VPN Hotspot

Create a Wi-Fi hotspot using a Raspberry Pi that's already connected to your Tailscale network. Your connected devices can access the VPN without needing a client installed.

Table of Contents

1. Why This Project?
2. Features
3. How It Works
4. Requirements
5. Setup
6. Contributing
7. License

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💡 Why This Project?

This project is for anyone who wants to provide VPN access to devices that can't run a VPN client natively. A common use case is a Wi-Fi only device (like a smart TV or game console) that needs to route its traffic through a VPN for privacy and security. By turning a Raspberry Pi into a VPN-connected hotspot, any device that joins it will automatically be on your Tailscale (or other) VPN network.

✨ Features

• Effortless VPN access: Simply connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot to route traffic through the VPN.
• No client software required on connected devices.
• Works with Tailscale, and the concepts are extensible to other VPNs.
• Built on Raspberry Pi and optimized for a lean Ubuntu Server environment.

🧩 How It Works

The Raspberry Pi acts as a gateway, forwarding all traffic from the Wi-Fi interface to the VPN. This is accomplished using netplan for network configuration and IP forwarding to route packets between the two networks.

graph TD
    
    Tailscale_Network[Tailscale Network] --> Internet[Internet]

    subgraph "Location A"
        Device_A[Device A] --> RPi[Raspberry Pi]
        Device_B[Device B] --> RPi
        Device_C[Device C] --> RPi
    end

    subgraph "Location B"
        Server[Server]
        Device_C[Device C]
    end
    Server[Server] --> Tailscale_Network
    RPi --> Tailscale_Network

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📋 Requirements

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi (any model with a Wi-Fi interface)
• OS: Ubuntu Server (latest LTS release recommended)
• VPN: An active Tailscale account is needed.

🚀 Setup

1. Flash Ubuntu Server to your Raspberry Pi and boot it up.

2. Clone this repository to your Pi:

   git clone https://github.com/maddyb99/vpn-hotspot.git
   cd vpn-hotspot

3. Make the setup scripts executable:

   chmod +x hotspot.sh vpn.sh

4. [OPTIONAL] Open and edit the netplan.yaml file. Set your desired SSID, password, etc.

5. Run the setup scripts in sequence:

   sudo ./hotspot.sh
   sudo ./vpn.sh <your_tailscale_key> <your_exit_node_ip>

• hotspot.sh: Sets up Wi-Fi AP mode, configures NetworkManager and ipv4 sharing.
• vpn.sh: Ensures VPN connectivity and applies firewall/nat rules.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome! Feel free to check the issues page.

📄 License

Distributed under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE v3.0 —see the LICENSE file for more details.