I've had a similar idea. I am thinking of creating a service that would install OpenVPN for you on your own server, and send you an email with all the configuration details. Would that be useful, worthwhile doing?
Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
81–90 of 97 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're interested in setting up your own VPN, take a look at streisand [0]. Also, running the VPN in a docker container is rather nice. There are a bunch of existing containers for that[1]. Oh, and if you're interested, Aruba Cloud [2] offers a 1 Core, 1GB ram VM in CZ and IT for 1 Euro/month. It comes with more than enough bandwidth for personal use. [0]: https://github.com/hwdsl2/docker-ipsec-vpn-server [1]: htt…
awesome, thank you.
Note that I've made a mistake with the first link. It should have been https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah this is my issue. I'm not too worried about it being a successful business (more like a small side project), but I don't have the resources to fight any legal claims.
- Do not run it in the US. - Do not sell the service in the country you run it. - Really, do not run it in the US.
What are good, non-US cloud providers? I only know of AWS/DO/Azure/Google - what are the go-to providers outside the states?
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is ironic given the connection between ProtonVPN and Hola/Luminati.
What are you referring to? The situation I found bits and pieces about didn't seem to amount to much of anthing. ProtonVPN was able to explain what happened to what I thought was a satisfactory degree [1]. I definitely don't trust NordVPN in particular, they advertise their "military grade encryption", and I have no clue who runs it. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/8ww4h2/protonvpn... What other VPN w…
> ProtonVPN was able to explain what happened to what I thought was a satisfactory degree
ProtonVPN's explanation was extremely hardly believable[1].
> Mullvad, absolutely no clue who runs it.
It's clearly stated on Mullvad's homepage[2]:
> The legal entity operating Mullvad is Amagicom AB. [...] Amagicom is 100% owned by founders Fredrik Strömberg and Daniel Berntsson who are actively involved in the company. The rest of the team includes Robin Lövgren, Simon Andersson, Linus, Richard Mitra, Sanny Mitra, David Marby, Odd, Andrej Mihajlov, Janito Ferreira Filho, Elad Yarom and Jan Jonsson.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
- Do not run it in the US. - Do not sell the service in the country you run it. - Really, do not run it in the US.
What are good, non-US cloud providers? I only know of AWS/DO/Azure/Google - what are the go-to providers outside the states?
Hetzner or OVH in Europe.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#86From a technical perspective, you're probably not breaking new ground here. The main things you'll need are ease-of-use and good marketing. There are existing companies that do this and make it fairly easy to get up and running, so you'll need to do the same. Perhaps start with a niche (e.g. easy setup on Ubuntu) and build from there. Still, your biggest hurdle is going to be that no one has heard of you, so make sur…
One service I’d be willing to pay is intercontinental booster. Living in NZ means you’ve got quite underprovisioned international pipe. 100mbps fibre realistically means 3mbps... If a VPN could route you via their dedicated pipe...
You probably just need to find a vpn provider that provides vpn server located in NZ (should be plenty if you google it). By connecting to their NZ vpn server, you'll effectively used their international connection when accessing international sites instead of your isp's international pipe.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#87most of the job will be technical support and finding the right server providers. marketing will be the limiting factor. it's pretty quiet legally, usually it doesn't go further than DMCA cease & desists, but you need to mind countries and what logs each requires you to store. see packetimpact.net maybe i can help you
How does this work in practice though? I had a DigitalOcean droplet setup with OpenVPN and they contacted me pretty quickly (within a week) with a bunch of DMCA notices (due to torrenting). I can imagine that this would be quite a frequent occurrence as a VPN operator and not necessarily something I would like to be dealing with.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is ironic given the connection between ProtonVPN and Hola/Luminati.
What are you referring to? The situation I found bits and pieces about didn't seem to amount to much of anthing. ProtonVPN was able to explain what happened to what I thought was a satisfactory degree [1]. I definitely don't trust NordVPN in particular, they advertise their "military grade encryption", and I have no clue who runs it. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/8ww4h2/protonvpn... What other VPN w…
Why so? ProtonVPN explained the situation quite clearly though I don't understand why you wouldn't trust NordVPN. Just because they are advertising? Or 'military-grade encryption'? They aren't misleading really, even if it is a marketing gimmick. And who runs it... Well, it is a caveat with most of the VPNs. Because of the delicate nature of them (cybersecurity service, various jurisdictions and such), you don't really know. It is a matter of trust, more than anything. I know that I trust them more than my ISP, that's for sure.
Running your own VPN doesn't really anonymize you though. And like you said, depends what you want from the VPN really.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#89One possible option is to sell VPN service to friends/family/acquaintances, for a price that is (clearly to them) cheaper than comparable commercial VPNs, in exchange for a promise to not do anything that would get you in legal trouble. You can trust the promise more than you could trust standard terms-of-service because you know them, and hopefully the lower price means they see it as you offering them something as…
Just tell customers everything is logged and the logs are deleted on a rolling basis every year.
That won't sufficiently discourage folks who want to do potentially-illegal stuff from doing so - it will let you defend yourself in case of a legal incident, but the cost (in time, money, and happiness) of having to deal with a legal incident at all is pretty significant. It seems better to me to try to limit your users to people you believe are unlikely to trigger a legal incident, unless you're at the point where you can hire someone to deal with it for you.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?
#90By and large, people are interested in VPNs because they're vulnerable, in some way or another. By becoming a VPN provider, you become a "pinch point" for the connections of a number of vulnerable people. That way, a hypothetical bad actor only needs to compromise one entity (you) in order to gain access those people who rely on you. Aggregating vulnerability makes you a target, and puts your customers at risk - Espe…
I would add, the potential to become a legal target. That is, receiving, fending off and complying with subpoenas and court orders.
Aye. I care slightly less about this from my perceived threat model (if you go into the business then you know what's coming to you, whereas your end users are a lot less likely to understand the risks) but it's still worth thinking about.