Airtel Xstream Fiber for VPN and to watch TV from Europe

[Silencio]

Hello,

I was thinking of buying a Airtel / Jio or some other Fiber connection for my home in India so I can view my cameras when abroad, family can watch Youtube and was thinking you get access to Disney Hotstar+, Amazon Prime, Indian Netflix and others when buying it. The limited data on mobiles is getting to be a bit annoying.

Has anyone tried to run a WireShark VPN in India on a Jio or Airtel Fiber connection to access the OTT apps from abroad? Does that work flawlessly? I use firesticks at home.

I am living in Denmark with a 1 gbit line, so not issues here, but would like to know if I'd be able to connect to a Wireshark VPN in India running on a Rashberry PI or similar and access Indian content that way?

Looking to have people verify who've actually tried it and know it works / doesn't work.

 

[JB701]

yep just tried surfshark (android app), its working for Hotstar. when i run on desktop browser with surfshark on my router it doesn't, guessing something with dns.

and yea i think a https proxy proxy server (for browser use) along with tailscale/zerotier (to route all the traffic behind the CGNAT on Airtel/Jio without IPv6) is your best bet as it'll be very reliable as streaming services may block VPN Provider (surfshark, nord etc) ip addresses. You can have it hosted on a Raspi.

edit: oh you meant wireguard not surfshark, second part still stands though. tailscale uses wireguard, should be pretty fast on a raspi.

 

[Silencio]

I'm not fussed about what to use, as long as I can connect to a Rashberry Pi that's placed in India, so the channels etc. believe I'm local.

Is there any problem with CGNat ? Or is there a ISP that doesn't use CGNAT but where you still get the OTT bundle free or charge with Disney, Hotstar and Amazon?

Note the connection will be INCOMING from Denmark to India - i.e. I should be able to hit the Pi sitting behind the router.

 

[JB701]

You could pay Airtel for static IP. It's kinda expensive though 250 rupees a month.

Alternatively you can have ipv6 tunnel but setting that up can be a bit more complex, still worth a try.

Tailscale is the best option imo for getting through the CGNAT without paying static IP.

 

[Silencio]

Are there any fiber providers that don't use CGNat ? - I'm also wondering how you actually access the content like Hotstar or Prime? Does it automatically log-in with IP-address, or how?

 

[wheatbread]

Are there any fiber providers that don't use CGNat?

Airtel in some regions but don't count on it. You don't need it when IPv6 exists and there are a ton of ways for NAT traversal.

Does it automatically log-in with IP-address, or how?

No. Username/Password with SMS 2FA. You'll need a number to receive SMS.

 

[Silencio]

No. Username/Password with SMS 2FA. You'll need a number to receive SMS.

If I need to login with SMS and 2FA that kind of defeats the whole purpose because I would have to keep typing the code when login in - There's no Ip-whitelisting, or user account that's just created from the Airtel fiber?

 

[wheatbread]

SMS is the 2FA of choice in this country. Pretty much everything is tied to a phone number and one time code via SMS to the same number.
Same with the services that come with Airtel's package and the fiber connection itself.


You can just go with a VPN provider and an Indian phone number to receive SMS, or get a residential connection + tiny board to run linux on for your tunnel + you can attach a modem to it for SMS.

 

[Ashbro]

I would say don't look for providers not using CGNAT, the world in running out of IPv4 addresses at a faster pace, hence the ones not using CGNAT right now might have to turn to it, also as IPv4s get scare their price is climbing up, and the providers might not be able to afford them.

I am not sure what you mean by Wireshark VPN. But if you meant WireGuard, as the other person said, then yes I have it configured.
It's running on my OPNSense instance, with the Airtel router in bridged mode. I haven't used it for OTT apps particularly, as is your use case.
But I do use it to internal network, whenever I am travelling, and yes it works quite smoothly, with some hiccups sometimes, mostly because I don't have a static IP.

 

[Silencio]

Sorry, I meant Wireguard - I was thinking of getting Wireguard on a Rashberry PI, and have that be my Indian "VPN" - I'm thinking that for the same price I'm getting access to Indian TV & Broadband for my India family, compared to just going for a commercial VPN provider.

I have a Archer MR600 running at home in India that is running with 4G atm. I'm guessing I could use that as my main router sitting right behind the Airtel router, and since it can use a simcard, I can use that number to forward OTP codes via e-mail or similar.

Is it free to put the Airtel router into bridge mode?