How to Make a VPN with a Raspberry Pi – A Complete Guide
Most of us use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) every day without even thinking about it. The benefit of a VPN is that you can protect your personal data when using public Wi-Fi, especially if you live in an area where your ISP (Internet Service Provider) isn’t trusted. You can also use a VPN to browse the web anonymously. Keep reading for more information on VPNs and how you can make one for yourself.
What Is A VPN And Why Do I Need One?
A VPN is a virtual private network that was designed to protect users’ information by encrypting it and connecting them to remote servers. VPNs are often used when people are traveling or when using public Wi-Fi because the data they send over public connections can be easily intercepted by hackers or governments. If you’re not familiar, VPNs were originally designed for use with military equipment during wartime to ensure secure communications on battlefields. These days, most people use VPNs when traveling or to access resources on-line that they wouldn’t want others to see. Here are some of the most common uses for VPNs.
Protecting Personal Data While Using Public Wi-Fi
Whether you’re traveling abroad or you just want to feel a little more secure when using public Wi-Fi at home, keeping your personal data secure while abroad is important. A VPN allows you to do this by connecting your device to a server overseas, where your sensitive information will be safe and sound. When you connect to a VPN, all the data you send and receive is sent through a secure, encrypted connection, ensuring that nobody can intercept and read your personal information. Even when you’re not abroad, a VPN connection can still shield you from hackers, snoopers, or governments who might want to spy on you.
Anonymously Browsing the Web
Many people use VPNs to avoid being tracked while they’re online and to protect their personal data from prying eyes. Because you’re not actually connecting to the websites you visit, it feels a little less like you’re revealing your personal information. Remember: nobody can steal your identity or your bank information when you’re using a VPN, so you’re safe from spam, phishing scams, and malicious websites. In some cases, VPNs can also be helpful in identifying toxic or dangerous content because your IP (Internet Protocol) address doesn’t appear to be associated with any rogue sites or blogs when you use a VPN.
Protecting Yourself While Online
Even when you’re at home, you should still take measures to protect your personal data. This means using a VPN to secure all your devices and keeping your antivirus software up to date. Antivirus software and VPNs aren’t mutually exclusive — you can have antivirus protection without being limited to your home network – but they work together in order to provide the best possible security for your personal data. Using both can also help ensure that your computer remains attack-free even if it’s connected to Wi-Fi networks that it didn’t connect to originally. This is because most routers have a limited number of connections that they can use, and if they run out of these connections, they will block incoming connections from other devices in order to make room for more traffic — including potentially vicious viruses and hackers.
Avoiding Throttling By Big ISPs
One of the biggest problems with using public Wi-Fi is that your data can be throttled by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). This is when your ISP decides to limit the amount of data you can send or receive on a given connection, usually because they feel that you’re using too much bandwidth. Big ISPs can also terminate your connection at any time for any reason, so care must be taken if you want to avoid this. Fortunately, throttling is often avoided by using a VPN, as most providers have no reason to limit data usage since they know that your VPN connection is secure and you’re not going to hurt their service by using too much bandwidth. In fact, many VPNs have no bandwidth limitations at all, which means you can use as much bandwidth as you want without risking your connection being cut off. The only downside is that you’ll need to pay for the extra bandwidth in advance when you set up the service, but you can avoid this by using a reputable VPN provider.
Making A VPN With a Raspberry Pi
The Internet is a big place, and while there are plenty of legitimate reasons for making a VPN, many people also use it to avoid paying for online content or hiding their browsing history from those who don’t need to know. If you want to make a VPN with hardware from a brand that most people know and trust (and that’s also easy to find online), then it’s best to go with a Raspberry Pi. A Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized device that contains a single-board computer with a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A7 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 40 GB SD card – with the expectation that you’ll be using an external hard drive for storage.
The reason why a Raspberry Pi makes a good choice for a VPN is that it’s extremely easy to set up and use. Connecting to a VPN is also a breeze when using a Raspberry Pi. Just load the associated VPN software onto your device and you’re good to go. You don’t have to worry about setting up strong passwords or figuring out how to connect to your VPN provider — the Raspberry Pi takes care of that for you. If you’re looking for a simple, easy to use device that will provide you with excellent security, then a Raspberry Pi is the way to go.
What Software Should I Get To Make A VPN?
There are several different VPN applications available for download. Some are free and some are not, so be sure to check out the licensing before making a decision. There are also different features that some VPNs offer that can make a difference in your daily browsing experience. Here are some of the most popular VPN apps.
PureVPN
One of the most popular VPNs is PureVPN. PureVPN offers free public VPNs that can be accessed on all their platforms (iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows). They also offer paid plans that include features such as kill switches, port forwarding, and secure connections. With a free account, you will get limited encryption and a monthly data limit of 500 MB, but you can upgrade to a paid account to get better encryption and unlimited data transfer.
Private Tunnel
The Private Tunnel app by StrongVPN is another excellent option. Like PureVPN, Private Tunnel offers free and paid VPN services. Their free VPN server doesn’t require any login details, and it doesn’t have any data caps. The only downside is that the encryption for their free VPN is pretty weak, so make sure that you’re downloading it onto a computer or device that you trust.
IPVanish
IPVanish is another widely used VPN for both personal and commercial use. While their pricing structure is a bit more expensive than the others, their featureset is worth the extra cost. First, IPVanish offers free VPNs through Google Cloud Platform and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you meet the requirements. Second, their VPN servers are fully customizable, allowing you to tweak DNS (Domain Name System) settings, change the port their servers listen on, and more.
The downside to using any of these VPNs is that they are all somewhat difficult to use. They don’t come with helpful instructional videos (like most VPNs do) so you’ll have to figure out how to connect to a VPN server yourself. While this is nothing new for tech-savvy individuals, those who are less familiar with VPNs may find the process a little challenging.
VyprVPN
The last app on our list is VyprVPN. Similar to the others on this list, VyprVPN also offers free public and private VPN servers through their platform. Their pricing structure is a little more expensive than most others, however, their software is highly customizable and has a lot of useful features.
One of the things that sets VyprVPN apart from the rest is that they provide their customers with a 1-year free trial. This means you have nothing to lose by trying out their service for a year, and if you don’t like what they have to offer, then you’re free to cancel at any time.