VLAN's - Do I need one?

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  • Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    My buddy insists I do. I really don't want to pay for another ongoing 'service'.

    Are they necessary? What's good? And Cheap?
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,632
    AA county
    you mean VPN?

    This. He must mean VPN.

    You'd only need VLANs if you had a large network and want to segregate traffic for some reason.

    VPN is virtual private network. I gives you an encrypted path across a public network that is useful for keeping your data from being snooped on.

    For instance persons in countries that don't allow certain content can use VPNs to connect to a end point outside of the country and then access that content without their government being able to monitor their traffic or stop them (unless they stop that particular VPN provider).
     

    Glaron

    Camp pureblood 13R
    BANNED!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 20, 2013
    12,752
    Virginia
    This. He must mean VPN.

    You'd only need VLANs if you had a large network and want to segregate traffic for some reason.

    for some reason??? Has your network ever had enough traffic to make a porn star gag? Then you might need a VLAN...;)
     
    A VLAN at home may be a good idea too - example: you want your bills, banking from an "adult" computer on one, gaming/kids on another, and a guest vlan for guests, company. The advantage to a vlan is there normally is no cross-traffic between the various vlans, creating another barrier for a hacker to breech to get to the important stuff on the "adult" computer.
     
    Nov 19, 2015
    44
    Carney
    I think your buddy is talking about using a VPN to mask you external IP address via a proxy server so your digital footprints are obscured.

    Let's say for example your "front facing IP" is 172.145.24.10, if subpoenaed your service provider could say "yeah he was on this website on this date" but with a VPN your external IP address is something that another separate company is giving you at random every time you start the service.

    It's like going into a place and telling them your name is "Rusty Shackleford" and the next time you go in tell them your name is "Bob B. Boberson"

    I use "Private Internet Access" as my VPN provider and it's something like 6 dollars a month. It's not a lot of money for a large amount of base line security.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    A free one might get you access outside a country with limitations, but they may log your actual IP address, along with the IP address the world sees. And possibly what sites you visit.

    A good VPN does not keep any records.

    There is a VPN thread in the Water Cooler. Many of us are running ExpressVPN. $100 per year.
     

    TheBert

    The Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 10, 2013
    7,687
    Gaithersburg, Maryland
    A VLAN at home may be a good idea too - example: you want your bills, banking from an "adult" computer on one, gaming/kids on another, and a guest vlan for guests, company. The advantage to a vlan is there normally is no cross-traffic between the various vlans, creating another barrier for a hacker to breech to get to the important stuff on the "adult" computer.

    Your home network isn't big enough for a VLAN.
     

    Glaron

    Camp pureblood 13R
    BANNED!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 20, 2013
    12,752
    Virginia
    I can see a network for guest wifi. What else do you use them for?

    Work/Gaming/Home Theatre/Security cameras

    Make separate to prevent bandwidth saturation from one activity adversely effecting another
     

    gamer_jim

    Podcaster
    Feb 12, 2008
    13,233
    Hanover, PA
    Yes you should.

    The biggest reason isn't privacy but for financial reasons. Your ISP is keeping track of everything you do on the internet and then re-selling that data.

    It is actually very hard to be anonymous these days on the internet. You would need to go through at least 1 VPN and then also use TOR. Many commercial sites automatically block all TOR exit nodes. You also need to disable javascript, which many sites also require. Again, this isn't to spy on you but to collect that data to display ads or resell.

    I highly recommend ProtonVPN. They have a free tier but only offers 2 exit nodes (one in the US). Their lowest paid tier is $8/mo and lets you set your exit node to any 50 different countries. This is great if you travel abroad and they restrict content based on location.

    Another solution is you can get an OpenWRT compatible router and set that up to route all traffic in your home through a VPN. I haven't done this yet but seen the instructions on how to do this. This way there's no setting up to do on individual devices connected to the router.

    I also recommend setting up a PiHole. It runs your DNS lookup for you and has a black list of known advertising domains. It then returns a bad ip address so no content from those domains is retrieved. This way when you visit a webpage the advertising comes back blank but you still get the other content. Pages that depend on advertisements, like Facebag or Pintrist, will not work.
     

    Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    Yes you should.

    The biggest reason isn't privacy but for financial reasons. Your ISP is keeping track of everything you do on the internet and then re-selling that data.

    It is actually very hard to be anonymous these days on the internet. You would need to go through at least 1 VPN and then also use TOR. Many commercial sites automatically block all TOR exit nodes. You also need to disable javascript, which many sites also require. Again, this isn't to spy on you but to collect that data to display ads or resell.

    I highly recommend ProtonVPN. They have a free tier but only offers 2 exit nodes (one in the US). Their lowest paid tier is $8/mo and lets you set your exit node to any 50 different countries. This is great if you travel abroad and they restrict content based on location.

    Another solution is you can get an OpenWRT compatible router and set that up to route all traffic in your home through a VPN. I haven't done this yet but seen the instructions on how to do this. This way there's no setting up to do on individual devices connected to the router.

    I also recommend setting up a PiHole. It runs your DNS lookup for you and has a black list of known advertising domains. It then returns a bad ip address so no content from those domains is retrieved. This way when you visit a webpage the advertising comes back blank but you still get the other content. Pages that depend on advertisements, like Facebag or Pintrist, will not work.

    good info - thanks.
     

    vetogunban

    Active Member
    Apr 30, 2013
    269
    Brooklyn Park
    Work/Gaming/Home Theatre/Security cameras

    Make separate to prevent bandwidth saturation from one activity adversely effecting another

    Our router also provides a lower bandwidth for the guest network and reserves the higher bandwidth for the limited access network.
     

    Spektek

    MDS Supporter
    May 7, 2020
    40
    Baltimore & GB
    I always recommend a VPN if you ever connect to open networks ie (public wifi). Also with work related things.

    This is especially important for if you log into any site you would enter a username & password. (Especially to check banking info or anything work related or if you use the same password for multiple sites- please don't)

    Working VPN's encrypt traffic from one place to another. This works in a process that is like you speak your own langauge that you only you & that webpage can understand. So if you are talking in public with other people around that can hear you, they can try to listen in all they want but have no clue what you are saying.

    Kind of like when I try to understand what the hell someone is saying in Portuguese haha
     

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