Remember that you'll find links to all the resources and websites I mentioned in the description. Was this helpful? Then give it a like! Did you have any issues? Feel free to leave comments here, but understand that I am not able to troubleshoot all problems and it's best to follow the Algo troubleshooting page here: github.com/trailofbits/algo/blob/master/docs/troubleshooting.md
Have you talked about the advantages and disadvantages od doing this? I mean the advantage of not having a third party involved comes intuitively to me right away but I would be interested in your thougts on this... thank you!
This is a couple of years since you posted. Did you continue to use it? If so, what costs did you end up incurring per month (round numbers) in traffic fees? How long did your $100 credit last you (it seemed you signed up with DO and they gave you a $100 credit early in the video?) - i realize that's a totally subjective question based on what you were doing but perhaps you can characterize your usage pattern?
Hi Josh, thanks for taking us through the process. Question as a non-IT person: what advantage does having one's own VPN server provide vs, say, a Windscribe VPN server?
Great question. The primary concern here is both trust and how you plan to use the VPN. If you want to unblock different Netflix libraries, evade censorship or bypass some sort of geoblocking, a commercial VPN like Windscribe is best. It’s easier to setup/use and there are numerous server options around the world. For more sensitive data, though, there are serious questions about the privacy policies of these commercial VPNs. Who are they? How can we be sure they’re handling our data correctly? So for those who want more control of their data and want to use a VPN for more privacy instead of geoblocking, setting up your own server is one way to go.
Hi Josh, do you know what the Digital Ocean charges/fees will be? (On the sign up screen in your vid, it looked like you clicked at introductory free $100 / 60 days / offer.) Thank you!
Yea, great question. I received an introductory amount and then I would have to pay by the bandwidth I use. So it really depends on what you’re using it for (streaming vs email?)
Hi @All Things Secured. Not sure if you often comment on this video (since it’s 7 months old). But which is more secure? Making my own VPN, or paying for the service? Thank you
HAH got it to work. So cool. Of course, I had to complicate the process by using a folder with a space in the name that it didn't like and a few other things, but once I got past that, it worked. Took my computer north of 10 mins to do the configuration (had to do it several times). But now that it is working, very cool! Thanks for the video. Only comment I have is that it looks like DigitalOcean set me up for $6/mo or $.009/hr a server. Looks like they got rid of the $100 free trial credit in this video. And of course with my 3 failed attempts I had 4 total active droplets(servers) after I set it all up. Heh :D (I caught it right away so all good). Got 150MBPS on the New York 3 server. :D Thanks again.
Why not use the VPN Server, that is nowdays built in most high end Internet modem routers & connect home when you're out, using a VPN tunel using OPEN VPN installed from Playstore? Access your own LAN as if you were home etc.? Note, you will need to set up a DDNS (no-ip is free) to keep track of your home IP.
If this is the Mac tutorial, do you have one for PC? Also once you have set up your own VPN, is there much housekeeping required to maintain is security and keep it 'current'? Forgive if it's a silly question, very much an IT noob.
I don't have one for PC yet, although it is very similar. I don't believe there's much maintenance, since most of the heavy lifting is done by the cloud service.
Sheesh.... the title made me go, " *YES, YES, YES, YES* " Your first minute made me go, "I gotta find out when my Python programming friend is going to be in the area, and buy him a six pack" OK.... Now, I'm going to watch the rest of your video.
2 problems. 1 is I’m pretty sure ur now giving all ur info to digital ocean which probably keeps logs (someone said they specifically say they do in their privacy policy but can’t confirm this myself as I did not read it) 2. U still paying for digital ocean which does not make this free (and I do not know how much they charge but if it’s like a vpn then it’s basically a more time consuming and worse process to setting up a vpn)
Great tutorial and thanks for explaining why it's different to commercial VPN's my question is: On android I am using a firewall app that uses built in android VPN and need to know how reliable the native android VPN is concerning safety. I understand it doesn't conceal my identity but concerning my activity though. Link to a tutorial if you have..
wouldn't all the data going through digitalocean get logged by them? at the end of the day this still requires trust that the third party is following their privacy claims, and their own privacy page indicates they do provide logs to govt agencies (as i would assume they would), which means they have to be taking logs to provide in the first place
With windows I believe it might be quite difficult (if even possible) honestly using a VM Linux machine id say is much easier for these sort of things. I did not watch the video entirely so can’t help u totally. The one I do know is that this is not run on power shell but rather a bash terminal. (Which are by default used on most Linux OSes)
I'm not a Mac guy but didn't you (ATS) have to install a virtualization app (aka "hypervisor") like Parallels or Virtual Box on your Mac and then create a Linux virtual machine running under that hypervisor? Linux doesn't run natively on Mac (or?) On windows, you have two options: install a hypervisor (VMWare or Virtual box to name a couple; there are many options) and then create a VM and install Linux in that VM -- or -- you can activate the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). To me, WSL is complete PITA to get up and running with a current install of Linux but.. it is an option as some employers might only let you use an installed hypervisor if you can use any Linux at all (because WSL is turned on by adding it as a feature in Windows configuration whereas the hypervisor would need admin rights for installing software on your laptop so you may be able to do one but not the other depending on how locked down your system is. Once you have Linux up and running on your Windows box, you jump into that VM with a linux prompt and start from there from the point where ATS showed in the instructions. There are places on the internet where you can get VMs which are already pre-configured (e.g. install the hypervisor, download a virtual machine "image" (a large, compressed file with the installation of Linux already completed) and then unpack that download and load it on the hypervisor software), but I don't know how reliable they are in terms of not having something fishy going on. Maybe that latter point is not a big deal as you're basically only building the Algo server locally with current installs and then deploying it (Algo's deploy is effectively copying everything which was configured on your local Linux box) to DigitalOcean. I think once the algo install is running on DO, you'd update it there periodically and never have to get into your local Linux install again (correct?)
Dont know if that service is still free. Its my experience that nobody collects your cc info for a truly free service. They started charging u yet? Did any tests like DNS leak for example? How fortified is this really? How can one test the true reliability?
Rofl, the metamask plugin. Hope you're at least using a hardware wallet to sign your transactions, I personally know people who got hacked using the browser plugin setup.
I understand your reticence, Roy. In the end, you have to trust someone/some company. That could be a cloud services provider, a hardware manufacturer, your ISP, a commercial VPN company...someone. So I don't think that what I said discredits the entire video as much as it just illuminates where your threat model is. And that's ok.
It will eventually, I’m sure. But I’ve been using it lightly for a month now without any issues. I set up and use the VPN and I haven’t paid any money…explain how I’m lying again?
Hi@@AllThingsSecured, Thank you for your video! I wanted to ask about the average monthly bill with DigitalOcean for regular use (social media, streaming, etc.). Thanks!
Remember that you'll find links to all the resources and websites I mentioned in the description. Was this helpful? Then give it a like! Did you have any issues? Feel free to leave comments here, but understand that I am not able to troubleshoot all problems and it's best to follow the Algo troubleshooting page here: github.com/trailofbits/algo/blob/master/docs/troubleshooting.md
How is this PRIVATE when the IP address and when its from is easily available.
For free? You lie
Have you talked about the advantages and disadvantages od doing this? I mean the advantage of not having a third party involved comes intuitively to me right away but I would be interested in your thougts on this... thank you!
This is a couple of years since you posted. Did you continue to use it? If so, what costs did you end up incurring per month (round numbers) in traffic fees?
How long did your $100 credit last you (it seemed you signed up with DO and they gave you a $100 credit early in the video?) - i realize that's a totally subjective question based on what you were doing but perhaps you can characterize your usage pattern?
Hi Josh, thanks for taking us through the process. Question as a non-IT person: what advantage does having one's own VPN server provide vs, say, a Windscribe VPN server?
Great question. The primary concern here is both trust and how you plan to use the VPN.
If you want to unblock different Netflix libraries, evade censorship or bypass some sort of geoblocking, a commercial VPN like Windscribe is best. It’s easier to setup/use and there are numerous server options around the world.
For more sensitive data, though, there are serious questions about the privacy policies of these commercial VPNs. Who are they? How can we be sure they’re handling our data correctly?
So for those who want more control of their data and want to use a VPN for more privacy instead of geoblocking, setting up your own server is one way to go.
Cool! I wish the second part of this video, with more detail or upgrade some settings for more security.
do we need to get digital ocean? id there any more alternatives? Is it necessary?
Is it available for Norway too? Or it doesn't matter the location
Hi Josh, do you know what the Digital Ocean charges/fees will be? (On the sign up screen in your vid, it looked like you clicked at introductory free $100 / 60 days / offer.) Thank you!
Yea, great question. I received an introductory amount and then I would have to pay by the bandwidth I use. So it really depends on what you’re using it for (streaming vs email?)
Does Digital Ocean eventually charge for connecting the API to Algo like having a Droplet?
Hi @All Things Secured. Not sure if you often comment on this video (since it’s 7 months old). But which is more secure? Making my own VPN, or paying for the service?
Thank you
It depends on your threat model. Do you trust VPN companies? If not, then creating your own VPN server might be better.
HAH got it to work. So cool. Of course, I had to complicate the process by using a folder with a space in the name that it didn't like and a few other things, but once I got past that, it worked. Took my computer north of 10 mins to do the configuration (had to do it several times). But now that it is working, very cool! Thanks for the video.
Only comment I have is that it looks like DigitalOcean set me up for $6/mo or $.009/hr a server. Looks like they got rid of the $100 free trial credit in this video. And of course with my 3 failed attempts I had 4 total active droplets(servers) after I set it all up. Heh :D (I caught it right away so all good).
Got 150MBPS on the New York 3 server. :D
Thanks again.
Why not use the VPN Server, that is nowdays built in most high end Internet modem routers & connect home when you're out, using a VPN tunel using OPEN VPN installed from Playstore? Access your own LAN as if you were home etc.? Note, you will need to set up a DDNS (no-ip is free) to keep track of your home IP.
If this is the Mac tutorial, do you have one for PC? Also once you have set up your own VPN, is there much housekeeping required to maintain is security and keep it 'current'? Forgive if it's a silly question, very much an IT noob.
I don't have one for PC yet, although it is very similar. I don't believe there's much maintenance, since most of the heavy lifting is done by the cloud service.
Love this video, very easy VPN setup. This is a great way to repurpose an old PC case using a 256GB SSD. Can this work using a bootable data key?
I'm not sure. You'll have to try it yourself.
Sheesh.... the title made me go, " *YES, YES, YES, YES* "
Your first minute made me go, "I gotta find out when my Python programming friend is going to be in the area, and buy him a six pack"
OK.... Now, I'm going to watch the rest of your video.
Ha! Yea, it wasn't as simple as I was hoping. There's a reason the commercial VPN is so attractive - it's simple to download and use.
2 problems. 1 is I’m pretty sure ur now giving all ur info to digital ocean which probably keeps logs (someone said they specifically say they do in their privacy policy but can’t confirm this myself as I did not read it)
2. U still paying for digital ocean which does not make this free (and I do not know how much they charge but if it’s like a vpn then it’s basically a more time consuming and worse process to setting up a vpn)
I love your step by step clear explanations. Thanks very much
Have you tried it,?
are you planning on doing a similar video for Windows users?
I could, but it would essentially be the same thing. Where are you getting tripped up?
@@AllThingsSecured The things that you did with shell, are to be done on cmd on windows?
if anything, Python is much easier to install on Windows according to my experience.
Great tutorial and thanks for explaining why it's different to commercial VPN's my question is: On android I am using a firewall app that uses built in android VPN and need to know how reliable the native android VPN is concerning safety. I understand it doesn't conceal my identity but concerning my activity though. Link to a tutorial if you have..
Hi Josh. Thank you for this video. Have you made a video for a Windows device?
The procedure for *Windows 10* PLEASE ?
BTW: how fast is your custom built VPN ?
what is this extension in your browser with the face of a fox?)
Thanks a lot, Sir. God bless you and yours!
Same to you!
Thanks so much! That was a fun little project thanks to your great explanation!
Now what to do with it? LOL!
Well explsined, I am capable of doing this but would rather not! I was just interested in following the process. Always enjoy your channel...thanks.
Thanks so much, Arthur!
wouldn't all the data going through digitalocean get logged by them? at the end of the day this still requires trust that the third party is following their privacy claims, and their own privacy page indicates they do provide logs to govt agencies (as i would assume they would), which means they have to be taking logs to provide in the first place
How fast is this vpn? I could create one but if I’m not going to use it afterwards because it’s slow what’s the point
How is this done on Windows machine? Is this ran on powershell? I see you have used the SSH on Mac terminal but not sure how this works on Windows.
I wish I could help, but I'm not sure as well.
With windows I believe it might be quite difficult (if even possible) honestly using a VM Linux machine id say is much easier for these sort of things.
I did not watch the video entirely so can’t help u totally. The one I do know is that this is not run on power shell but rather a bash terminal. (Which are by default used on most Linux OSes)
I'm not a Mac guy but didn't you (ATS) have to install a virtualization app (aka "hypervisor") like Parallels or Virtual Box on your Mac and then create a Linux virtual machine running under that hypervisor? Linux doesn't run natively on Mac (or?)
On windows, you have two options: install a hypervisor (VMWare or Virtual box to name a couple; there are many options) and then create a VM and install Linux in that VM -- or -- you can activate the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). To me, WSL is complete PITA to get up and running with a current install of Linux but.. it is an option as some employers might only let you use an installed hypervisor if you can use any Linux at all (because WSL is turned on by adding it as a feature in Windows configuration whereas the hypervisor would need admin rights for installing software on your laptop so you may be able to do one but not the other depending on how locked down your system is.
Once you have Linux up and running on your Windows box, you jump into that VM with a linux prompt and start from there from the point where ATS showed in the instructions.
There are places on the internet where you can get VMs which are already pre-configured (e.g. install the hypervisor, download a virtual machine "image" (a large, compressed file with the installation of Linux already completed) and then unpack that download and load it on the hypervisor software), but I don't know how reliable they are in terms of not having something fishy going on.
Maybe that latter point is not a big deal as you're basically only building the Algo server locally with current installs and then deploying it (Algo's deploy is effectively copying everything which was configured on your local Linux box) to DigitalOcean. I think once the algo install is running on DO, you'd update it there periodically and never have to get into your local Linux install again (correct?)
Dont know if that service is still free. Its my experience that nobody collects your cc info for a truly free service. They started charging u yet?
Did any tests like DNS leak for example? How fortified is this really? How can one test the true reliability?
How would I go about setting this up on windows as I don't have a Mac.
It’s pretty much the same process. The link in the description for the Algo setup page has alternate instructions for other operating systems.
Is there a way to install this vpn on a router.
Your the best.
Thanks, Ashkan.
Great video! I'm a VPN server noob and this taught me a lot.
Not working
Anything for Android mobile?
It's the exact same process. Instead of downloading the Wireguard app on iOS, simply download it on Android. It looks exactly the same.
Is this works on win10?
please really eager here, how do i use this vpn on my macbook?? A really important question that should be answered.
You saw me set it up on my MacBook, so how else can I help here?
Thank you Sir
Thanks Jason for the lead in, I’m not a computer guru this is too much thanks nx video
Same for windows or android please
I’ll see what I can do, Dave. The instructions from the Algo GitHub website also talk about Windows and Android.
Have some questions :
Can someone (not a hacker , like a normal VPN company) see my internet history ?
How safe is it for hacking?
Theoretically, yes. Although they pinky-promise that they won't, so there's that you can fall back on.
What kind of processing power, memory and storage do I need to subscribe to?
It’s up to your usage needs.
Thank you so much...
My pleasure!
Valuable video! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I just started using Linux Mint, and I can't tune this VPN =(
Sorry to hear that, Alan.
Very helpful bro many thanks🙏
Always welcome!
Thank you ....... you are awesome
Much appreciated, Ryan.
I really need a android tutorial please asap
It’s pretty much the same thing.
Rofl, the metamask plugin. Hope you're at least using a hardware wallet to sign your transactions, I personally know people who got hacked using the browser plugin setup.
Your concern for me is touching in its lack of any kind of sincerity. Yes, I’m using a hardware wallet.
Please make Windows tutorial
There isn’t too much difference between the two, honestly.
2:10 "In order to identify my identity, I have to give them a credit card..."
Don't bother with the video, goodbye.
I understand your reticence, Roy. In the end, you have to trust someone/some company. That could be a cloud services provider, a hardware manufacturer, your ISP, a commercial VPN company...someone.
So I don't think that what I said discredits the entire video as much as it just illuminates where your threat model is. And that's ok.
🌴👍
🙏🙏
Sorry, NO, I don't want to write a VPN, or have to buy a Mac just to use this.....
Say huh? You don’t “write” a VPN and you don’t have to have a Mac to use it.
@@AllThingsSecuredLOL on this one.
BS
Not free. You lied. 👎👎👎👎
Which part wasn’t free? I haven’t paid a dime.
@@AllThingsSecured internet that we use through our server will not cost us?
It will eventually, I’m sure. But I’ve been using it lightly for a month now without any issues. I set up and use the VPN and I haven’t paid any money…explain how I’m lying again?
Hi@@AllThingsSecured, Thank you for your video! I wanted to ask about the average monthly bill with DigitalOcean for regular use (social media, streaming, etc.). Thanks!