[ClassicFarris]

I have a set of scripts that I've compacted into a one-click binary that spin up new AWS instances as a VPN. Would people buy this? (I'm planning on a Show HN: in a week or two, once I get the final debugging and product artwork done.) Even then, I'm really not sure if there is an advantage in having you're own home-grown VPN or using a service like StrongVPN (or any of the other "google: private vpn service" VPN service providers)?

I'd like to think that people would want to "run" their own, but I'm wondering if most even would care.

[Gys]

I would not be a client.

An AWS is about US 10 per month ? So that is rather expensive compared to the online services. The online services have you choose very easily between different countries. A bit more difficult / limited with AWS ?

Will the 'login' ip address always stay the same in your setup ? (I mean in case I stop the remote machine and later start it again).

On the upside: AWS is probably more secure (no man in the middle possible) and maybe faster ?

First you should make a good description of those 'people' who want to run their own vpn. What are their reasons.

[ClassicFarris]

Thanks for the suggestion on the description. That should help in preventing me from conflating the different use-cases of running a VPN. For example: viewing a US Netflix account while in India vs. At public coffee shop vs. Protect myself and my family from persecution.

The login would change as you bring up and down servers. You get a new fresh install of the service on an instance each time you start a new one up. (Although the option to start and stop could be easily implemented.)

You can choose between all of the AWS Cities/Countries that AWS offers which is 9 across Asia, Australia, Europe, The USA and South America. Which hopefully would provide a good mix for a while.

As for expense, this is where the different use cases come in. If you want to secure a coffeeshop connection for a few hours then you'd just pay a few cents for the protection, which I think is reasonable. But if you want a more permanent connection then I may need to think more about the costs, or starting and stoping servers automagically to save costs.