New ETA Electronic Travel Authorisation is being introduced in early 2025, fully by June 25, but delays have already occurred, dates are bound to change.
Obviously you mean September 24 or your trip has got off to a bad start ! Whoever gave you advice about the visa waiver or 60 day not being suitable was wrong, not many other options available, 60 day would give you more time, but with an agent it is possible to get things sorted in 30 days if the process is started immediately after arrival.
No requirement for documents from home apart from your passport.
Free VPNs might be OK for casual internet browsing but useless for streaming TV. Nord or Surfshark are only a few £ or $ a month, they always have discount codes available.