I'm planning a month-long trip to Asia and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it to set up an EC2 instance in Asia to use as a VPN, or if I should just go with a VPN service provider instead. What do you all think?
8 Answers
I've tried this before and while it can work, it’s not necessarily cheaper than a commercial VPN. Websites often restrict traffic from AWS IPs to avoid bots. Plus, you’ll have to consider the costs of data transfer along with the EC2 instance. I'd recommend using a WireGuard server from home or a Tailscale exit node instead.
Just as an aside, I run WireGuard on a Lightsail instance and it works great for me if you're considering that route.
Setting up WireGuard on an EC2 instance is a solid plan, but I'd recommend choosing a provider with free egress, like OVHCloud. Otherwise, bandwidth can really add up. Personally, I use a Canadian VPN when I travel in Asia and it works fine for me.
Thanks for the tip!
Honestly, setting up a solid VPN costs around $5 per month, so I’m not sure the hassle of configuring an EC2 instance is worth it. Services like Mullvad offer great options without all the work.
Thanks! But for me, spinning up the instance and running WireGuard hasn't been much hassle.
Mullvad and Tailscale are usually under $10 for a single user and they’re way easier to set up than dealing with an EC2 instance.
Thanks for the suggestion!
You could quickly set up a server and use a SOCKS proxy through SSH. Just be cautious because sites like Reddit block many IP addresses from big cloud providers due to their scraping policies, so your server might not work for everything.
Thanks for the heads up!
Have you checked out alternatives like OVH or Hetzner? They might be cheaper for network costs than AWS.
I have accounts with both! They should still be active.
What are your main goals for using a VPN? Is it accessibility, privacy, speed, or flexibility? That can really influence your choice.
I'm looking for a mix of accessibility, privacy, speed, and flexibility.
Thanks for the insight!