After finding that it suited my requirements, I finally decided on a solid VPN - F-Secure Freedome - as recommended by a friend in security. Then I needed to share my connection with my Roku, but Freedome is an application that has to be run on a phone or computer and routers aren't supported. Once I confirmed that …

My first homelab ever was started as a single Packard Bell 486 which ran SuSE Linux 5.2. I used it with my @Home connection to host web, DNS and mail services. Over time, I'd move leftover computers to a data center and covered most of my colo fees with the proceeds from Google Adsense, which I added to my website …

If you're looking to create your own CloudFlare API v4-based PowerShell module, and would like some syntax examples, here's a simplified breakdown of my CloudFlareDynDns module on github, which I discuss in "Use PowerShell and CloudFlare API v4 to Dynamically Update CloudFlare DNS to your External IP". 1# Set …

Got a homelab and miss how DynDNS used to be free? Using PowerShell and a CloudFlare hosted domain, you can emulate similar functionality for free using PowerShell and a Scheduled Task. If you're looking for a DDNS client that you can run on a router, check out CloudFlare's ddclient or Scott Helme's post Replacing …

Note: This post targets OS X Lion and Mountain Lion era networking. Modern macOS releases use pf instead of ipfw/natd and Internet Sharing behavior and interfaces have changed. The approach below remains historically accurate for those versions but is not intended for current macOS. It appears Apple changed the way NAT …

I recently modified my Parallels DHCP settings because I'm really particular about the internal subnets I work with in the lab (192.168 is the ugliest subnet ever). Once I modified the file at /Library/Preferences/VMware\ Fusion/networking (OS X) my Parallels Desktop erred out and said Interface vmnet1 is not present. …

While I usually like conversation-style technical books (think: Manning's In Action series and many Wrox books), Microsoft's Patterns and Practices series is one of my favorite even though they feel so formal. Recently, my buddy Buck Woody posted a link to the freely available Patterns and Practices book for A Guide to …

There's a bit of a debate on how best to update your DNS resolver on Mac OS X when connecting to an OpenVPN Server. For whatever reason, even if use DHCP on the VPN server, OS X won't use the assigned DNS server(s). It's been recommended to use scutil, but the scripts are crazy long and I've read the resolver order …

[Update 2025] PPTP is now widely considered insecure and deprecated for new deployments due to known weaknesses in MS-CHAPv2/MPPE. Prefer modern VPNs like WireGuard or OpenVPN. The setup below remains for historical reference and reflects what I ran in 2011. Firesheep got me thinkin' that I should probably do a little …

If you find yourself on a really restrictive network but still want to connect to a remote VPN, consider this solution. It allows you to connect a Mac OS X OpenVPN client to an OpenVPN server using a static key. I figured it out using a combination of websites, including dd-wrt's OpenVPN wiki, OpenVPN's documentation, …