PacketMole vs building it yourself

With real networking experience, you can get a basic version working. Keeping it safe and reliable is the much larger job: making sure that when the connection home hiccups, your traffic stops instead of slipping out through the hotel network (so websites see the hotel's IP instead of your home IP), that it doesn't drop traffic it shouldn't, and re-testing that behavior every time anything changes, from a new network to a software update.

That checking never ends, and it is most of what you are paying for:

• If the link home drops, it stops instead of leaking.This is called failing closed. If the connection to your Home unit drops, the Away unit blocks traffic instead of quietly sending it out the hotel or cafe network. That means your internet pauses until the connection comes back; it does not silently switch to the local network. Tested on real hardware.
• Leak testing covers many situations, not just one.Tested on real routers across the failure situations that matter on the road; no test traffic leaked. Like any test, these cover the situations tested, not every possible condition.
• Every build is tested before it ships.Each pair is tested end to end before it ships.
• Every software update is tested before you get it.Every update is tested on real routers and runs on our own units before it reaches yours.
• Updates install themselves.They are signed and install automatically overnight. If the unit's health checks fail afterward, it tries to roll back on its own. You can turn automatic updates off.

• Choosing two routers that can do this and work together.
• Setting up a VPN or exit node at home, and keeping it running.
• If you use plain WireGuard, dealing with home internet that won't accept incoming connections (CGNAT, common on T-Mobile Home Internet, Starlink and many 5G home plans), or opening a port on your home router.
• Handling hotel and cafe Wi-Fi sign-in pages.
• Making sure nothing leaks when the tunnel drops, when you switch networks, or after an update, and re-checking all of it every time the router's built-in software or the VPN software updates.
• No one to contact when it stops working while you're abroad.

It can be done, and it never stops needing attention.

If you are genuinely technical, enjoy networking, and are willing to own the configuring, the failure testing, and the re-checking every time something updates, building it yourself is a legitimate choice. You will understand every piece and can tailor it to your situation.

If you'd rather not own the testing and upkeep, PacketMole is the way to go: we do that part for you.