VPN connections between networks

[SDMFer]

This may be a long one...

I currently have 3 networks:
1) Home network - Fritz!box 7530 router with a Synology DS218 NAS
2) Work network - Draytek 2862n
3) Parents’ network - TP Link Archer C7 with a Synology DS118j

I am currently backing up a PC at work to the NAS at home via Synology Drive Backup. I am trying to work out whether it would be better if the two networks were connected via a VPN, so I could use different backup software to backup to the NAS directly as it would appear as though it was on the same network. I am not sure if I can create a LAN-to-LAN network between these two routers however or whether it is worth setting up the VPN Server package on the NAS itself to link to.

I would like to create a similar link between the home network and parent’s network so that an Apple TV on the parents’ network can connect to the NAS on the home network. As an Apple TV cannot be a VPN client I think this would have to be done at router level, but again I am not sure whether this is possible with the hardware available?

Part of this is due to increased security and speed provided by a VPN connection over using Synology’s Quickconnect system. I have set up my iOS devices as VPN clients to remotely access the work network, so am aware of the basics around VPN connections but I am not sure as to how feasible the above connections would be - I have spent a good few hours searching for answers but this seems quite complex. I appreciate any help, although I get the feeling that without the same routers at all locations this is not going to work.

 

[Avalon]

Most routers support (at least) a VPN client option, many support a VPN server option, but if you use something secure like OpenVPN, it'll be really slow as the router CPU's generally suck at doing the encryption in software. I would suggest you approach it differently, a pair of Pi's are cheap, they'll do wireguard or OpenVPN reasonably quickly and are simple to deploy. I know it's obvious, but consider that your ability to back up to a remote location is governed by uplink, same for an apple TV streaming from your local storage. A 'cheap' remote server with gigabit is circa £15/m and remote file storage isn't expensive, you may find this is a better option.

 

[SDMFer]

I’ve looked into the TP Link router and it appears to only work as a VPN server, which is no use to connect via a VPN to the Fritz!Box, as this would be the server and I would require the TP Link router to be the client. The reason for this was the Synology video app on tvOS is malfunctioning, a known issue that is waiting for an update, and so a VPN would at least allow the use of VLC or another player to directly access the videos securely. I suppose I could open up another transfer protocol but my inexperience with securing these leaves me hesitant.

The overall problem is the different routers - if they were all the same make (Draytek or Fritz!Box) it would be relatively easy to set up LAN to LAN VPN connections....although rather expensive!

i think the simplest option, considering I have Office 365 with its 1Tb storage, is to make use of this and back it up to the NAS via the Cloud Sync package (and backup again with Hyper Backup for versioning). This sorts the work to home network issues out.

Thanks for the advice.