VPN for unrestricted internet access to people overseas

[ryane]

Hi,

I have been pondering on this subject for a while and was wondering if anybody could give me some pointers.

I have friends in Iran (from the last time I visited back in 2002) who are not able to access most sites on the internet because the government blocks most sites (News, social networking and etc). Now from what I have heard people somewhat get around it using proxies and VPN connections. Proxies are really slow and unreliable and most VPN service providers (even US services) get blocked as well and the ones that don't are not free and usually slow.
So what I have been researching on is to see if I could setup a SSL VPN service and give access to friends overseas for free. What would be the best way to go about this and what are my options?
Would I be able to setup a small server running openVPN in the US and give a small crowd of people (maybe up to 20) access to the internet for browsing?

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

[hostizzle]

Why don't you send them to me? I'm running a VPN on SSL and better yet, the server is on port 80. Why should you have to go to all the trouble and expense of starting a new server? I already have several users in Iran able to connect. I can offer plenty of bandwidth, and people are getting up to 10Mbps (burst) rates. PM for more information.

By the way, if you had your heart set on running your own OpenVPN installation, get a VPS and follow the HOWTO document. It's actually not that hard to start a new server, but it might take you a few days if you've never done it before.

[nasser750gx]

Hi,

I know someone who actually has a special service designed for Iran.
It's not free, but not really expensive either (About 28$ for 6 months or 15$ for 3 months last time I checked).

If they're interested, they can contact my friend to get account (SecureBREACH@gmail.com).



Good Luck

[Bebop]

Would I be able to setup a small server running openVPN in the US and give a small crowd of people (maybe up to 20) access to the internet for browsing?

I see that nasser is offering you a service for $15 for 3 months per person (equals $5 per person per month). This is very expensive compared to if you run your own server. Imagine 20 people x $5 = $100 per month total. Too expensive.

If you run your own server it will be a total of $10 per month (or cheaper) including all 20 clients. So, it equals $0.50 (yes, 50 cents) per person per month for 20 people. The service will also be faster and more reliable because you only have 20 client and you don't share with strangers.

How to do this?

VPS (Virtual Private Server). Let me show you one example:

• Linux OS with root access.
• 2 Terrabyte traffic per month.
• Netherlands IP address (or USA, wherever you prefer).
• Choice of operating systems (Debian, Centos, Ubuntu, etc)
• 100mbit connection
• all for $ 5 EUR