[SOLVED] How to set up a personal p2p VPN/Proxy like connection between friends?

Boerkie

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Mar 4, 2019
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The problem: I want to play PUBG (or any EU based server game for that matter), but I get 270-300ms ping to EU. My friend, who is on the same physical infrastructure, but different internet provider and just 2km down the road will get 180ms to EU. We have used programs like Hamachi before, shortly after getting the new internet lines and with P2P we 'LAN' games with sub 10ms ping.
There are also two other squad mates that are also getting sub 200ms to EU and we are in the same city.

The question: What would be the easiest for him to act like my VPN/Proxy when playing games?
We almost exclusively play DUO/Co-op in what ever we are online on, so I don't mind it not being available when he is not online. We know each other IRL hence the Hamachi connection. I have also tried official VPS's like TunnelBear and ExpressVPN (only those with free trails as I don't want to pay before I know that it will work) and they did nothing to improve my ping. And I am not convinced they really worked. Might be to do with the free version.

What would the 2 of us have to do so that we use the same route from his connection to EU? Even adding 20ms overhead between us, I will still almost get a 70ms improvement. Preferably with an easy toggle as we obviously don't always want to send my traffic via his connection. The least intrusive the better (for his piece of mind as it is a favour).

In essence I only need the Proxy part, not necessarily to hide my IP. Just so that we share a route to EU.

Extra info:
  • On the old copper infrastructure we both got around 220ms ping. So the benefit was cutting those 40ms from the local infrastructure.
  • I have tried both 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 as DNS addresses.
  • I have tried with only my PC connected to the router and WiFi turned off. We have the similar pings on local dedicated servers.
  • We are both using Win10 Pro now. I still had my good old 4 years and counting install of Win7 until a month ago. (Upgraded specifically for this issue)
  • It is a 20mbps line so it has more than enough bandwidth for gaming.
  • My networking knowledge is intermediate at best so please factor this into your answer.
  • Yes we are not in EU and no PUBG, Overwatch and most of the top games we play does not have local servers.
  • And alternative to this whole complicated story would be a step by step guide of how I can collect proof since my ISP don't believe me. I have escalated this to them already and their "Engineers are reviewing your request" for the last 2 months.
 
Solution
I would check to see if his router has the vpn server function already it is has become fairly common in newer routers.

Anything client based you are pretty much running hamachi. It is just one of the earlier vpn systems. It has been so long since I used it I no longer know what features it has. Most people use openvpn but the hamachi package may have that option. The reason for openvpn is that it is a little simpler to setup and it will pass through most routers with simple port forwarding. IPSEC vpn need a specail assist feature in the router in addition to port forwarding.

Maybe just pay the cancel fee and switch now. It can't be more than 3 month of service costs.
The easiest way to do this is to a vpn router on his side. You would then load a open vpn client on your pc. You could also use a VPN router running in client mode on your side. He must have a public ip, it does not need to be static but it must be public.

This is strange that it would actually be better to add this layer of stuff to the connection but there are cases where it does.

The commercial solutions that work the best for this are not your standard vpn site. They are ones that sell to gamers. They have purchased low latency connection to the ISP the provide service to many game companies. It will all depend on how well your ISP connects to these VPN providers and if they have good times to the data center you are using.

In general this is something that is primarily used in asia because many ISP do not have good access to all the under sea fiber. In the USA and EU there is no shortage of fiber between almost all major cities.
 

Boerkie

Reputable
Mar 4, 2019
3
0
4,510
The easiest way to do this is to a vpn router on his side. You would then load a open vpn client on your pc. You could also use a VPN router running in client mode on your side. He must have a public ip, it does not need to be static but it must be public.

This is strange that it would actually be better to add this layer of stuff to the connection but there are cases where it does.

The commercial solutions that work the best for this are not your standard vpn site. They are ones that sell to gamers. They have purchased low latency connection to the ISP the provide service to many game companies. It will all depend on how well your ISP connects to these VPN providers and if they have good times to the data center you are using.

In general this is something that is primarily used in asia because many ISP do not have good access to all the under sea fiber. In the USA and EU there is no shortage of fiber between almost all major cities.
Thank you for the response.
However, I was hoping for a software solution that we can setup and test in a relatively short time. Vs putting down hardware as a rather permanent solution for what I hope to be a temporary problem. The idee is that as soon a this ISP contract expires (in another 3ish months) that I will cancel the service and move over to his ISP. In my head I imagine a a server at each of our ISPs and his one at his ISP can use the short route to EU and the one at my my ISP can't.
If you think of how a VM makes use of the host's connection, can I achieve something similar with software? From the incoming Hamachi connection to his internet? Or am I mixing too many different concepts together?
 
I would check to see if his router has the vpn server function already it is has become fairly common in newer routers.

Anything client based you are pretty much running hamachi. It is just one of the earlier vpn systems. It has been so long since I used it I no longer know what features it has. Most people use openvpn but the hamachi package may have that option. The reason for openvpn is that it is a little simpler to setup and it will pass through most routers with simple port forwarding. IPSEC vpn need a specail assist feature in the router in addition to port forwarding.

Maybe just pay the cancel fee and switch now. It can't be more than 3 month of service costs.
 
Solution