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Free Public VPN Relay Servers (Hosted by Volunteers) @ VPN Gate

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Free Public VPN Relay Servers (Hosted by Volunteers) @ VPN Gate
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Lzenzen on 06/02/2021 - 18:19 vpngate.net (4179 clicks)
Last edited 07/02/2021 - 12:39 by 2 other users

"Free Access to World Knowledge Beyond Government's Firewall."

VPN Gate ia an academic experiment project at National University of Tsukuba, Japan.

I've known this free public service for a while and occasionally use it when I need Japanese ip address access to some Japanese sites where georestriction is in place. I constantly see VPN servers from Japan, USA and South Korea up and running. Good on them. Sadly don't see Oz servers that often :(

This site provides free VPN service from volunteer servers for free access to the counties where volunteer servers are set up. Available for Windows, Mac and, iPhone/iPad and Android.

You can simply use their public VPN service as a client or join to set up your VPN server and help people who need free access to online information without authority's restrictions and censorship.

Support information freedom and help people from where information is restricted by authorities.

The site says 'Visit our another VPN project, "SoftEther Project".
This is the parent project. VPN Gate is a child project of SoftEther Project.'
The SoftEther Project URL is
www.softether.org/

Computing VPN

Related Stores

VPN Gate Academic Experiment Project
VPN Gate Academic Experiment Project
SoftEther Project
SoftEther Project

Comments

  • Mahip on 06/02/2021 - 18:37

    Do they have any app?

    • zenzen on 06/02/2021 - 18:46
      +3

      They provide SoftEther VPN software as an option for server set up and client connection(Windows only). See their connection set up instruction page. Looks easy. I've only so far used with Android phone.

    • yasui on 06/02/2021 - 18:53
      +4

      I've been using this for many years to get a Japanese IP address. Their windows app is pretty good. You can choose a VPN server from list. You can install this one. https://www.vpngate.net/en/howto_softether.aspx

      For Mac, it's not so easy. You'll need to go through manual setup and you can't choose from a list within the app and just click. You'll have to choose from the list in web to use it. I'd recommend if you're using Windows.

      There are usually VPN servers available from US and South Korea if you're looking after it.

    • Soppro on 07/02/2021 - 18:17
      +1

      I just use a program like Tunnelblick (Mac) or OpenVPN (iOS/Windows) which can load the VPN profiles from vpngate

  • housewitch on 06/02/2021 - 19:29

    Years ago it's the only stable and free VPN for me to play Kancolle and see the world outside🥺

    • gakko on 06/02/2021 - 20:30

      nm

    • aileron on 07/02/2021 - 14:06

      Damn, this VPN system got me through high school. Who knows what life would be like if I didn't discover Kancolle and and a way to get past the school's website blocker.

  • deme on 06/02/2021 - 19:56
    +10

    Won't these get abused?

    • paradoxez on 06/02/2021 - 20:40
      +5

      Yea my thought exactly.

      I appreciate the volunteers that are willing to help those who need to bypass geo restrictions to buy ebooks etc, but I fear these volunteers are putting themselves in danger of a surprise raid once shady folks start using volunteers' ip as exit point to do illegal stuff.

      • AustriaBargain on 06/02/2021 - 20:42
        -3

        What could be shadier than buying an eBook outside of the geo restrictions? That's no different to slapping the workers at the Australian ebook distribution corporation in the face and snatching the food out of their children's hands before kicking them all down the salt mines.

        • paradoxez on 06/02/2021 - 20:49
          +3

          Sure, except that I buy Japanese/korean language ebook to read and other platform don't have them available. Still wrong yea, but what do you expect me to do? Fly over to the country to purchase the right way?

          And are you really asking if there more shadier activity than bypassing geo restriction to buy ebook.?

          • nismo on 07/02/2021 - 09:24

            @paradoxez: We use ebookjapan and Amazon.jp for Japanese ebooks and do not need a VPN.

            Granted ebj was a tedious process when they moved to yahoo but it works & I pay with Aus cc, no issues there.

            Which ebook sites need a VPN?

        • deme on 06/02/2021 - 21:23
          +1

          What about downloading scientific papers without paying $50 to further humanity where none of that goes to the authors?

        • [Deactivated] on 06/02/2021 - 21:37
          +1

          amazon.gov.au - Correctional Salt Mines Dept.

      • Yumi on 07/02/2021 - 14:48

        I think the main problem is those that think IP signifies end user, when it's simply not true.

        If a business provides free Wifi to patrons, they should not be held liable for the behaviour that those patrons use the Wifi service for. Same applies to libraries, airports, ISPs etc.
        Why should it be any different for volunteers offering VPN endpoints?

        • ponchoau on 05/02/2024 - 18:20

          You’re right, it doesn’t make the provider (you) liable. That doesn’t mean that it won’t be investigated though. If police deem it reasonable to search your house with a warrant because your IP was uploading dodgy stuff they will investigate and find that it wasn’t you.
          Still inconvenient regardless of the liability of it.

          • Yumi on 05/02/2024 - 21:28

            @ponchoau: Whether the potential inconvenience is worth it to you, only you can decide. I just wanted to point out that it doesn't make sense to incriminate someone because something happened on their IP.

            The idealist in me thinks that IP should never be considered a reasonable indicator of a person. It's not illegal to share your connection after all. I can see some people disagreeing, though thanks to stuff like CGNAT, I don't see those people having much of a leg to stand on much longer.

      • shroomish on 03/02/2024 - 19:48

        ive used various forms of vpngate since 2005. Im sure they have all their ducks in a row and you need not worry.

        • ldd-mn on 03/02/2024 - 23:28
          +1

          Yeah you're a bit late to their conversation

    • zenzen on 07/02/2021 - 11:23

      They have anti abuse policy info on their site.

      • bcYield on 03/08/2024 - 18:04

        Like no prons? That used to be restricted at my school.

    • FSTB on 06/02/2021 - 20:39
      +5

      You should probably provide an explanation why?

    • justausername on 06/02/2021 - 20:41

      would proton vpn be a good alternative?

    • spaceflight on 06/02/2021 - 20:54

      Why?

      • belongsinforums on 06/02/2021 - 21:03
        +1

        using a vpn is like giving someone a key to your front door

        • deme on 06/02/2021 - 21:24

          It's really not, it's like using public wifi.

          • skinny on 06/02/2021 - 21:46
            +1

            @deme: public wifi = giving front door key

            As long as you just do exotic stuff, you are fine. Not accessing legal thinks like bank accounts, CC, etc

            • hellohi on 06/02/2021 - 21:58
              +2

              @skinny: Using public Wi-Fi isn't much of a security risk anymore; nowadays nearly everything utilises https, it makes attacks that try to intercept your data pretty much useless.

            • deme on 06/02/2021 - 23:00
              +3

              @skinny: It's fine to go access your bank over public wifi. If your bank isn't securing your connection they are negligent.

              • skinny on 07/02/2021 - 08:31

                @deme: If you know what you are doing, it can be safe. But here is what CBA says:

                Avoid public Wi-fi

                Public Wi-Fi isn’t always safe and may enable cybercriminals to access your information. If you need to use public Wi-Fi, avoid online banking or online shopping when using networks you aren’t familiar with. Also switch off ‘auto-connects’, so you’re always in control of your Wi-Fi connections.

                source: https://www.commbank.com.au/support/security/how-to-protect-…

                • deme on 07/02/2021 - 09:52
                  +3

                  @skinny: if CBAs app doesn't use a secure connection then that's their fault.

                  If your security relies on keeping malicious actors from having network access then your security relies on the security of every device in there, and that assumption is already broken by web browsers executing arbitrary code with network access.

                  If you are relying on only using internet at home or you mobile connection then you still rely on just every device being secure, and you are relying on no one spying on your traffic from your device to your bank.

                  Or, you could just secure your traffic with something like TLS and then you don't need to rely on any of the above assumptions. If someone is passively or actively intercepting your traffic then the worst they can do is slow you down or deny your service.

                  There is a point about non secure connections but if your bank isn't ensuring your connection is secure given how easy that is to do these days that's their fault.

                  • Free Certificates: Let's Encrypt
                  • Overhead of cryptography: minimal given modern CPUs have the common instructions as part of their ISA.
                  • Ensuring you don't go to an Non secure version of the bank's website: HSTS and HSTS preloading

                  I'll end in saying if using your bank's app on public wifi is insecure it's the bank's fault and they need to fix it.

        • tm001 on 06/02/2021 - 22:08
          +1

          Really? How come?
          Not everyone has a firewall at home, so the bypass of that is minimal. And who uses firewall at home will probably be aware of any risks and will protect themself otherwise. But in general, most people do is using web, which is now almost exclusively TLS protected, so no chance for anyone to snoop on that.

          The only risk here, and something I would NEVER EVER do would be to act as an exit gateway, as any illegal activities will then be matched against your IP (stolen CC misuse, child pornography, cyber abuse, etc). That could have very dire consequences.

          • Tacooo on 07/02/2021 - 03:10
            +1

            @tm001: This may surprise you but Windows has a built in firewall that is enabled by default. So no, not everyone using a firewall knows what they're doing. I'd honestly say most still have no (profanity) idea.

  • brokeunistudent on 06/02/2021 - 20:58

    So like Hola VPN?

    • frazel on 07/02/2021 - 10:17
      +1

      Holas its worse, they actually sell your bandwidth.

      You give them 50mbps, you get 20mbps over vpn and they sell the remaining 30mbps.

  • incipient on 07/02/2021 - 00:57

    So like tor, but you have to trust the endpoint isn't harvesting your data? I'd just stick with tor…

    • Yumi on 07/02/2021 - 14:51

      I believe most VPNGate endpoints state that they log information and hold it for a few weeks. Of course, you don't know what they decide to do with that data, but I think they're straightforward in saying that they do log it.

      Tor still has the same issue with exit nodes - they could be logging/intercepting your data all the same. The only difference with Tor is that the source is somewhat more obscured via relays.

  • chaoscreater on 07/02/2021 - 10:27
    +1

    I've used them before, specifically SoftEther VPN. There are a lot of settings and it can be quite confusing, but their documentation is not bad. You can set up hubs as VPN relays as well (think of it like using a jumpbox).

    It also does UDP hole punching, which is how apps like Teamviewer work. You can connect to your VPN server even if it's behind a firewall. In fact, I used to use this at work. I had my VPN server running in my VM on my work PC. If I'm working from home or anywhere else and I need to access our internal documentation system, or our intranet or any other work resource, I would just use my VPN to do it. Speed is great, very stable and I could even play games on my VM without lag. It certainly beats having to wait for our network team to set up an official company VPN for us (which never happened).

    Furthermore, there is a built-in option that allows you to relay the traffic to an Azure VM that SoftEther VPN hosts. Same idea as how most of the remote access software work. It's a fallback feature, where if the normal UDP hole punching method still doesn't work and you are completely blocked by the firewall, then you can use this Azure VM as relay. Your VPN server and VPN client will make a connection to this relay VM, which just uses port 443 and so it's pretty much guaranteed to work. Then from that point on, it makes a connection to peer the client and server together. This mode is slower but it gets the job done.

    There are some other cool features as well. You can push a VPN route table down and bridge connections, etc. It's very powerful but a lot of the settings can be super confusing unless you read up on the documentations.

    • theg00s3 on 08/02/2021 - 02:09

      I used to use softether to bypass the school firewalls (using my own personal vps) so i could ssh into my machines

  • noren7 on 07/02/2021 - 10:48

    This is a very cool VPN and I've used it to access Japanese Netflix when NordVPN wasn't working.

    I'd be really careful with what you use this for though, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure everything is 100% logged

  • Nilfunds on 07/02/2021 - 11:04

    doesn't work.
    tried on two macs, big sur and high sierra.

    be ready for some fiddling.
    some of listed servers time out on ping even so whats the hope of connection

  • froogletom on 07/02/2021 - 12:19

    Would this work for Netflix like other vpn service providere

    • zenzen on 07/02/2021 - 12:44

      I have never tried it for Netflix but successful to access videos with geo restriction as well as other commercial sites/apps with such restriction. (I've only tried Japanese and UK IPs) So I expect it works like other VPN services and you choose a server from country you want to connect with.

    • noren7 on 07/02/2021 - 17:32

      Yes! You just have to play around with the selected server

  • aileron on 07/02/2021 - 13:59

    Beware, they're almost certainly unsafe and steal your data whether it's the researchers or others latching onto what is effectively a global public wifi network. Good if you need a vpn for any non-secure use but don't be surprised if your accounts get sign-in attempts from sri lanka a few weeks later.

    • Brainwhacker on 07/02/2021 - 15:30

      Just clarifying OP, this makes the login details that you are going to use for eg Netflix US visible in the logs, this will not expose to any data that one has on the client computer that will be used to access the VPN ?

      • theg00s3 on 08/02/2021 - 02:09
        +1

        they're just fearmongering. no reputable site is using unencrypted http

      • zenzen on 08/02/2021 - 13:09

        I don't think your account credentials of Netflix are captured and logged in their server. According to their site, following info explains what are recorded and kept in their logs under anti abuse policy page.

        "A VPN Connection Log entry contains:

        Date and time
        ID, IP address and hostname of destination VPN Server
        Type of action (connect or disconnect)
        Raw IP address and hostname of the source VPN client computer
        Type of VPN protocols (SSL-VPN, L2TP, OpenVPN or SSTP)
        VPN Client software-name, version and id (If available)
        Number of packets and bytes during a VPN connection, and debug information of communication errors
        Log records of destination HTTP/HTTPS hostnames (FQDNs), IP addresses, host names and port numbers of VPN Gate communications through VPN sessions

        No other information will be transmitted to us nor be recorded on our logging server"

  • solacens on 04/02/2024 - 10:42

    Most of the servers are actually kinda unstable.

    Just FYI in case you want play some online game with it.

  • donman92 on 04/08/2024 - 00:22
    +1

    Damn, I was hoping they had Turkish servers.

  • hcl on 04/08/2024 - 04:03
    +1

    Although the concept is good, I'd strongly recommand against it for security reasons. Letting anon users access the internet with your IP address is one of the fastest way to get your home raided in the midnight by police. If anyone accessed illicit content, it will be your IP that left a trace.

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