Three things people call "a VPN" that operate at different layers. The cryptographic protocol differences between WireGuard and OpenVPN, why Tailscale is a control plane rather than a competing protocol, the NAT-traversal story for each, and an honest decision framework for which to actually run.
Vpn
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WireGuard vs OpenVPN vs Tailscale -
MTU, MSS, and the Path-MTU Black Hole A deep dive into MTU, MSS, and Path MTU Discovery — the unglamorous packet-sizing concepts behind a whole class of baffling 'connects but then hangs' bugs, and how to diagnose and fix them.
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WireGuard from Scratch WireGuard from the ground up: Noise Protocol Framework cryptography, key generation, wg-quick configuration, full-tunnel vs split-tunnel routing, site-to-site VPN setup, wg show diagnostics, and honest performance benchmarks against OpenVPN and IPsec.
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Tailscale for Homelab Networking How Tailscale's WireGuard-based mesh VPN works, subnet routers for LAN access, exit nodes, MagicDNS with split DNS for internal services, ACL policy files, and Headscale as a self-hosted control plane alternative.
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Tailscale and the Zero-Trust Home Network How Tailscale works under the hood — WireGuard, NAT traversal, DERP relays, the coordination server — and a practical guide to subnet routing, exit nodes, Funnel, ACLs, and self-hosting with Headscale.
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Tailscale: The WireGuard Mesh VPN That Actually Works Everywhere A deep technical guide to Tailscale: how the mesh VPN works under the hood, complete setup for every platform, subnet routing and exit nodes for homelab access, ACL policy files, MagicDNS, Tailscale Funnel and Serve, self-hosting the control plane with Headscale, and an honest comparison with WireGuard, ZeroTier, and Netbird.
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WireGuard VPN: Fast, Modern, and Actually Understandable A complete WireGuard guide — how it works, server and peer setup, split tunneling, road warrior config for laptops and phones, site-to-site networking, key management, and troubleshooting.
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Zero Trust Networking: Principles and Practical Tools A comprehensive guide to Zero Trust networking — the philosophy, core principles, and practical implementation using Tailscale and Cloudflare Access, including ACL configs, tunnel setup, and a homelab architecture that replaces legacy VPNs.