VPN a PlayStation 3 through a Linux laptop, but not the laptop itself?

[Trin32]

Hello.

 

I got a LTE connection at home and I encounter not being able to host a session in peer to peer games.

Simultaneously I'm unable to connect to many other players too.

 

My ISP doesn't offer "public IP" for consumer grade plans. Port forward settings exist in the router provided but they simply don't work. 

 

I had a thought bypassing this with a VPN, but the PlayStation simply doesn't have any VPN functionality in-built.

But it has "advanced" networking settings (IP, subnet, router, DNS) and I use a laptop running Fedora Linux (KDE spin) for the games guides on the side.

 

Both the laptop and the PS3 are connected to a switch (the most basic TP-Link LS1005G), which is connected to the router's LAN port.

 

Thinking of a VPN I had try a Windscribe but it's free tier is just an app that VPNs the laptop as a whole.

I would like to VPN the PS3 only, not the laptop nor any other device in the network.

 

Simultaneously I'd prefer to keep it somewhere in free tier. I don't think that games session on the PS3 require much traffic.

Besides, all the VPNs I find are "cheap" only with a year or two long plan paid upfront.

 

Is it even possible to achieve such thing having only one ethernet network adapter in the laptop? 

 

Any input appreciated, thanks!

[Mark Kaine]

ya, wait... but does it even work with the laptop connected to the vpn?

 

i think you gotta go from there...

 

Also the answer is probably no.

 

 

i remember connecting my pc to some apache server back in the day to connect my ps3, but that's the thing you're going to have to connect *through* your laptop... so how could it not be connected to the vpn?

 

[maplepants]

You're talking about using your laptop as a router essentially. This is probably possible by setting up something like OpenSense in a VM.

 

But, it's probably a bad idea. Your LTE ISP is likely doing some traffic shaping, so your first job is to see if they are.

 

Next, you're going to need a VPN provider that gives you a publicly routable IP. I don't know if such a thing even exists. If it did, you'd probably pay way more for that than you would to just stand up a VPS at Linode, Digital Ocean, Hetzner, or somewhere and run the VPN from your house to there yourself.

 

Assuming you do all of this, I'm guessing the gaming performance would be pretty bad. Your PS3 internet would go:

 

Console > Laptop NIC > VM in Laptop > VPN Tunnel to VPS > Internet > Peer

 

The lag would be brutal.

 

Probably way cheaper and easier to just change ISP or change to a plan that lets you play online games.

[Trin32]

Thank you for response @Mark Kaine @maplepants.

 

I eneded giving up the idea of routing through the laptop and had used a cheap router instead.

I had set up OpenWRT on it and installed OpenVPN client.

 

So the current setup is: my ISP router (gateway) -> a switch (LS1005G) -> a VPN router (WR841N) -> PS3

 

Did try $3 monthly Windscribe subscription but it didn't let me connect to the PlayStation Network. What a garbage...

 

However I did find Reddit's recommended VPN list and went for the AirVPN as they advertise 30-days refund. 

I went ahead for 1 year 31.85 € deal and it's all good now. No issues connecting with other players, no lag noticed.

They even include 5 ports forwarding so I might use it for other purposes like Minecraft server, I guess.

 

I consider this thread's topic solved now. Thanks!