** This method isn't obvious to telecoms, but can drastically lower speed on low-end CPUs (CPU matters heavily for both the tethering device, and the tethered to devices), and will add additional bufferbloat.
* Sell your current phone or tablet on Swappa or other marketplaces, then use that money towards buying a bootloader unlocked device. The best choice to buy for the money would be an unlocked Google Pixel phone in Mint condition from Swappa (no older than the Pixel 4 XL as of 2022).
* Get an unlocked Google Pixel phone (off Swappa if possible) that has at least 2 years left of guaranteed software updates; link:https://endoflife.date/pixel[check that here].
** If you plan to sell your current phone or tablet, use Swappa or Gab/Facebook Marketplace; avoid Ebay and Mercari.
** Make sure to check the desired phone's band support at link:https://www.kimovil.com/en/[Kimovil] to ensure support for your telecom before buying it, and be sure to look at the "Aliases" of your desired phone on Kimovil for each region to avoid the trap of buying a Global phone that doesn't support the LTE bands you need for your United States telecom as an example.
== Introduction
@ -71,16 +74,20 @@ NOTE: Enabling "Data Saver" while USB tethering is recommended to make Android r
.*Good paid VPN providers do the following:*
. Transparent communication, alongside easily accessible forums. A Discord "guild" may count for some; personally, I loathe using Discord.
. Only bare-metal (dedicated) servers used, with no hard drives (RAM only).
** Bare-metal is faster and more secure than virtual servers ("VPS" / "VDS"), as that machine isn't shared between multiple unaffiliated people.
. State all their geolocated (fake) server locations, or have none.
. All server locations allow all traffic except outbound port 25.
** P2P should never be blocked, despite also being abuse-prone.
. Ability to link:https://airvpn.org/faq/port_forwarding/[select ports to forward]; this heavily gauges if a VPN provider is good, even if you never need port forwarding.
** AirVPN, hide.me (uses UPnP; not selecting specific ports), Mullvad, and TorGuard have the best implementations of port forwarding as of 31 December 2021.
*** link:https://web.archive.org/web/20220313235113/https://teddit.net/r/VPNTorrents/comments/s9f36q/list_of_vpns_that_allow_portforwarding_2022/[List of VPNs that allow Port Forwarding].
. SoftEther protocol support.
. No PPTP protocol support.
. If the OpenVPN protocol is supported, its tls-crypt must be supported and for the VPN provider to allow establishing connection to their servers via port 443.
** OpenVPN over SSL or SSH is mandatory to use OpenVPN for China, Iran, and Egypt.
. Full IPv4 and IPv6 support across all servers.
** On some telecoms, connecting to a VPN server through IPv6 is required.
@ -120,14 +127,13 @@ If you plan on using an old phone or tablet as the rooted tethering device, chec
** If there's no output, the commands succeeded (kernel has "xt_HL.ko" support).
TIP: If your preferred custom kernel doesn't have "xt_HL.ko", inform them of this repository. +
For kernel tweakers: link:https://web.archive.org/web/20210423030541/https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/magisk-stock-bypass-tether-restrictions.4262265/[an example of enabling "xt_HL.ko" support through Magisk].
=== List of kernels with "xt_HL.ko" support, and use the BBR or BBRv2 TCP congestion control algorithm to help link:https://web.archive.org/web/20220313173158/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I1NcVVbuC7aq4nGalYxMNz9pgS9OLKcFHssIBlj9xXI[maintain speeds over bad network conditions]:
=== List of high-quality kernels with "xt_HL.ko" support, and use the BBR or BBRv2 TCP congestion control algorithm to help link:https://web.archive.org/web/20220313173158/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I1NcVVbuC7aq4nGalYxMNz9pgS9OLKcFHssIBlj9xXI[maintain speeds over bad network conditions]:
nermur
2 years ago