Hi,
I'm looking for a VPN service similar to StrongVPN.com which offers a static IP address.

The reason is I want to use the VPN to manage my web servers, and I'm going to setup access lists on the servers/scripts which only allow access from a certain network/IP address.

anyone have any good suggestions? affordable ones are great!

For something like this you are probably better off getting a VPS and setting that up as your VPN.

The kind of VPNs you are referring to are "consumer" level. I wouldn't rely on them in this situation. A VPS that can easily handle this starts off at $15 at BuyVM.net for example - extremely affordable too.

For something like this you are probably better off getting a VPS and setting that up as your VPN.

The kind of VPNs you are referring to are "consumer" level. I wouldn't rely on them in this situation. A VPS that can easily handle this starts off at $15 at BuyVM.net for example - extremely affordable too.

If I go this route doesn't this mean I would have to remote desktop into the VPS machine and use the browser on the VPS machine if say I use Firefox to manage my scripts? I'd rather have a tunneling service where I just connect to a VPN.

If I go this route doesn't this mean I would have to remote desktop into the VPS machine and use the browser on the VPS machine if say I use Firefox to manage my scripts? I'd rather have a tunneling service where I just connect to a VPN.

Hi there,

First, thanks katatonic =)

@Create - Depends. With a VPS you can setup an OpenVPN or PPTP server and connect to it just like any other VPN service. If you got a bigger RAM package, though, you could do the whole firefox dealy.

Francisco

Hi there,

First, thanks katatonic =)

@Create - Depends. With a VPS you can setup an OpenVPN or PPTP server and connect to it just like any other VPN service. If you got a bigger RAM package, though, you could do the whole firefox dealy.

Francisco

Francisco,
Setting up an OpenVPN or PPTP server on a VPS account requires me to install additional software and know how to setup and run the software right? which would you recommend? www.openvpn.net?

btw...what PPTP software solutions are out there which are the best?

i was looking at OpenVPN. in order to use it on my VPS i would need to purchase a license "Access Server Software" license right?

@Create - Use the opensource version which pretty much is just you install the client on your home computer, the server on the VPS and then just go for it.

OpenVPN-AS has some nice features but restricts a lot unless you pay.

PPTP is nice since every windows/mac & linux desktop computer has a built in client so they don't need anything else. For the server side our users use poptop on a centos VPS.

Francisco

It's a relatively straight forward process and most providers should be able to set it up for you.

You also can just use an SSH tunnel. You can setup putty to be a proxy server and then configure your browser, ftp client, and anything else to use that proxy. The setup will take only a few minutes and all you need is an ssh account.

OpenVPN Access Server comes with a free license automatically to allow up to 2 simultaneous clients - no extra costs.

do you guys know of a company that can install OpenVPN Access Server and set it up for me on a VPS? i know there a companies out there where you can pay them a small fee to install software, but not sure if there is one experienced with OpenVPN.

As suggested BuyVM should be able to do it for you. Keep in mind they are unmanaged, but once you get started you should have minimal fuss.

You also can just use an SSH tunnel. You can setup putty to be a proxy server and then configure your browser, ftp client, and anything else to use that proxy. The setup will take only a few minutes and all you need is an ssh account.

wow...this one is great. i never knew you could do this with Putty and a server. very simple yet if no one ever mentioned this then i would have never known. thanks alot!

I definitely think that getting a tiny VPS to run a VPN would be the best way to do this. You get full control and obviously static IPs that you need.
I've used the free license for OpenVPN Access Server before and it does a pretty good job.

Just make sure to get an Xen VPS as it can be a pain to make work with OpenVZ

I recently setup a similar system for myself. I purchased a new mini vps, installed and configured a OpenVPN community server, installed the client on all my other VPS' and my PC here at home and then switched my ssh servers to only accept connections from my internal VPN ip range.

I'm personally using Forever Hosting's $4.80 VPS that's currently on special, but any low end system will run a VPN server just fine.

If you wanna shoot me a PM, I'd be happy to help you configure yours.

You don't need OpenVPN-AS to use OpenVPN. Most (if not all) Linux distro's come with the community edition of OpenVPN (which is exactly what StrongVPN uses - they don't use OpenVPN-AS.)

If you want to keep things simple, some VPS companies (e.g. VPS.NET) offer images with VPN server software pre-installed.

if you are willing and able to setup the software, manage the networking/iptables rules etc, and create users/SSL certs etc, then indeed, the Access Server software isnt required.

However if you want that gateway/management element, then it's a good utility

why not just use OpenVPN-AS if it's so cheap. it's a one time charge of $5 for one client license

don't forget that you only need to pay for client licenses in excess of the included 2

I tried to setup a VPN on a Windows Server 2003 VPS. I kept getting "error 800" when I try to connect a client. Anyone had this experience? It's a Xen VPS.

why not just use OpenVPN-AS if it's so cheap. it's a one time charge of $5 for one client license

OpenVPN Access Server is a great product, you have to buy the licences in blocks of 10, you cant buy the licences individually so the minimum is $50 for a 10 user licence. :)

For a small personal VPN server like the one suggested here, OpenVPN AS really isn't needed. There are great tutorials to get the free OpenVPN community server running within minutes. I also wouldn't use PPTP unless you're using some client platform that supports PPTP, but doesn't support OpenVPN. OpenVPN beats PPTP in many ways.

can any one setup a pptp vpn server on centos5. which i can connect from win xp/7/mac/iphone.

anyone know how to do it?

thanks for help