How to choose a router for VPN
- Thread starter Crum
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Soldato
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- 20 Oct 2008
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Qualify what you mean by VPN.
People use VPNs for different purposes and in different ways.
People use VPNs for different purposes and in different ways.
No, I pay for a VPN through IBVPN. I recently learnt that the VPN client can be enabled on some routers meaning that I can run my vpn downstream of all my computers, rather than just the one.
Looking at the routers available on overclockers, for example, I imagine that most will do this, but I am not sure what to look for in the specifications to be sure.
Hope that makes sense.
Looking at the routers available on overclockers, for example, I imagine that most will do this, but I am not sure what to look for in the specifications to be sure.
Hope that makes sense.
Soldato
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- 20 Oct 2008
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Most won't; not with stock firmware anyway.
Have you looked at the ibVPN knowledgebase here?
You also need to think about your budget and any requirements beyond supporting the VPN such as the wireless capabilities.
Do you really need the VPN tunnelling your entire outbound network? May be great for a Netflix account to lose it's region but if you game or run any kind of VOIP/real time audio and video it will destroy it if it's going half way round the world to come back on itself.
Might be better sitting a router behind your main router if thats what you wanted then you can at least selectively put devices on to the VPN. That is just a long winded way of running the client software on your chosen machine though.
Might be better sitting a router behind your main router if thats what you wanted then you can at least selectively put devices on to the VPN. That is just a long winded way of running the client software on your chosen machine though.
Most routers for sale on OcUK probably won't run client software with the standard firmware, those that do will most be likely limited in terms of supported protocols. You'd most likely have to look at a more professional/small office device such as those on offer from Draytek as mentioned.
Maybe the default ASUS firmware has improved with VPN support, once upon a time they only supported L2TP/PP2P protocols which aren't very secure but I think they now support OpenVPN.
I know you said you didn't want to flash anything but ASUS routers with Merlin firmware support all that you need and more. It really isn't all that hard to do and the Merlin firmware looks and feels just like the stock firmware but with added features.
Bear in mind that even an 'expensive' consumer router will be severely limited when it comes to throughput speeds for VPN. Even a high end router (~£200) will struggle to get past 50Mbps, as they just don't have the processing power to keep up with the encryption. Since most home connections these days are 75 - 300Mbps and upwards, it's something to bear in mind. For best performance and features you'd be looking at building a pfSense box which can even be set with two gateways (one VPN, one clear), but if you don't even want to flash firmware on a consumer router, I imagine that option isn't on the table.