Best router for VPN

Deep Thought

Hi

Am looking at getting something like NordVPN and managing it router side.

My current router ArcherC9 doesn’t allow this.

Any recommendations on a great router that would allow me to do this?

Cheers

CoBo55

There's a page for vpn in the settings of the router I'm using, Asus rt-ac86u but I can't get my Hola vpn working, just my stupidity tbh.

Deep Thought

Deep Thought wrote: »

Hi

Am looking at getting something like NordVPN and managing it router side.

My current router ArcherC9 doesn’t allow this.

Any recommendations on a great router that would allow me to do this?

Cheers

You do realise this will have drastic effects on your speeds

Deep Thought

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You do realise this will have drastic effects on your speeds

Yeah..didn’t think it was drastic, lads doing it all the time. was just looking to watch cbbc on iPad , wanted to look at doing it at router level as lad broke his leg and is upstairs a lot.

Deep Thought

Deep Thought wrote: »

Yeah..didn’t think it was drastic, lads doing it all the time. was just looking to watch cbbc on iPad , wanted to look at doing it at router level as lad broke his leg and is upstairs a lot.

A VPN is a tunnel to somewhere else. You're routing all your traffic through somewhere else, of course it will be drastic. You could be routed through the UK or mainland Europe for Irish sites you should connect direct to very quickly. You are better to do this on the devices, turn it on when needed.

CoBo55

Deleted User wrote: »

A VPN is a tunnel to somewhere else. You're routing all your traffic through somewhere else, of course it will be drastic. You could be routed through the UK or mainland Europe for Irish sites you should connect direct to very quickly. You are better to do this on the devices, turn it on when needed.

Not easy to do on an ipad or any apple device.

CoBo55

CoBo55 wrote: »

Not easy to do on an ipad or any apple device.

Isn't there an app in the store for NordVPN?

CoBo55

Deleted User wrote: »

Isn't there an app in the store for NordVPN?

If there is that would be the answer, don't have ios myself.

TheDriver

you're far better off with something like VPNunlimited who has a native app on most things or setting up a mini router and a new wifi network in the house which has the VPN running on it
I wouldn't be putting my main house traffic through a VPN

NewClareman

TheDriver wrote: »

you're far better off with something like VPNunlimited who has a native app on most things or setting up a mini router and a new wifi network in the house which has the VPN running on it
I wouldn't be putting my main house traffic through a VPN

Exactly, there is no way I would route all my traffic through a VPN. I'm even wary of using a VPN app on my iPad as I also use it for banking. (I used to for BBC iPlayer, before I read up on the security risks.
I have now set up a Windscribe VPN on a virtual environment on a laptop. I use that on the rare occasion when I want to avoid a geofence.

antix80

TheDriver wrote: »

you're far better off with something like VPNunlimited who has a native app on most things or setting up a mini router and a new wifi network in the house which has the VPN running on it
I wouldn't be putting my main house traffic through a VPN

+1

I'm not an expert by any means but did some research over the past week.

I use express vpn. The subscription supports 5 connections and despite a slightly higher cost it's highly rated for its speeds.

I have it installed on my phone and laptop.

I also bought a cheap router in curry's for €50.
TP-LINK Archer C60 WiFi Cable & Fibre Router - AC 1350

It doesn't support open vpn and as such expressvpn says it should only be used for location-faking rather than security features. I set up the router with express vpn and plugged it into my eir router. Lo and behold, it worked like a charm.

So in theory i could connect my tv's through the router with the vpn, and all other traffic through my regular eir router. And I still have the option of using express vpn on my laptop or phone using express vpn's software.

Interesting enough, I'm in Spain at present and phoned IT for a laptop problem. The IT guy said, "ok.. Im connected to your computer.. Oh, nothing's coming up".. I disconnected the vpn and he tried again and said 'it's working now'.. So that gave me some comfort as I'm on an open wifi network in a hotel.

Op, if you want to route all your traffic through a vpn for the security benefits rather than location faking, the router should support open vpn. But id imagine there could be performance issues having every device you own going through a vpn or even when you decide to turn vpn on or off (nest thermostats temporarily losing connectivity for example)

NewClareman

antix80 wrote: »

+1
Op, if you want to route all your traffic through a vpn for the security benefits rather than location faking, the router should support open vpn.

For something like torrents, VPN's do provide (some) additional protection. However, they also add substantial security risks that many users are unaware of. In the worst case, any information available on your devicee could be hacked, your credentials (login name, password...) stolen and you could be redirected to fake sites.

Even worse, there have been instances where traffic to spurious sites have been redirected via a VPN users device, making it appear that they were the user. Imagine the police/Garda calling to your home, armed with a warrant?

Think I am being alarmist? This study, now five years old, gives an idea of what can happen. I doubt whether things have improved, since then.

antix80

NewClareman wrote: »

Think I am being alarmist? This study, now five years old, gives an idea of what can happen. I doubt whether things have improved, since then.

I don't think you're alarmist at all. I'm sure plenty of people google "free vpn" and when they realise that the vpn only works on their phone and not their tv they'd be very tempted to follow instructions to put the free vpn on their router.

In my case i believe express vpn (€85 a year) make my phone and laptop more secure than an open wifi network, and location spoofing (for legal reasons) is also a benefit.

Hope I'm right.

Anyway a little OT for the op. My original plan of routing laptop and phone traffic through router with vpn didn't work out as i dont have access to an ethernet connection.

Henry Ford III

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You do realise this will have drastic effects on your speeds

VPNUnlimited. Running Wireguard. Losing relatively little linespeed.

US$24 for a lifetime sub.

Works great.

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote: »

VPNUnlimited. Running Wireguard. Losing relatively little linespeed.

US$24 for a lifetime sub.

Works great.

It's definitely affecting your connection as you're hitting Irish sites from somewhere else in the world. It's fine to use on a device to avoid Geo location restrictions but not ideal for a whole house connection.

And then there are the security risks.....

tazzzZ

I use PIA myself. I use wireguard with this as the speeds are far far better. Im getting my full 1gb speeds on this.

I know PIA were bought out by cyberghost or something.... who have links to Israel i believe... but on the other hand PIA have been brought to court to give logs and won as they truely didnt log your usage. Again this was pre take over i believe but its as close to proof that they dont log as you are likely to get. Most say it... but many have provided logs in certain cases in spite of the claim.

Again though I dont use it at router level as I dont want all traffic routed through it.

Henry Ford III

Deleted User wrote: »

It's definitely affecting your connection as you're hitting Irish sites from somewhere else in the world. It's fine to use on a device to avoid Geo location restrictions but not ideal for a whole house connection.

And then there are the security risks.....

Sideloaded on a Firestick 4k.

I get maybe 75mbps without the VPN running, and up to 60mbps with it running. Wireguard speeds things up a lot.

I can fire up BBC iplayer for example quickly and easily, and have complete privacy for anything running on the Firestick.



p.s. Privacy risks? Please explain. Isn't encryption what a VPN is for?

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Sideloaded on a Firestick 4k.

I get maybe 75mbps without the VPN running, and up to 60mbps with it running. Wireguard speeds things up a lot.

I can fire up BBC iplayer for example quickly and easily, and have complete privacy for anything running on the Firestick.



p.s. Privacy risks? Please explain. Isn't encryption what a VPN is for?

A VPN is only encrypted to the VPN providers network, you are putting full trust in them with your traffic. This can be fine to watch media, download a torrent but there's no way you should be using it for your main traffic where you could be logging into PayPal, online banking, even Amazon!

RangeR

I recently purchased a gl.inet GL-MV1000. It comes with OpenWRT installed and supports OpenVPN and WireGuard [much faster VPN]. But it doesn't have WIFI.

You can get a MV1000W which does have WIFI.

Both the M1000 and M1300 are powered over USB A 3. VERY handy and a decent processor that gives you high enough speed throughput over VPN [280Mbps(WireGuard) or 97Mbps(OpenVPN)].

If you get the MV1300, you can set it up as a second AP and tunnel whatever VPN connection you want through it. As it's on the router, it only consumes 1 VPN connection for all connected devices. You can then segregate VPN and non VPN depending on which WIFI you connect to, as others have said.

Henry Ford III

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A VPN is only encrypted to the VPN providers network, you are putting full trust in them with your traffic. This can be fine to watch media, download a torrent but there's no way you should be using it for your main traffic where you could be logging into PayPal, online banking, even Amazon!

As I said it's for the Firestick only.

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote: »

As I said it's for the Firestick only.

Yeah that's what I recommend, not on the household router with all traffic going through it

TheDriver

TheDriver wrote: »

you're far better off with something like VPNunlimited who has a native app on most things or setting up a mini router and a new wifi network in the house which has the VPN running on it
I wouldn't be putting my main house traffic through a VPN

Exactly, I have multiple SSID's, going to VLANS, Zones on my network.
Using a Fortigate firewall -> Unifi AP.

Have one SSID with SmartDNS settings for firestick, entertainment devices, which can then access BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, etc.

xckjoo

Check out this crowd: https://www.invizbox.com/
Irish company. I'm waiting for the pro to be released but the regular one is available now I think