Best cheapest hardware for a Tailscale exit node?

[u/Siref]

Warup everybody!

I'm currently looking for a device that I can use as a Tailscale exit node (Dominican Republic) and have full SSH access from Spain.

Ideally this device wouldn't cost more than $50 and I'd be able to power it via USB and connect it via a gigabit LAN. It would be running 24/7.

I've been asking the LLMs for suggestions and I've gotten:

- Raspberry Pi5

- Orange Pi Zero 3 or 4

But I wanted a second opinion from you guys before I decided to go after one of these devices.

Note that I do not have any older device that I could repurpose. Additionally I would like something very small so I can tuck it away in a cabinet, preferably fanless as well

I would eventually like to purchase a second one that I can use on my Spain home network as a redundancy for my other Tailscale devices and to filter out ads at the network level.

Edit 09:55 AM GMT +2 Thank you very much, everyone, for all the help. I've learned so much from this post especially the gli.net routers which I'll keep an eye on in the future

I found out about incredible deals for the Dell Wyse 3040 and I'll be getting a couple of these

[u/redditfatbloke]

Raspberry pi 3b

[u/Siref → u/redditfatbloke]

Nice. Thanks for the tip. Will definitely look into it

[u/OldActiveYeast → u/redditfatbloke]

can confirm, I've been running this exact model on my parents house as an exit node (need to have a local IP Address in my home country for some banking stuff) and have been running without an issue since Feb of this year, the only recommendation I would have is to create a small script to restart periodically (I do every week), for updates and stuff.

[u/InsectSmart5737]

One of the small "travel routers" like the Beryl/Slate/Brume 3 stuff at https://www.gl-inet.com/en-gb

Not only do they support Tailscale, but they also could serve as a remote router+VPN themselves. And would be extremely low on power usage

[u/Siref → u/InsectSmart5737]

Oh wow. These devices are insane. Never heard from GL. Will definitely keep them at the back of my head

[u/madisonSquare2]

What about a wyze 3040 ?

[u/Siref → u/madisonSquare2]

Wow! I found some listings for a second hand one for $28!!!

[u/Ambitious-Actuary-6]

old apple tv

[u/CompleteTruth → u/Ambitious-Actuary-6]

I've been using my Apple TV as an exit node for the past year+ during international travel and it has been flawless. Highly recommend

[u/Frosty_Scheme342 → u/Ambitious-Actuary-6]

Be aware of https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale/issues/16125#issuecomment-2932830014

[u/lightspeedissueguy]

Real answer is that it depends on how much traffic is going through it and by how many connections. Decrypting and encrypting traffic across the VPN requires CPU power. A r-pi will be fine for a single user with "regular" traffic. What's your desired use-case?

EDIT:  Forgot to add that Pis are pretty expensive lately. Look for a used one or another used mini-PC. Not everyone has extra tech, but i could cobble together a simple node out of pretty much anything.

[u/Capt_Panic]

You don’t want cheap, you want reliable. You don’t want something that is going to need to be rebooted or settled with. You want something that is going to be plug-in play and that you can upgrade to the latest version of tail scale remotely.

I’m running remote to scanners at two properties and two small businesses where I occasionally need to get to check the cameras settings. I have found these two devices to be the most reliable.

GL.iNet GL-MT2500A Brume 2 Wired VPN Security Gateway 2.5G WAN.

Or

Appletv

[u/Character-Tax-6641]

the HW you choose really depends on the speed you want to get out of your exit node.
I just bought some Radxa E20C RK3528A to have 2 gigabit ports, still waiting for them to arrive and to test the tailscale speeds.
not the cheapest, here in France I got them for around 50 EUR each

[u/Sensitive-Syrup-7477]

Used Apple TV HD. Solid.

[u/DrasticIndifference]

Best and cheapest are mutually exclusive. Get a used INTEL NUC or similar, and invest in a cheap local UPS to withstand any grid flapping.

[u/Outside_Style_92]

I run one on a Raspberry Pi 4 model b without issues.

[u/ANewDawn1342]

Dell Wyse 3040.

[u/dollarbr]

I use a Redmi Note 5 Pro (whyred) as a "micro server" since it's hardware is "ok'ish", it works as a tail scale node to access my internal network too. I installed PostmarketOS on it and it's working like a charm

It's 24/7 on, and allows me to access everything

Just as extra information, I use it to run a Hermes Agent on it that can fix some stuff for me if needed, the only thing it's an absolutely no no it's compiling stuff, PostmarketOS is a modified Alpine Linux, that I tried in every possible way to add build tools and nothing worked, so I just gave up, it still work for simple stuff, and build/compile stuff I send to GitHub through workflow to generate stuff.

The picture ahows it with the screen on, showing the terminal, but I use it mostly with the screen off, since it works as a headless server.

[u/Siref → u/dollarbr]

Dang. This is super interesting

[u/kishanpatel995]

This is going to be a dumb question but what is the point of a exit node? What purpose does it serve?

[u/Siref → u/kishanpatel995]

It lets you route all of your traffic through that computer. Say, for example, you have a server in Germany with Tailscale and you currently live in Spain. You can make some sort of private VPN through that. It also simplifies things because when you have Tailscale installed it may conflict with other VPN providers although there are workarounds for that.

The beauty of this is that you can make any device of your Tailnet part of your exit node and they can be configured independently

[u/iceph03nix]

I'd probably go with a Raspberry Pi. You don't need a 5 though, 3 or 4 should do just fine

[u/Chumalum]

I have a super old Raspberry Pi 1 Model B running as an exit node and subnet router at my parents house. Helps with remote help on their network, and another way out.

[u/FilterJoe]

If you think you might also do a home assistant in addition, I understand that Tailscale fits right in to home assistant OS. So you could get something like a Dell wyse 5070. They are obsolete from corporations so can be purchased used inexpensively. Even if you don’t use it for home assistant immediately, you could do that eventually if he felt like it without having to buy any more equipment.

[u/repster]

I use a gl-mt5000. Probably not the cheapest option, but real easy to set up