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How do i start a VPN connection service

Discussion in 'General Business' started by Emmynet, Jan 3, 2014.

  1. #1
    Good day house, am thinking of venturing into VPN connection business related to mainvpn.com or worldvpn.net so i want to ask if anyone here with the information on how i can start such service and if it require me getting a dedicated server hosting or how the whole thing works?
     
    Emmynet, Jan 3, 2014 IP
  2. Joe@AdPatron

    Joe@AdPatron Member

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    #2
    Where is the money in this?
     
    Joe@AdPatron, Jan 3, 2014 IP
  3. Chad Eztraffic

    Chad Eztraffic Member

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    #3
    Start a VPN service like Hidemyass, I guess.
     
    Chad Eztraffic, Jan 4, 2014 IP
  4. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #4
    @ Joe@AdPatron, yes to start like hidemyass
     
    Emmynet, Jan 5, 2014 IP
  5. SubediK

    SubediK Active Member

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    #5
    I feel like you would have to spend quite a lot of money purchasing, managing and keeping the servers secure if you want to compete with big dogs like hidemyass or privateinternetaccess.

    Anyways, if you think you can handle the costs, you would first have to setup a few dedicated servers or vps servers in different datacenters in different places. They would need to have access to a lot of bandwidth and a big port (at least 100mbps or 1gbps). You would also have to get a lot of IP addresses either directly from ARIN/RIPE or your datacenter since a VPN is pretty useless if all users are going to be connecting to the same IP.

    Then you would have to setup VPN servers on all of those servers. You could either hire a company to create a custom server software or use something free like openvpn. Then you would have to configure the firewall and other things in the servers to make them secure.

    Then you would have to create a custom web application or script to automate billing and VPN user account creation.

    Then would come marketing, seo etc. This might take a lot of investment if you want to compete with the companies mentioned before, but if you just want a personal vpn or a vpn service for a small group, the costs should be a lot less. Good luck on your project.
     
    SubediK, Jan 5, 2014 IP
    dayvo likes this.
  6. dayvo

    dayvo Active Member

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    #6
    @SubediK lists some very good things to consider.. to follow on from his good post you will also need to think of the legal side and how you will manage it. People will inevitably use your VPN service to do things they shouldn't, the law will come back to you and you need to have policies and procedures in place to deal with this.
     
    dayvo, Jan 6, 2014 IP
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  7. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #7
    @SubediK what an informative post, thanks for the idea, but starting small and growing big is my idea here, am not here to compete with big dogs the likes of hidemyass, strongvpn or worldvpn but at least i dont just want to be a reseller for another company, i knew i will have to purchase lots and lots of IPs cuz am planning selling only dedicated servers IP not shared.

    I currently have a dedicated server hosting with hostgator, can that of any help hand in getting started?
     
    Emmynet, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  8. dayvo

    dayvo Active Member

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    #8
    Certainly is if you have root access. There are a few tutorials around for setting up openvpn servers on various flavours of linux.

    I can assist you with cheap dedicated servers if/when you come to the point of expansion, or if you wanted to offer VPN endpoints in certain countries.
     
    dayvo, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  9. SubediK

    SubediK Active Member

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    #9
    Like davyo said it definitely is going to be helpful that you have a dedicated server. You can play around with installing VPN server, configuring firewall, figuring out what kind of user structure you want etc right now. If you're paying for a dedicated server just for that purpose, I would suggest getting a vps instead because that will save you a lot of money and if you mess something up you can instantly reinstall the operating system with most providers. Check lowendbox.com or the advertising section of this forum for some good deals. Let me know if you need someone to test your vpns, I would always love a free VPN :D
     
    SubediK, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  10. dayvo

    dayvo Active Member

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    #10
    This is a good suggestion, just be aware that setting up a VPN on a VPS requires a few extra steps and usually requires TUN to be enabled on the host kernel - which some providers do not allow. Check with them before you sign up to a VPS service.
     
    dayvo, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  11. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #11
    @SubediK and @dayvo, thanks once again, am loving this thread as it gives me more info and insights in starting my proposed VPN, i currently have managed Linux dedicated server from hostgator which i spend $174/monthly and i have not been making money enough to even offset it as my earnings drastically drop for the past 3 months and i once saw somewhere online that one can start a VPN with hostgator dedicated server.
    my current hosting provide 5 additional IPs with my dedicated server but with options to buy as many IPs i want at $2/monthly.
    Are those IPs going to be the one i will be reselling? i really need more info, dont mind paying for it to help me in getting started vpn connection business
     
    Emmynet, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  12. creztor

    creztor Well-Known Member

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    #12
    You are going to have to invest a lot of money. Servers aren't that expensive (yours is very expensive), but if you want IPs in lots of cities, then it will start to add up. My advice would be to pull the plug on the server you currently have and do your homework. How much will IPs cost you? How much will you lease these out to customers for? Will you charge per month or per year? Will the IPs be shared or dedicated with only one customer per IP? What VPN software will you use? How will customers signup? Will the process be automated, you need some kind of script, or will you manually create their account and add them to the server? How will you take payment?
     
    creztor, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  13. LayerNode

    LayerNode Member

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    #13
    use OpenVPN software to start the service..
    if you want to get free VPN account, you can browse indonesian (blogspot) blogger n google which everyday always updating it (usually persist until 1-2 days active VPN acount)..
     
    LayerNode, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  14. celsa naegele

    celsa naegele Peon

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    #14
    hostgator will certainely ban you if your customer do some special stuff with your service.
    Hostgator server aren't good deal, look for something else, vps or dedicaced server

    Cost will be mostly ip. You can go also for proxy service, you can win $1 or more with USA ip per dedicaced ip rent and much more with shared proxy.

    However most colocation/dedicaced server won't sell you the extra ip you will need.
     
    celsa naegele, Jan 6, 2014 IP
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  15. LayerNode

    LayerNode Member

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    #15
    And if you want to start the VPN hosting bussiness, alternatively you can resell other company services like BuyProxies, ProxyHub. etc
     
    LayerNode, Jan 6, 2014 IP
  16. dayvo

    dayvo Active Member

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    #16
    Something you should consider here @Emmynet is that your server is very expensive, and whilst it may come with a good CPU and nice memory (for that price it should!), it will probably only come with 100mbps pipe, maybe 1gbps if you are lucky.. Let's assume for a minute its a dedicated 1gbps pipe (doubtful):

    # Home/Office broadband is getting very fast, I have 120mbps to my home. Still allowing for overheads to the server you could realistically have 8 users like me on your server. Can you divide your server cost by 8 and charge $21.75/mo per user? I doubt it, maybe, but your profit is minimal.
    # Are you planning to provide full bandwidth to your customers? i.e will your packages be limited by bandwidth.. $5 for 10 mbps - $20 for 100mbps (for example)
    # You dont need a dedicated IP address for each customer, but each customer will share the IP you set your vpn to. If you want to offer multi location VPN you will either need IP's from that country associated with your server(s) - or you will need a server physically in that country.
    # Do you know the legal requirements in your country for the logging of customer access data?
    - Encryption is illegal in many middle east countries for example - check your local laws

    Here's what I would consider if I were in your position:

    # Ditch your current server, its a huge overhead and not going to help you start out.
    - See what your 'competition' charges, I've seen VPN services for $5, or business grade for $50 - where do you plan to place your business? Of course the cheaper you go the more potential users, but the more bandwidth and server resources you will use. The more expensive business grade, the more secure and robust you will need to be.
    # Instead of 1 big server, buy a cluster of smaller servers
    - a smaller server at around $30/mo could allow for 5 - 10 users (bandwidth depending). To break even on this server you need 5 users at $6/mo or 10 users at $3/mo - now that seems a lot more achievable then 8 users at $21 or even 20 users at $9 which you would need to do _just_ to break even on your current server.
    # Get some interest, everyone loves a good deal. Get a (much) smaller server, and use the many but cheap method. In my opinion it is easier when starting out to get 10 people to give you $1 than it is to get 1 person to give you $10. So divide up your server.. if its 1gbps then allow 20 $1 accounts limited to say 20mbps - then you could create another package that allows more bandwidth but for a slightly higher price. Don't jump your prices too much between packages, I find if you allow the customers to think "the packaqe I want is $10, but for $14 I can get an even better offer.." - the jump isnt huge so chances are more people will go with the higher bundle.

    There's lots to consider but what you want to do is most certainly achievable without throwing thousands of $$ in to it, but you must understand that it will be a slow growing process and requires a well thought out business model. Concentrate on one server at a time, fill it with monthly users then move to the next server, dont over do it, dont run before walking.

    :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2014
    dayvo, Jan 7, 2014 IP
  17. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #17
    Which server do you know that will be perfect for the project, i plan to sell only dedicated IP not shared.
     
    Emmynet, Jan 8, 2014 IP
  18. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #18
    Thanks a lot dayvo for your analysis but i dont really understand the term 100mbps pipe or 1gbps, is this the bandwidth allocated? my dedicated server comes with 500 Disk space and 10 terabyte monthly bandwith
     
    Emmynet, Jan 10, 2014 IP
  19. dayvo

    dayvo Active Member

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    #19
    This is the speed in which you can transfer data. Imagine a drain pipe with water flowing through it, a one inch pipe will allow ten times less water to flow than a ten inch pipe. This is the same as bandwidth or connection speed. 1gbps (giga bits per second) is 10 times faster than 100 Mbps (mega bits per second). My home internet connect at 120mbps - if you have a server that connects to the internet at 100mbps then I would be able to max out your server speed and mean your other customers would see a slow connection to your server. So you need to think about what speeds you will allow your customers to connect at. You would either need to limit the connection speed of customers, or make sure your servers speed can match that of your connecting customers. Ideally you would use at least a 1gbps connection speed.

    You also have bandwidth in terms of data transfer, this is how much water (data) can flow through your drain pipe before you reach your limit. You would need to calculate how much data transfer you had, and your speed to work out how many connecting clients you could have before you max out all of your resources.

    It's good that you are asking questions, but a VPN service provider relies on all of this information to be able to make money - I think you might want to understand some of the technical terms and theories before you start to invest money or time in to this project.
     
    dayvo, Jan 12, 2014 IP
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  20. Emmynet

    Emmynet Member

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    #20
    @dayvo, thanks alot, i now su much understand the theory in bandwidth allocation and capacity but my other question here is where to get IPs and how to allocate them with PPTP, L2TP and Openvpn protocol issue.

    I read online that before one start a VPN service, one need datacenter across the world, i currently have only one hosting dedicated server with hostgator which i pays $174/month. so apart from my normal site hosted there, i learnt i can also use my hosting to start VPN.

    • Intel Xeon Dual Core, 2.3GHz (4 threads)
    • 100 Mbps Uplink
    • 4 GB High Performance RAM
    • 500 GB RAID-1 Drives
    • 10 TB Bandwidth
    • 2 Dedicated IPs
    Above is the details of my dedicated server, can i use it in starting a VPN service of a small scale?
     
    Emmynet, Jan 12, 2014 IP