Recommendations for VPN / VLAN

[Valarian]

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced VPN / VLAN that will allow running of games from hotel Wifi?

What I want, ideally, is a VPN that will just tunnel through to my laptop. In other words, a call to port 1802 on the VPN IP Address will go through to port 1802 on my laptop IP (given to it by the hotel ISP).

VPN
AirVPN - supposedly supports port forwarding but I've been unable to get it working on my home connection. Won't allow 1802 to be forwarded as a port.
NordVPN - doesn't, as yet, support port forwarding but it's supposed to sometime this quarter. Will be trying this

VLAN
Tunngle (https://www.tunngle.net/en) - A VLAN (Hamachi like software) - going to attempt to try this on Thursday.

[Trenloe]

I use PureVPN. It's a paid service, so it depend on what you mean by "reasonably priced". There is currently a birthday special of $50 for 2 years (about 35 quid). They have a 7 day money back guarantee, so if it won't work in your setup you can get your money back. https://www.purevpn.com/

[Nylanfs]

There is this one.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

[Valarian]

There is this one.
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/
WebRoot does not like that site at all: "Suspicious attack ahead"

[damned]

Tunngle is very much like Hamachi (except you get a tonne of adds and a less pleasing interface) in that all players will need to use it. If you dont want everyone to use the software skip the Tunngle test.

[damned]

Valarian I can build you a private VPN server that will do this.
Or if you are willing to use a non standard port - you are welcome to use my test server.

Players would need to make a second instance of the FG shortcut and modify the Target to be "C:\Program Files (x86)\Fantasy Grounds\FantasyGrounds.exe" -p2001 (example using port 2001) if you want to test the test server.

The server (a very small VPS) will support a decent number of concurrent connections.
I had the server built previously but nuked it accidentally. Ive just finished rebuilding it.

You can rent a VPS from $10US a year (no SLA at that price!) and then you can have it run on 1802 so the players dont need to do anything.

I can configure it for you so long as you document the process for me so that we can make it available for the next person :)

[damned]

Valarian or Trenloe or anyone else for that matter - if you are keen - here are some instructions on how to configure your own FG VPN server for $10/year and a 1 hour investment in your time.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1mxkdubn8kt46k/Fantasy%20Grounds%20VPN%20Server%20Setup%20-%20draft.docx?dl=0
Please if you do this make notes and help me improve this document.
If you want to test my server before committing to such a task just let me know.
If anyone wants to trial the server you may do so but I ill give you a different port number and your players would need to:
Players would need to make a second instance of the FG shortcut and modify the Target to be "C:\Program Files (x86)\Fantasy Grounds\FantasyGrounds.exe" -p2001
to connect to your game. Less fiddly for the players than Hamachi maybe - and not ideal but I can only allocate 1802 once...!

[LordEntrails]

Hey damned, thanks for this. Given that I use Hamachi once or twice a month when travelling, I might do this instead. right now the driver for me would be bandwidth. Do you have any idea if the bandwidth and latency when using this method would be better than Hamachi (which hasn't been bad, and given hotel bandwidth, may not be a bottleneck most times)?

I did notice this about half-way down page 1:

This guide wont will only provide

[damned]

Hey damned, thanks for this. Given that I use Hamachi once or twice a month when travelling, I might do this instead. right now the driver for me would be bandwidth. Do you have any idea if the bandwidth and latency when using this method would be better than Hamachi (which hasn't been bad, and given hotel bandwidth, may not be a bottleneck most times)?

I did notice this about half-way down page 1:

This guide wont will only provide

Typically the VPS are connected on 100mbs ports at a minimum, often they have 1gbs ports. You do add latency vs a direct connection because you are adding extra length/distance/hops to the data flow. Compared to Hamachi - its probably very similar... I would love to know if the instructions are good... i wrote them up after I did the server install already so I hope I have it all and in the right order!

[brokenbikez]

can you help me try to set the pureVPN up I am still having issues connecting

[damned]

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20160-Using-a-VPN-Service-Provider-to-get-around-port-forwarding-issues

[Gwydion]

can you help me try to set the pureVPN up I am still having issues connecting

Hey brokenbikez. I have PureVPN as well. Several of us have it working as long as you add on the dedicated ip address and use it. Recently, they seem to have added a port forwarding option (instead of adding on the dedicated ip address) that a couple of folks have said works as well. You will definitely need to add on one of those services to get the connection to work. Let us know if you need anything else.

[Gwydion]

Hey, damned. Thanks for sharing that with us. I don't know if you ever looked at the AlgoVPN thread I started, but after a few months it is still going strong. Its another way to set up the VPN yourself and use AWS (or several other options) to set up a low-cost service. I have two folks that are using the one I set up and they have done it without issue. I have it free for a year through next April. Takes a bit to set up but I did document it extensively. I'm trying to keep tabs on the activity so that I know what the cost might be after the free year is up. There is a data cost on the AWS side that you have to watch on the free tier, particularly if you share things like the PHB with many different groups. Anyway, thanks for sharing your option!

[daggerfortysix]

I use PureVPN with the dedicated IP address addition and it is flawless. I never have issues, and it seems to work everywhere.

[damned]

I was pointing brokenbikez to the PureVPN thread that had all the info.
He had not purchased the Dedicated IP option or Port Forward option.
Once he did that he was fine.

No - Im sorry - have not had a chance to look at the Algo VPN.

[k410]

NordVPN - doesn't, as yet, support port forwarding but it's supposed to sometime this quarter. Will be trying this
Just a note to say that NordVPN does not support port forwarding (PF) at time of writing this post, and has no plans to.

Many VPN providers do not support PF (e.g., ExpressVPN and CyberGhost), to protect their customers from port-scanning hacks.

With such a provider, even if you configure port forwarding on your local router, TCP port 1802 will still be inaccessible/unresponsive to the outside world whenever the VPN is active.