Sonic.net offers a free VPN service to all customers. Here are instructions on how to set it up on Ubuntu:

# sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc vpnc

Click on wireless icon in toolbar, select “Edit connections…”

Click “Add”

Select “Cisco Compatible VPN (vpnc)”

Fill in the details from Sonic’s help page. At the time of writing, that’s:

Gateway: ipsec.vpn.sonic.net

Username: your username from members.sonic.net.

Password: your password from members.sonic.net. You need to change the dropdown on the right-hand side from “Always ask” to “Saved” if you want to store your password here. Otherwise you will be prompted when you connect.

Group name: Standard VPN

Group password: standard. You need to change the dropdown on the right-hand side from “Always ask” to “Saved” to store your password here. Since it’s a publicly-known password, there’s no downside choosing “Saved.”

Set Connection name to “sonic.net” or anything you like.

Click “Save.” Click “Close” on the Network Connections window. Click the wireless icon in the top bar, select “VPN Connections,” and then “sonic.net” (or whatever you named your VPN config). The wireless icon will make a “connection” animation for a few seconds, and then a small lock icon should appear in the lower right. If the lock icon does not appear, the VPN connection failed and you need to do some troubleshooting.

If you’d like to auto-connect to VPN for certain networks (e.g. open wifi), click the wireless icon in the top bar, select “Edit connections,” select the network you are interested in. Click “Edit” and select the “General” tab. Select “Automatically connect to VPN when using this connection,” and choose your VPN from the drop-down below (if it is not already chosen).