If you have many internet-connected devices at home or in the office, you may want to set up a VPN on your router. Instead of installing a VPN app on each device, a VPN router encrypts and secures all of their traffic simultaneously.
However, not all routers support a native VPN client setup. ISP-issued routers, like those from AT&T, Verizon, and Xfinity, typically don’t have a built-in VPN feature. You should look for independent router manufacturers, like ASUS and TP-Link, that offer numerous models supporting VPN protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard.
Some VPN service providers also sell routers with pre-installed VPNs. In this article, I’ll explain what a VPN router is and what options you have to secure your home or office network.
What Is a VPN Router?
VPN routers run specialized firmware to support VPN clients. They often have more powerful hardware, like built-in cryptographic accelerators and more RAM. If you try to run a VPN client on a weaker legacy router, the resource consumption will significantly slow down your internet connection.
Many devices also don’t support VPN clients directly. You can’t install one on a PlayStation 4 or 5, Microsoft Xbox (One, Series X and S), Nintendo Switch, Roku devices, numerous smart TVs, or home assistants. In these cases, a VPN router becomes the best way to use them with a VPN.
You can also get routers pre-installed with specific VPN software. ExpressVPN produces its Aircove routers (though availability has become limited recently, so check current stock). The Privacy Hero 2 VPN router comes bundled with a NordVPN subscription and supports the proprietary NordLynx protocol. GL.iNet routers are compatible with Surfshark, ProtonVPN, PureVPN, and many others, so there are plenty of options to choose from.
How Does a VPN Router Work?
A router is the gateway to the internet for all devices connected to it. A VPN router lets you set up a VPN directly on that gateway, so it encrypts all traffic flowing through it, even for devices that don’t support VPN applications.
For example, you can’t run a VPN app on an LG Smart TV that uses the webOS operating system, which limits your global streaming options. But with a VPN router, you can connect to a server in a country with the streaming library you want. Connect your LG smart TV to that router, and it will use the VPN’s IP address to stream unblocked content.
Because you don’t have to set up a VPN on any router-connected device, you also save their resources. Your smartphone battery will last longer, and your gaming PC won’t spend CPU cycles on VPN encryption.
However, your router must be powerful enough, because it handles all the VPN connections at once. A quad-core VPN router with at least 512MB of RAM can handle multi-device encryption and route every device’s traffic without hitting its load limit.
Otherwise, VPN routers work much like VPN applications. They forward encrypted traffic to the VPN server, which then sends it to the target destination. VPN routers mask your original IP address and hide your browsing activity from your Internet Service Provider, protecting your privacy across all home or business devices.
Types of VPN Routers: VPN Server, VPN Client, Pre-Configured, and Flashed
So far, I’ve talked about client VPN routers that work like VPN applications on user devices. That’s how most people configure a VPN on a router. But you can also set up a VPN server on a router, which has its own benefits.
A VPN server router secures incoming traffic and enables safe remote access to your home network. For example, smart home security systems are becoming more popular. If you want to encrypt the connection from your smartphone to your home security system, you set up a VPN server on your router and connect to it remotely.
Keep in mind that in this case you don’t use a typical VPN service like NordVPN or PureVPN. Instead, you configure the VPN server on your router using a specific protocol, usually WireGuard or OpenVPN.
You then install the WireGuard or OpenVPN application on whichever device you’ll use to connect back to the home or office network. This setup is often used in business environments to secure remote employee connections.
Lastly, we can distinguish between pre-configured and flashed routers. Pre-configured routers ship with a specific VPN client installed, or with all the features needed to set up a VPN on them quickly.
A flashed router is a standard router that has had its operating system replaced with open-source firmware to support VPN clients. Flashing requires good technical know-how and, in most cases, voids the router’s warranty.
Benefits of Using a VPN Router at Home and in Business
Before concluding, I’ll summarize the essential VPN router benefits.
- Coverage. You can secure every router-connected device and get around the VPN’s simultaneous-connection limit.
- Compatibility. You extend VPN protection to devices that don’t support VPN clients.
- Management. You only need to configure the router once, instead of installing a separate app on every device.
- Always-on. A router VPN continuously encrypts and secures your home or office traffic. You set it up once and it keeps running.
- Resource consumption. The router handles the encryption, saving your smartphone and PC resources.
How To Choose and Set Up a VPN on Your Router
If you decide to go this route, here are a few tips on choosing a good VPN router.
- Most importantly, make sure it’s VPN-compatible. Ideally, it should support both OpenVPN and WireGuard.
- Verify it’s powerful enough. A quad-core router with at least 512MB of RAM can do the heavy lifting without dragging down performance.
- Check the connection speed. The exact numbers depend on your internet plan, but 100 to 200 Mbps with the VPN on is enough to browse and stream comfortably.
- Look for and turn on a kill switch. It prevents data leaks if your VPN connection drops.
- A split-tunneling feature is also useful. It lets you control which devices use the VPN tunnel and which use the regular ISP connection.
The exact steps to set up a VPN router vary dramatically by model.
Suppose you picked a router that supports VPN clients natively. In that case, you’ll need to obtain VPN configuration files (preferably WireGuard or OpenVPN) from your VPN provider. Then access the router admin panel or management app, locate the VPN section, upload the files, and enter your credentials to establish the connection.
You can see how it’s done in the router setup guides from NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark.