So, I'm giving up my VPN, which has raised prices substantially in the new year. It was through the VPN that I implemented radio streaming.
I am now experimenting with doing the streaming via Cloudflare tunnels.
Here is the issue. When I was switched over to Telus Fibre for my internet, I was put under carrier grade NAT, which meant that I no longer could get access to my server through the internet. Using copper wire, Telus was just using plain NAT, and I could get a publicly available IP address. You can't do that with carrier grade NAT, as there are several layers of routing buried in the bowels of the Telus infrastructure.
The VPN provider I used had port forwarding, allowing outside connections through specific servers (and assigning a public IP address), but it cost extra as well. I just can't justify those monthly costs any more.
Apparently, you can implement identical functionality through Cloudflare, using their free account. You have to establish a permanent outgoing connection (via a secure tunnel) to Cloudflare, and it then routes access to your domain through its network. The tunnel can handle both incoming and outgoing data. But the key is that the tunnel is outgoing first, which means Cloudflare knows how to communicate to your server (i.e., it knows where you live).
We'll see how it works, I guess. It's supposed to be far more secure than just allowing direct access to your own server. I hope to be able to support the Blog, radio streaming, and my SDR via this method.
I do this with my Azuracast instance - Cloudflare is nice because it gives you an SSL cert so having a stream on a webpage doesn't throw security flags for an end user.
It was a little annoying to set up on the Pi 5 that runs Azuracast, but it seems to be stable and durable
Finally got my domain over to Cloudflare. Wish the documentation had been better; rather than detailed instructions (which are not particularly accurate), I'd prefer more of an overview approach. I can figure things out on my own.
Cloudflared (the app that creates the outgoing tunnel into Cloudflare, so users can gain access to our website, stream and SDR) documentation looks even more daunting. Again, they give you detailed step by step instructions, but they go multiple levels deep. And once again, I'd prefer more of an overview approach. I'll tackle it a bit later later.
There is a lot of pain involved in setting up Cloudflare to do this. There are huge mismatches between the documentation and the implementation. I've managed to get stuff routed through Cloudflare, but not to my server. The final piece is missing. I'll probably start all over again and see what went wrong.
So, after taking a break, I've decided to shelve the Cloudflare project, at least for now. I'm reluctant to put my website, streaming, etc. in the hands of a third party like that.
I've found an ISP that seems to provide public internet access (i.e., is not behind carrier grade NAT), and is about the same price as what I'm currently paying (which is peanuts, admittedly).
I'm hoping to have that installed and running within a matter of weeks, and we'll see. I can always go back to the VPN route if necessary (it's still a third party but I already have it working). I'm hopeful, however, that the new ISP will solve my incoming internet connections problems. I will forever curse Telus for 'upgrading' my internet connection to fiber when I didn't need or want it, and in the process putting me behind carrier grade NAT. Of course, their 'technical support' didn't even know what I was talking about.
I've also been working on installing phpBB, Forum software that would allow a much more interactive experience than the blog I had and want to have again. It's up and running - I just have to now set it up with the correct permissions.
This software is supposed to be the easiest to set up, but like most open source, the documentation absolutely sucked. Once you get it going it's fine. Most of this software is tailored for Linux, even if it runs under Windows (and IIS).
Who knows, it may even graduate to a fully interactive new Forum, but we'll see.
Years ago I hosted my old end80radio site on a free server based in the UK or somewhere, registered the domain name and routed it through the also free Cloudflare. I don't recall having any difficulty setting it up - I recall it being very easy to do and it seemed to be trouble free, never had to mess with it again. The only thing I ever paid for was the domain name itself. After two or three years the free domain hosting was discontinued and I just let it all lapse since all my lofty station plans weren't really materializing anyway.
My point is that I remember setting up the Cloudflare portion of it to be quite simple... Back then was the only time I've ever utilized it. I don't remember what it was that had prompted me to route through Cloudflare to begin with, only that it had remedied some kind of issue that I had experienced with the free server.
I've never used a VPN before.. I've heard of it, seen it advertised many times but paid no attention. 'm rather ignorant what it even is.
A VPN changes your IP address, so that you are anonymous when surfing the web.
But with the premium providers, you can get a static IP (still anonymous), establish an outgoing tunnel (much as with Cloudflare) and allow users to come in to your website through that.
I sort of got Cloudflare going, but they've changed the way you establish tunnels and routing connections, and the documentation I founddidn't reflect the current reality. I didn't want to play with it any more, so just shelved it. I'm sure I could have gotten it going, but didn't want to waste any more time on it for the reasons I elucidated earlier.
They've made it overly complicated, imo. I got the VPN solution going in minutes way back when.
Anyway, I'm happy with the solution I've come up with (i.e., changing ISPs so that I'm no longer behind carrier grade NAT). That's the best solution overall, again imo.