From the other comments, I am not sure if they understood my question or maybe they are assuming I know how VPNs normally work; could I just run the VPN on any PC on the network and it works for the whole network, or does the service need to run on the device itself? Because I can’t do anything directly with my ISP managed router and my personal router is too old go support my gaming setup (it doesn’t have WiFi 6 or 5GHz and I do VR).
I’ve never used a VPN before, so I really don’t know. 😅
No. Well, you could, but it would be super complicated. You’d need a wired connection from the Switch to your PC and know how to configure a network bridge (kind of like putting a phone into hotspot mode), and your PC would need to be up (not sleeping) for it to work at all. You could do the same with a Raspberry Pi and a WiFi dongle, but again, you’d need to know how to configure it.
It would be much simpler to buy a decent router to put in front of your ISP router, or replace it altogether (you probably can, but I’d need to know more about your ISP to say for sure). I use a Mikrotik router without WiFi and a separate WiFi access point, and the Mikrotik router supports setting up a VPN. They’re not all that expensive (maybe $100), though they can be a bit daunting to configure because they have a million features. Basically, it takes all traffic from connected devices and tunnels it through the VPN, so that computers aren’t aware that it’s connected to a VPN.
Basically, a VPN sends traffic over an encrypted channel somewhere else, kind of like a digital ethermet cable. Most applications aren’t aware of it at all, and the VPN connection is only available on that computer. The only way to share a VPN connection is to connect the device to a machine with the VPN configured and tell that computer to send all traffic from that connection to the VPN.
I hope that makes sense, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Awesome, it should work. If the Switch doesn’t allow setting the IP directly (no idea if it does), you may need to configure DHCP on your PC, and how complicated that is depends on what OS you’re running, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to figure out if you’re good at searching for stuff.
Gonna go ahead and guess; buy it in EU, turn on your vpn, connect, setup, register. Keep your vpn turned on perpetually. Maybe you’ll be required to have a european bank issued card when you make purchases as well.
Or just get a steam deck, or another device you can install your own software on. This for me is a reason I never would get an iPhone. Although I don’t have a ton of apps from outside the playstore I do want the option. Maybe my next phone will just be a Linux phone.
Hmm… How to use Switch 2 from behind a VPN so they think I am in Europe?
NetBird is your friend 😄
Some routers will let you configure a VPN onto a VLAN or SSID. Set that up and configure your Switch to use it and you’re golden.
From the other comments, I am not sure if they understood my question or maybe they are assuming I know how VPNs normally work; could I just run the VPN on any PC on the network and it works for the whole network, or does the service need to run on the device itself? Because I can’t do anything directly with my ISP managed router and my personal router is too old go support my gaming setup (it doesn’t have WiFi 6 or 5GHz and I do VR).
I’ve never used a VPN before, so I really don’t know. 😅
No. Well, you could, but it would be super complicated. You’d need a wired connection from the Switch to your PC and know how to configure a network bridge (kind of like putting a phone into hotspot mode), and your PC would need to be up (not sleeping) for it to work at all. You could do the same with a Raspberry Pi and a WiFi dongle, but again, you’d need to know how to configure it.
It would be much simpler to buy a decent router to put in front of your ISP router, or replace it altogether (you probably can, but I’d need to know more about your ISP to say for sure). I use a Mikrotik router without WiFi and a separate WiFi access point, and the Mikrotik router supports setting up a VPN. They’re not all that expensive (maybe $100), though they can be a bit daunting to configure because they have a million features. Basically, it takes all traffic from connected devices and tunnels it through the VPN, so that computers aren’t aware that it’s connected to a VPN.
Basically, a VPN sends traffic over an encrypted channel somewhere else, kind of like a digital ethermet cable. Most applications aren’t aware of it at all, and the VPN connection is only available on that computer. The only way to share a VPN connection is to connect the device to a machine with the VPN configured and tell that computer to send all traffic from that connection to the VPN.
I hope that makes sense, I’m happy to answer any questions.
I actually would know how to bridge the connection between the devices so that would be my choice, as it is the cheapest option.
Awesome, it should work. If the Switch doesn’t allow setting the IP directly (no idea if it does), you may need to configure DHCP on your PC, and how complicated that is depends on what OS you’re running, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to figure out if you’re good at searching for stuff.
Gonna go ahead and guess; buy it in EU, turn on your vpn, connect, setup, register. Keep your vpn turned on perpetually. Maybe you’ll be required to have a european bank issued card when you make purchases as well.
Or just get a steam deck, or another device you can install your own software on. This for me is a reason I never would get an iPhone. Although I don’t have a ton of apps from outside the playstore I do want the option. Maybe my next phone will just be a Linux phone.
The only reason people get Nintendo Switch is for the exclusives.
Cant you sideload on iPhone now after EU regulations? Or is it only 3rd party app stores?
It is only third party app stores. Each .ipa has to be allowed by apple
Wouldnt you need a european account as well?
I believe to have heard about regional accounts being a thing.