Best VPN For Raspberry Pi – Review + Setup Guide
As the world is rapidly moving to the internet, the threat of privacy being exploited is getting bigger. Privacy over the internet is a myth and that statement is totally true.
This is no joke that it is quite easy for the hacker, internet service providers, and the government agencies to know what someone is doing over the internet.This has been proven a lot of times by many people and now it is time when people get serious about this.
The bigger problem is the ignorance, we need to take it seriously, not the problem of the world, but at least out own privacy. People cannot just give away their data and follow the wrong decisions taken by some people.
Banning websites or applications, Geo-restrictions over content, and throttling are some of the problems that exploit equal rights for everyone over the internet. This is something that people can control, there is something, a VPN.
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China and America are two countries that are said to have spied on everyone in the world. America developed the internet and left loopholes, so they can still control what and how data flows over the internet. There are theories over the internet that have raised questions and made people aware that America might really be tracking all their internet activity.
There are chances that they can even read the chats, but they are encrypted, or do they have some decryption tool with them, no one knows. This is where you need a VPN.
A VPN is something that can allow users to do anything that they want on the internet without the fear of getting caught by authorities that have banned it because it makes your IP anonymous. This is something that also protects all the activity that users do online.
This article is specifically for people who use the revolutionary programming mini-computer device Raspberry Pi. They are great for programmers, AI developers, people who want to use emulators and many others. Certain websites and application have some restrictions and students or people are not allowed to access them.
Hence users need to use a VPN with it. This is a really useful device that can be turned into a private VPN server. This device runs on Linux, and hence users will require a VPN that can work with Linux based machines.
This article will take the readers through all the important points that will make it easy to understand why it important to use a VPN and how they can install it on their Raspberry Pi.
Why Do You Need a VPN For Raspberry Pi?
Raspberry Pi’s are nothing, but cheap computers that have a number of tools specially designed for students and people who are related to programming and AI or a thing like that.
People might want to do more things with these computers, but because there are privacy issues with this mini-computer it is important that users use a VPN with this. Raspberry Pi can be used to control all the devices in a house and that is why it is really important that people who have it also ensure that it is secure.
Once this mini machine is made secure every device that is connected to the home network with which it is connected will be secure. There are many VPNs that can be used with Raspberry Pi. It is really important to maintain the anonymity of all the devices that are connected to your home network at once, so, by installing one VPN with this machine, this mini computer can turn your house into a smart house.
Everyone who will be connected to the home network will be able to enjoy full security and anonymity. Can anything be better than this? You don’t even have to install the VPN app on all the devices. Just a connecting with Raspberry Pi which has a VPN in it and it is done. This is as simple as that. This is your own VPN server, right in your house and you can control all the devices that are connected to it.
There are no reasons why a person should not use a VPN with their Raspberry Pi machine. Raspberry Pi is not secure, there might be protocols installed by the institutions that have provided them to the students that don’t let them access social media, certain websites and applications.
They might be getting tracked and hence to ensure that all the data on the devices being controlled by the mini machine is safe and users need to use a VPN with Raspberry Pi. This is something that should not be ignored. It is worth the money and all the research that you will have to do is to find the best VPN service provider for your Raspberry Pi machine.
Also, one more important thing to note is that these VPNs should never be free VPNs. There are many negative aspects to them. One of the biggest reason is that they log down the activity of the users, that means they keep all the internet activity to themselves and sell it to companies online.
This is done to improve their business and help them in the analysis of the internet activities of users. This is the exploitation of the rights of users over the internet. The main reason for using a VPN is not to bypass the bans and geo-restrictions, but it is to secure the privacy and the data from data thieves.
Using free VPNs is like appointing a thief by yourself. They also don’t provide constant speed and connection to their users. It is strictly advised that users should not use any of the free VPNs. I have listed out the top 5 VPNs for people who use Raspberry PI and I hope that it will help them to find the best one for their device.
Benefits Of Using Best VPN for Raspberry Pi
1. Access Home Network From Any Place In The World
When you connect your VPN to home router, it converts the Raspberry Pi into a VPN server itself. Users can connect to their home network via Raspberry Pi. This is one of the biggest reasons why people want to use a VPN with Raspberry and it is something that makes it more usable. The connection to the home network when Raspberry is connected to a VPN is also very secure and hence users can surf anything they want without any issues.
2. Unblocks All Streaming Services
Just like what a normal VPN connection does to a device it can also do to all the device connected to the home network to which it is plugged in. It can help unblock most of the streaming services from Netflix to Amazon Prime.
3. Excellent Security Constraints
One of the biggest reasons why people want to connect to a VPN server is that they need security from online data thieves and ISP tracking. Raspberry Pi is already said to be insecure in this aspect, and hence using a VPN can improve the security of the online activity and the data that they use on the internet.
5 Best VPN For Raspberry Pi
1. ExpressVPN
160 Countries | 94 Countries | 5 Devices | 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee
ExpressVPN is the best VPN provider in the world as of now. The only thing that people are concerned about when they are choosing this is the price, it on the higher side. Even though they are one of the most expensive VPN providers they still manage to be on the top because of their large network of servers and the locations in which they serve.
The services that they provide for Raspberry Pi are also exceptionally well. It is sure that the person who chooses them for their Raspberry machine will never regret their choice. The reason behind this is their constant hard work to provide their customers with great performance and tight security.
They have high-speed servers all around the world. In some years, this one will be the best VPN service providers because of their large network and since they are continuously improving their services.
ExpressVPN Pricing
Want know how much ExpressVPN costs?
Also read: Black friday ExpressVPN review
2. IPVanish
70 Countries | 10 Devices | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
So, this one of the best and also a pocket-friendly VPN. This can be said that it is just some places behind ExpressVPN. They are considered to be a great choice for Raspberry Pi. They have decent servers, their servers might not be as fast as some of their top competitors, but they are great for people who want to buy a budget-friendly VPN provider.
They also have good security options and like most of the VPNs, this best VPN for Raspberry Pi follow the no-log policy that adds up to the user’s security. They also follow a great encryption technique that saves all the data that gets transmitted from their servers from attackers and hackers.
There are not as much server but the locations where they are situated makes up for it. This VPN company is situated in the US and that is why there are no issues with US servers and they can do that very easily. They have a decent number of servers in other prominent parts of the world. They can unblock most of the streaming websites and make sure that their users get a decent streaming speed.
IPVanish Pricing
IPVanish offers a 2-tier pricing system.
You have the Baseline Tier that supports 3 devices and the Premium Tier that ups the device number to 5. Also, it’s only premium-tier users who have access to Chameleon protocol and IPVanish Cloud.
Back to the pricing and IPVanish has three pricing packages.
3. NordVPN
60+ Countries | 6 Devices | 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee
NordVPN, they are one of the most affordable VPN service providers. This is for the people who want a VPN for their Raspberry but not a very high-end super fast one. They have fewer servers than all their competitor but they can provide the decent speed that allows their users to stream in HD.
They also have servers in the most prominent countries in the world. Their biggest competition is with IPVanish and PureVPN because Express is way out of the league. There are constantly improving their services though and they make sure that they solve all the problems of their users.
This is important because they want to sustain in the market too. They have been one of the best service providers for Raspberry Pi users and that is why they are on most of the list of top VPNs for Raspberry Pi.
They have great security constraints to save their users data and their IP from the ISP and hackers and there have been no cases that could have broken their user’s trust.
NordVPN Pricing
So, how much will you pay for NordVPN?
4. PureVPN
140+ Countries | 10 Dvices | 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee
This VPN service has had its share of controversy in the initial years of their starting. An incident happened that broke the trust of their users for once and forever, maybe. They were accused to have been logging in user activity. They provided it to the police while they were investigating for one of the cases.
This was one case that broke the trust of all the users. They although made it clear that they have strict policies now about no-logging policy but still, after that, it is hard to believe what they say. They have still improved a lot and provided great services to their users.
They have really improved at the services that they provide. They have decent numbers of server in most of the parts of the world. They provide decent speed too. The only thing that people think negative is the privacy of the users. They are also one of the most affordable service providers.
It is important to note that there have been no cases that showed that they have been logging data after the last one. Still, it is on the users. Users who are overly concerned about the privacy of their data should not opt for this, for all other, it is a great option looking at its price.
PureVPN Pricing
PureVPN is relatively cheaper (especially the 3-year plan). But of course, you have to go with a prolonged plan if you want to feel the difference. Short term plans (1-month plan) are in fact more expensive than some of the other VPN providers.
5. SurfShark VPN
60+ Countries | Unlimited Devices | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
This is one of the top VPN service providers that provide the users with the power to connect to as many devices as they want. They have decent numbers of servers in almost all important countries of the world. They have been providing great services to their users and hence they are in the top category since long.
There is only one thing that has been odd that they do not provide free trials to their users. Still, they have great high-speed servers that can unlock most of the streaming services and remove the geo-restriction. Being a company based in the UK it is really easy for them to remove the geo-restrictions in the UK for all the users around the world.
They also have great high-speed servers in the US. They also provide excellent security features for their users and there has never been any case of IP leakage or data logging. They have great customer support too and that is a really important feature to have as a VPN company as of now.
SurfShark Pricing
Just like in the feature section, SurfShark has some pretty interesting twists in the pricing section too. Basically, SurShark can be bought in three different subscriptions.
The weird thing is, SurfShark costs more if you pay for the 1-year plan than if you pay for the 2-year plan.
Raspberry Pi VPN Setup Guide
Method 1: Steps To Install The VPN On Raspberry Pi
Installing a VPN on Raspberry Pi might be a bit tough for some people because it works on a Linux operating system. It is not as simple as users can do it on Windows or any mobile device. Below I have written steps that can help anyone to install a VPN of their choice on the Raspberry Pi machine. If you are not satisfied with the VPNs we suggested above, then check out these exclusive Black Friday deals on VPN.
Users can use the OpenVPN method to install a VPN on Raspberry Pi. Follow these steps and enjoy the benefits of your own private VPN server and secure your home network:
- This is an OpenVPN method so users will need to run a command “sudo apt install openvpn” to install OpenVPN on the Raspberry Pi machine.
- It is important that OpenVPN does not open when the system turns on and hence the users will need to enter a command to avoid it starting at the startup. To stop it from starting at the same time enter “sudo update-rc.d -f openvpn remove”.
- After doing both the previous steps it is finally the time to prepare the machine to get the files of the VPN of your choice. The users themselves will have to create a folder by the name of the VPN and make sure that the folder has no files other than VPN’s file. They just have to place this folder in the User’s folder. To do this follow the command: “mkdir /home/raspberry pi /vpn”.
- After making the folder and placing it in the user’s folder download the files of the preferred VPN from their official website.
- There are two files that are important and users need to download them especially one that comes with the extension of .crt and other with the extension .ovpn. Both of the files are important to allow the users to connect to the VPN.
- The .crt file is the certificate file that allows the user to install and connect to a VPN and .ovpn that determines the IP address if the Raspberry Pi on the public network.
- After this, the users will be able to know their IP on the public network. Make sure all the files are downloaded in .zip format. Run the following commands to unzip the files:
“cd /home/pi/vpn”
“wget http://www.PreferedVPN/configdownloadpage.zip ”
“unzip configs.zip “
“rm configs.zip”. - After all the files have been downloaded the users should be able to run the VPN on their Raspberry Pi and for that, they can use the following command:
“sudo openvpn --config SERVER.ovpn” - Enter the login id and password and the VPN will change the IP address and location of the Raspberry device.
These steps will help all the users to easily install and run VPN on Raspberry Pi. This is not as simple as downloading and running it on other devices, but there are many benefits that users get with this.
This makes Raspberry Pi into a personal VPN server and that is something that can protect all the device that they wish to connect to their home network. This is efficient and also a cost-efficient way of using a VPN.
FAQs On VPN For Raspberry Pi
Other than what is mentioned in the above article there are following thing that users can do with any of the best VPN for Raspberry Pi:
- Users can use the websites that have been banned by the government in their region.
- Extra security for social media accounts and private information over the internet.
- Safe shopping from online stores.
- No risk of data while using a free public WiFi.
- Eliminates the problems of throttling and Geo-restrictions.
It is definitely possible to use a free VPN for Raspberry Pi, but there are many things that can thing negative for the users. There is no proper security features opted by the free VPN servers. Most of the free VPN providers do keep activity logs of their users.
There are problems related to speed and also users cannot expect good customer support as they are not charging anything, hence they are not liable to any inconvenience caused to the users.
It is quite clear to everyone that Raspberry Pi is not secure itself and hence users require VPN with it to make it secure. Most of the security problems get solved with a VPN but still, people can use a secure browser a firewall manager, password protection software, and antivirus to keep the system safe from any kind of threat in case the VPN fails at some moment.
Final Words
The above article contained all the details about using a best VPN for Raspberry Pi. There are many security issues with this mini-computer sorts of the device and hence it is very important that people use a VPN with it. It can also be used as a personal VPN service that can provide access to the users from any part of the world, they can easily access their home network with its help.
There are top 5 VPNs that are perfect to be used with Raspberry listed in the article too. It is advised that users choose only among them and not any free VPN to maintain their security and speed of their internet connection.
