How to Build Your Own Gaming VPN

It's commonplace for businesses to employ VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to protect their data from security breaches, but increasingly, even individuals - and gamers - are turning to these protective networks for end-to-end connection safeguards. If you are interested in a gaming VPN, you can set up one of these networks for personal use. You absolutely do not have to be a business or corporation to conveniently take advantage of a VPN and benefit from its cybersecurity protections.

Why Build Your Own Gaming VPN?

With a VPN, you can take your gaming fun on the road - to the cafe, the hotel room, or across the globe. If you enjoy playing online with friends, a VPN will protect your connection from end to end no matter where you're connecting from. If you are connecting to the internet with an insecure connection - such as public Wi-Fi - your data is vulnerable. When using public networks, you should always take steps to keep your connection safe, and a VPN is a convenient and inexpensive way to do just that. Whether you want to protect data from pesky advertisers and identity thieves or game in lobbies located across the country, you can set up a gaming VPN. And you don't necessarily have to sign up for a VPN service.

Other Benefits

There are other reasons to roll with a VPN for your gaming experience aside from protecting your privacy, too. If you suffer from any lag - especially latency due to ISP throttling - a VPN may decrease or eliminate that problem.

You can download and access any online games, regardless of their regionally availability. You won't experience any geo-blocking when playing or shopping for games online. And, of course, wherever you roam - the local coffee shop, the mall, the library, etc. - you can game or surf without worrying that you're sacrificing your privacy to do so.

How Does a Gaming VPN Work?

An easy way to understand the protection a VPN offers is this: a VPN connects your computer, table, or smartphone to a secure remote server in a location of your choice. In doing so, an encrypted stream of data between your device and the server is established.

No one will have the ability, including your ISP, to see who you are, your activity, or your location. That's the type of protection that a VPN offers.

Keep in mind that the VPN provider can see your internet traffic, so you're not suddenly anonymous, but it does ramp up your cybersecurity protections. Providing your VPN company doesn't sell data to advertisers, you should be able to game with peace of mind.

Building Your Own

While it’s possible to connect to a VPN through a service provider, and many gamers do, if you don't want to risk a VPN service viewing your actions or potentially selling your data, you can easily build your own secure network. You can rely on your home internet connection for LAN gaming, to access your media (i.e. films or music), and more. When you connect to your homemade VPN, you'll need a strong broadband connection. You'll also need to ensure that you have a personal computer up and running in order for your VPN to work for you.

To set up your VPN, you'll need to access a cloud provider like Hamachi or DigitalOcean. In most cases, their installation process is fairly simple since they offer an 'installation wizard.' In short, you'll create your account, download or unzip the VPN, install dependencies with command lines, run their installation process, and click the configuration profiles. You'll also need a strong password to keep your VPN protected. Some people will opt for an open VPN server, which includes a strong key file that can secure the authentication process.

Knowing how to build a VPN takes a bit of tech know-how, but not as much as you would think. Many gamers already possess the knowledge needed to set up a gaming VPN quickly. Plus, it's cheaper than going through a VPN service. Using a VPN gives you an added layer of privacy protection. Remember, there's no way to guarantee 100% protection when using a VPN, but it will mitigate the risks you face.