few people actually do this. (oof) Seems like a large majority are using their router, another OS, or a pi…

18

set up pivpn on a VM. Look it up, it’s a quick way of installing OpenVPN with a single command on Linux. You could install it on a Raspberry Pi as well, but I already had a server so I used a VM. I use it all the time and it works rather well even from the other side of the world. In fact I always use it when I am on public wifi.

Thanks! Did the VM cause any issues with the port forwarding process? Also, have you streamed any content through your vpn? (netflix, hulu, amazon video?)

19

You need something like NordVPN, i.e. a paid service that gives you a server that sits in the country you want to tunnel to. Typically, it is sufficient to install the VPN client of the VPN service you use on your end device. When you want to watch Netflix, you enable it.

I may try this out. I just know that a couple friends (in Europe specifically) have had issues with paid ip’s being blocked from use. I might just end up doing this, but I also like the idea of being able to expand my usage down the road (perhaps having a nas, etc. that I can dump files onto.)

I’m probably going the overkill route though…

20

Thanks! I’ll look into it