VPN for server static IP on Starlink - where to get help?

VPN
1

Hi! I’ve got a Linux server for logging IoT data but I’m a hardware nerd not a networking nerd. Where would be a good place to get help/hire someone to walk me through setting up my server on a static VPN through my router? Like is Upwork a good place to go? Or are there any goto consultants? Or a VPN company where I can purchase a support plan and get walked through with their tech support?

This question has been discussed several times, with suggestions such as NordVPN, but the missing link for me is help setting it up.

2

You really want a VPS service, not VPN. Then you have your own publicly facing static IP that you can configure with whatever VPN server you want (OpenVPN, WireGuard, etc.). I personally am using afterburst for this because they offer unmetered 1 Gbps links to your VPS.

3

What problem are you trying to solve? Try to not describe your solution but what do need to do.

Do You want the world to access your server? Some people? Just a select few? What are your performance needs?

4

If what you want to do is access your stuff you don’t need a VPN. You can use ngrok. As long as you don’t mind that they assign the name of your access, it is free. Or you can spend $5/month and use your own names.

5

You can setup a VPN on an Oracle free tier VPS if you are good with the Linux command line.

6

Thank you for helping me organize my question. The server is a physical laptop and needs to stay a physical laptop for now, so I can’t spin up a VMware solution.
For the server to do its work, it needs to have a static IP address. The data and machine are simple and have zero important data on them so security isn’t terribly important.

Starlink does not maintain a static IP. So I need to have the IoT devices send data to a static IP and then onto the server. I thought that a VPN could enable that process.

7

Thank you. I sent them a message as I was unable to understand if the fixed URL could also be a fixed IP address. But that group looked super dead friendly and even offers free support for open source projects, which is really laudable. Thank you for the suggestion!

8

One of the project team is very good with that. I will inquire! Thank you for the idea.

9

Where are the iot devices? Outside world? Are they dispersed or in one location? Where is the laptop? Inside Starlink network or outside network?

10

Do you need a fixed IP address? Or just a way to get to your system? Ngrok can tunnel http and ssh. Probably other things too. How are you accessing your system?

11

The laptop is inside Starlink network, attached to the local router and being fed internet access from the Starlink satellite.

The IoT devices are in Costa Rica, California, Montana, and Texas, outside of the local network the laptop is on.

Getting a static IP from an ISP requires HughesNet which is super expensive so I want to see if tunneling of some kind can link the laptop to a static IP that exists outside the dynamic Starlink connection.

12

I need a fixed IP, which is the only issue that’s problematic so far with the Starlink setup for me.

The data is accessed by logging in locally at the laptop, connected to Starlink. The far-away IoT devices send data to the laptop via a fixed IP address. Each time the IP address changes, I need to log in and reconfigure each gateway to match the new IP.

Since some of the gateways are on very tenuous internet connections in the middle of nowhere, reprogramming isn’t a good option.

13

what if how i access my system is a variety of reason and changing with gadets and services i’m testing on regular basis?

14

You are hitting the wall of my skill set. Another response suggested you us a cheap cloud server as a relay. That’s a good solution but I’ll step aside as I have no experience in that.

But… If the iot devices have some programmability you may be able install Tailscale, my preferred system, or zerotier, both can give you a mesh network with fixed ip addresses. Ngrok may be capable too, but again I’m not experienced.

15

One last option for you. Google’s cloud platform has an “always free” price tier. For free you can get a very small virtual machine running Linux with a 25 GB boot disk and a static IPv4 address. Consider processing your data there!

16

These are words that I did not know until right now.
! Thank you for the vocabulary, that plus one of the free to your recommendations I’ve gotten from a few people should allow me to solve this issue until I’ve got the docker assembled and ready to deploy on the cloud, and the laptop can be retired.