What should I do about incoming connections if my ISP uses CGNAT?

Question

Unfortunately, my ISP uses CGNAT, so port forwarding doesn't work. What should I do? Can I have incoming connections (since I want to open them) and how? Would a VPN help?

Answer 1

The most straightforward way to achieve this is by using an overlay network like Tor, i2p or Yggdrasil. Check out how to set up Tor and i2p with Bitcoin Core.

There are other services that let you bypass a NAT, like some VPNs or ngrok. But beware that (i) they may limit your reach and pick what ports you'll use (ii) they can see what you're doing, so bad for privacy.

Would a VPN help?

Some VPNs might let you accept connections through it, but most of the commercial ones don't.