Replacing BT Smart hub with VPN router

gupott

gupott

gupott

Associate
Joined
26 May 2008
Posts
247
Hi there,

I am looking to change my current BT Smart Hub to a router I can use with a VPN.

In addition to the BT Smart Hub I subscribe to BT Infinity broadband, I then use x4 Devolo 1200 homeplugs to move the signal around my house, 2 have wireless capability. I actually don't use the wifi on the BT Smart hub (its switched off) due to some compatibility issues with my music server therefore I rely on 2 x Devolo plugs to create my wireless network. My broadband comes into the front of my house behind the tv, into the Smart hub before going onto a Netgear 16 port switch (TV, games consoles, BT UHD TV box etc plug into that) before going into a Devolo plug and around the house. I am also a subscriber to Private Internet Access (PIA) and generally I use their apps to connect the VPN (PC, Phone, NVidia Shield TV).

I am interested in changing to a router that I can connect directly to the VPN so I don't need to do it at each device individually. Therefore I think I would need to get a separate modem and router and i have a few questions;
  • Netgear DM200 Modem - will this work with BT Infinity, should I consider anything else? BTs own modem perhaps?
  • Netgear Nighthawk R9000 - router x10 AD7200 I have found a vendor who pre-flash with DD-WRT - this router looks good, but its very expensive and it may be overkill. I think I will look at mesh wifi solutions in the medium term, therefore I think I could go quite a lot cheaper as I won't really need the wifi capabilities of the R9000 - does anyone have any suggestions for a cheaper alternative or comments about this?
  • Dual gateway router setup- I think I will need a router that is dual gateway, so some items can connect via the ISP and some via the VPN. Any thoughts or comments on this set-up?
  • DD-WRT or Tomato - any difference, what should I plump for? Is it necessary or even advisable? Should I consider flashing a router myself etc?
As you can tell, my networking knowledge is fairly limited, have I missed anything? Any help or comments are extremely helpful.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the reply.

Essentially, I want to use the VPN to keep my comms secure and encrypted, I don’t like the idea of being tracked around the internet and my data being used/sold etc...

As for speed, its an 80mbps BT Infinity fibre line, fibre to the cabinet, copper to the door.

In regard to the dual gateway, this may not be the best solution but I did like the idea of it, because I could keep the likes of my PS4 and Netflix on the ISP connection as I know I would have issues in that regard and have a VPN on the rest.
 
Sounds interesting (pfSense) - I like the idea of knowing a bit more about networking, and perhaps the only way to do that is to get my hands dirty. I will watch a few you tube videos and see how scared i get...
 
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