I was looking for an application that lets me send SMS messages on my PC and came across KDEConnect. By default, it requires both devices to be on the same network via wifi; however, I don't want to enable wifi on my phone and rather use data which I have on 24/7 anyway. What are my options?

Can I have my PCs I want to SMS from (desktop and laptop) be exposed to the open internet with the necessary ports open or do I need to use a VPN (I have no experience with this)? From a brief google search, it seems like using VPN is a popular option but I'm not sure of having the desktop/laptop "exposed" for the phone to connect to from anywhere is possible and if so, if it's safe.

If exposing desktop/laptop directly is not possible/advisable, I suppose VPN is the only option. How would that work--which would serve as client/server? I also have a Raspberry Pi that I currently use as an SSH server and have configured my laptop to be able to ssh to it from anywhere (i.e, it's exposed to the open internet and is authenticated via ssh key so should be safe). So perhaps the RPI can run the VPN server? Not sure.

Much appreciated.

Bluetooth? with the distance limitation of course...