VPN laptop wifi hotspot (Situation solved)

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Baroquen
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VPN laptop wifi hotspot (Situation solved)

Post by Baroquen »

Ok OO Hivemind - I need help.

I'm looking to hook my Roku TV up to a VPN connection. It doesn't support it natively. I don't want to put the VPN on my home router as I hear it will decrease speeds, so I'm looking to create a VPN wifi hotspot via a laptop (since apparently that's not an option via desktop?).

My current ASUS laptop says No to the "Hosted network supported" option, but that's ok because it's going to travel with me to work and such. Apparently, there would be some configuring and reconfiguring of the VPN whenever I'd bring it back home?

So - the wife and I were looking to pick up a cheapy laptop with the sole purpose of running this VPN hotspot. But I can't find any verification on retail listings that the included wifi adapters would be Broadcom based (which is a requirement, yes?). The various listings on Newegg and Amazon either give just the b/g/ac/n standards, or just say "wi-fi" connectivity (thanks Best Buy). The tech articles I've read about setting up a VPN hotspot say most recent laptops have Broadcom based adapters, but not from what I've been able to check.

So my question is what am I looking for while shopping? Any specific verbiage that would ensure I'm getting something that would suit our specific need? (Don't need it to be well equipped for gaming or anything else).

Or any example listings of a laptop that would work?

Thanks for any help, especially if I'm strayed off the right path to fix this problem somewhere along the line.
Last edited by Baroquen on Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hitbyambulance
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot

Post by hitbyambulance »

i'm confused, why does this need to be on a laptop? if you'd be using it only for this purpose, that's an extravagant waste on several levels. get a SBC instead (like the $35 Raspberry Pi) - much cheaper and power usage will be faaaar lower.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-cre ... spberry-pi
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ra ... 4-model-b/
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Baroquen
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot

Post by Baroquen »

Happy to hear I'm on the wrong track and there's a cheaper way. I'll read those links later this afternoon. Thanks!
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hitbyambulance
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot

Post by hitbyambulance »

even the BBC posted a tutorial: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33548728

if you have any questions about the process, just post here
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Baroquen
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot

Post by Baroquen »

I've scanned through those links (and some associated google "rabbit holes") and it looks like this should suit our needs. Since we may be looking for some geo-restricted content, I'll have to use the raspberry pi in conjunction with a private VPN company, as compared to those OpenVPN tutorials, but apparently that's do-able and we expected that.

So yeah - you've been a big help! Thanks! I appreciate the time & effort! If I hit any snags along the way, I'll revisit the thread - but hopefully this will work. :dance:
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hitbyambulance
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot

Post by hitbyambulance »

also, it doesn't have to be a Raspberry Pi - there are a ton of other single board computers out there (ODROID and whatnot) that would work just as well, but the global RPi community is massive and it's easy to find solutions to any problem you may be having.
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Baroquen
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot (Situation solved)

Post by Baroquen »

So just felt a need to bring this thread to close - I was really clueless at the start of this, and slightly less so.

Here's how I got to my solution.

Upon advice here, I ordered a Pi kit. It arrived. Neat little gadget. Smoothly packaged.

First, I ran the VPN on that device and ran an HDMI output straight into the Roku TV. (The TV doesn't accept VPN apps, or changing IPs or that sort of thing - hence, the need to solve the problem externally). That worked - I could stream what I wanted, but watching was unbearable. Stuttering. Lagging. Stopping. I figured it was the VPN slowing the streaming speed, so went to step 2...

Second, upon some digging - I set up a routed wifi hotspot on the Pi. Followed the programming steps found on the Pi site, and successfully created the virtual network. Tested it with my cell phone and it worked, regular internet connectivity & all. Tested it with the TV, and while it connected, most of streaming apps/services were negatively impacted. It was not going to do as the solution. Was getting pretty discouraged at this point.

Third attempt at solving the problem - tried a Smart DNS service. I was discouraged to use it with the home router, but it was VERY easy to do, and after reading about how speeds weren't impacted, I was hopeful. Lo and behold, it worked. No devices in the home were negatively impacted, no noticeable speed loss. And most importantly, I was able to stream what I wanted on the TV without issue. Crossing fingers, that this case is successfully closed.

An interesting journey. I learned lots of cool things. And the cord is completely cut from the monthly TV/cable bill. Thanks for the help hitbyambulance.
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Z-Corn
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot (Situation solved)

Post by Z-Corn »

So now you have a spare Pi that you can install RetroPie on and get into the emulator world...
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Baroquen
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Re: VPN laptop wifi hotspot (Situation solved)

Post by Baroquen »

Z-Corn wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:31 pm So now you have a spare Pi that you can install RetroPie on and get into the emulator world...
Oh wow, nice. Something that would be fun to look into, and a new use for the Pi. Appreciate the tip!
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