Why your IP address matters when you travel
Every website you visit sees your IP address, and from it they estimate where you are. When you travel, that address belongs to the hotel, the airport or a foreign mobile network, so:
- Banks see a login from an unusual country and add checks or block it.
- Company tools that only accept your office or home IP stop letting you in.
- Services tied to your country behave as if you lived somewhere else.
Why a commercial VPN is not the answer here
A commercial VPN gives you the IP of one of its servers, shared with many other users and registered to a data centre. You appear to be in the right country, but not at home, and many banks and companies treat those addresses with suspicion or block them.
What you need is not just any IP from your country, but exactly your own.
The solution: go online through your own home
With a VPN server at home, your phone or laptop sends everything through an encrypted tunnel to your house, and from there it goes out to the internet. To any website, you are at home, with your usual IP.
- Your bank sees the same address as every day.
- Company tools and allow-lists keep working.
- Services linked to your country behave as usual.
- And you can also open your NAS, cameras or files at home.
How to set it up before you leave
- Choose a computer that stays on at home: a PC, a Mac, a Linux machine or a Raspberry Pi.
- Install MiVPN Server on it and sign in with your account.
- Install the MiVPN app on your phone and laptop.
- Test it before you go: turn off WiFi on your phone, connect over mobile data and check that you reach your home network.
If your provider uses CGNAT, the paid plans include the relay, so it works with any home connection.
Things to keep in mind
- Speed depends on the upload speed of your home connection. On fibre it is rarely an issue.
- Leave the server on a cable and on a stable power supply while you are away.
- Some apps also use GPS to know where you are: a VPN changes your IP, not your phone's location.
Your own VPN server, free to start
Install MiVPN Server on any computer at home and connect from your phone or laptop. No configuration files, no third-party servers.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to use my home connection from abroad?
Using a VPN to reach your own connection is legal in most countries. A few countries restrict VPNs, so check the local rules where you travel.
Will my bank notice anything?
It sees your usual home IP, exactly as when you are at home.
Does it work on hotel WiFi?
Yes, and as a bonus your traffic is encrypted on that network, so other guests cannot see it.
Can my family use it too?
Yes, each person installs the app on their device. The free plan covers 2 devices and the paid plans cover more.