[crazy4laptops]

I'm preparing for a study abroad adventure in Germany in 2013 and I realized, I'm not going to be able to use some US-based services like Google Voice and Netflix.

Google Voice is awesome for chatting with friends without smartphones. It would be nice to use this if they need to get in touch.

Netflix, great for rainy days, but not essential.

What is the best personal VPN app around? I'd like to try and set my own VPN server up before renting a service.

[waldojim]

lan-bridger, if you want to hit your home network, works well. But someone has to be able to send you the new "profile" every time your IP changes at home.

[LiveBrianD]

To add to that, I suppose you could use logmein.com to do that. But then again, I suppose you should still have someone who can manage this at home, in case the machine crashes or there's a power outage and the machine needs to be booted again.

[FascistNation]

In the USA, mobile broadband operates through a VPN. If it works that way in Europe (and they have better speeds) you may be able to plug in a USB device you get from a provider over there and use it throughout Europe.

[LiveBrianD]

No, it's just another internet connection. If you use one in Europe, your connection will appear to be coming from there, not the US, which won't help him.

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 18 August 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

No, it's just another internet connection. If you use one in Europe, your connection will appear to be coming from there, not the US, which won't help him.

It is a little more complicated than you realize. This is one topic you might want to bow out of. To be frank, I work on this equipment, and I will need to research how the network deals with that type of traffic. He may be right, it might actually be tunneled back to our servers. However, that would depend on who owns the network, and weather or not it would actually roam and use theirs, or roam and be sent back to us.

[crazy4laptops]

FascistNation, on 18 August 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

In the USA, mobile broadband operates through a VPN. If it works that way in Europe (and they have better speeds) you may be able to plug in a USB device you get from a provider over there and use it throughout Europe.

I'd say it's more of a semi-encrypted internet connection... (un-sniffable without the right equipment)

Here's my theory on some understanding of cellular networks and roaming abroad- The MiFi/Mobile broadband will register with a tower, get a German IP address, and then flag that it's roaming abroad. That information is then sent to the German carrier which then relays the billable data usage back to the US-based provider.

But like Waldojim said, lets research this to understand what really happens.

I'm getting a prepaid iPhone plan, so a Mifi/Mobile broadband would be overkill. My laptop is going to stay in the dorm, I'll probably use it for classes, surf the web, and blog photos from my adventures.
So, if you have suggestions on German carriers and plans, I'm all ears! I'd like up to 1GB of data, 500-1000 text, and about 200 minutes.

I've used 9.4GB of data this month (20-July to 20-August) from listening to pandora/surfing the web while at work every weekday. I normally use about 900 megs or so when only using Pandora on wifi.

[waldojim]

OK, we have some details!

International Roaming Explained

Yes, the data is passed across the PDSN (Packet Data Switched Network) to your "home" network (be it Verizon, ATT, whatever) and handled by the home network, then sent back. This sounds terribly inefficient, but I am sure this is done for billing/tracking purposes.

However, the downside: I only checked the att rates, but they want $120/mo for 800MB. This does not appear to be reasonable.

One last option: A VPN service provider.
http://www.makeuseof...rotect-privacy/

You can VPN into those (I HOPE), and use them to reach US based services.

[crazy4laptops]

waldojim, on 19 August 2012 - 01:13 AM, said:

OK, we have some details!

International Roaming Explained

Yes, the data is passed across the PDSN (Packet Data Switched Network) to your "home" network (be it Verizon, ATT, whatever) and handled by the home network, then sent back. This sounds terribly inefficient, but I am sure this is done for billing/tracking purposes.

However, the downside: I only checked the att rates, but they want $120/mo for 800MB. This does not appear to be reasonable.

One last option: A VPN service provider.
http://www.makeuseof...rotect-privacy/

You can VPN into those (I HOPE), and use them to reach US based services.

Thanks for the mobile roaming details! That is more complicated than I thought, and sounds very expensive when staying for an entire semester. I'm definitely getting a prepaid German carrier like Vodafone or O2, for my iPhone. My two German friends are happy with Vodafone, so it sounds promising.

Lifehacker posted this just this morning- http://lifehacker.co...vice-providers.
For the VPN, I have Hotspot shield and Himachi already, I'll be testing out the ones on the freeVPN you've listed!

Thanks again

[LiveBrianD]

Wow, T-Mobile's rates are even worse for that! (surprising, since they're owned by Telekom Deutschland, which is based in Germany) - $15/MB. ($10/MB in Canada) Ouch... If you want to use stuff like Netflix, this will NOT be an affordable option.