Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 86 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

#11

Post by Izkata »

anderiv wrote: post #5

The term “VPN” has become a bit overloaded. It can mean, among other things: 1) a corporate VPN you connect to in order to gain access to corporate resources. Cisco AnyConnect, OpenVPN, IPsec/L2TP are examples of this type. 2) An overlay network that allows seamless (and secure) access to systems on disparate networks. Wireguard (and thus Tailscale), ZeroTier are examples of this type. 3) A way for individuals to obs…

I think your terminology is a bit mixed up: OpenVPN and WireGuard are technologies that can be used for any of those three purposes. For example, Mullvad/PIA/etc are hosted vpns that you can use OpenVPN or WireGuard to connect to.

Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

#13

Post by archb »

c1sc0 wrote: post #12

To manage shared social media accounts around the clock with multiple employees in different timezones.

Could you tell me a bit more about that setup? How exactly does a VPN fit into that flow, instead of just sharing the social media account passwords?

Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

#14

Post by anderiv »

Izkata wrote: post #11
anderiv wrote: post #5

The term “VPN” has become a bit overloaded. It can mean, among other things: 1) a corporate VPN you connect to in order to gain access to corporate resources. Cisco AnyConnect, OpenVPN, IPsec/L2TP are examples of this type. 2) An overlay network that allows seamless (and secure) access to systems on disparate networks. Wireguard (and thus Tailscale), ZeroTier are examples of this type. 3) A way for individuals to obs…

I think your terminology is a bit mixed up: OpenVPN and WireGuard are technologies that can be used for any of those three purposes. For example, Mullvad/PIA/etc are hosted vpns that you can use OpenVPN or WireGuard to connect to.

I know this, and was speaking in generalities. Of course there are a plethora of ways any of these technologies can be used. I laid out examples of how I see them all used most frequently.

Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

#16

Post by ev1 »

archb wrote: post #13
c1sc0 wrote: post #12

To manage shared social media accounts around the clock with multiple employees in different timezones.

Could you tell me a bit more about that setup? How exactly does a VPN fit into that flow, instead of just sharing the social media account passwords?

Trying to not get banned from social media probably

Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?

#19

Post by anderiv »

smoldesu wrote: post #3

I do it to keep all my devices on the same IP subnet. Things like Syncthing and SSH "Just Work" over cellular data and McDonalds Guest Wifi as if you were on a home network. Tailscale does this really well, and they don't try to market themselves as some privacy broker. They're a plain-and-simple virtual router, and it works really well in my experience.

Agreed. Tailscale has been the first product that has surprised me with delight in quite a long time. It does “just work”, and does so very well in my experience.
Post reply on HN