What version are you using? There were issues federating with v 0.18.0. I updated my instance to 0.18.0-rc.10 and that resolved the issues.

I use RackNerd for public reverse proxies on my lab. Their New Years sales is still active, and is very affordable. Only $13/yr for 1GB RAM KVM VPS, plenty for a personal reverse proxy or VPN.

No issues with service, their support is great and responds promptly.