Routing Your VPN: Why the Router You Choose Matters

If you’re concerned about privacy or simply want to dodge some geographical limitations, using a VPN is a great choice. However, not every device has a VPN client to begin with (like your smart TV or gaming console, for example), that’s why installing a dedicated VPN router is sometimes a must.

The advantages of using a VPN router

Using a VPN router has many advantages. The obvious one is that you won’t have to manually setup every one of your devices to connect through a VPN, and you can use more of them at the same time.

Without using a dedicated VPN router, you’d always have to be careful not to connect to a website without your VPN turned on, which can happen faster than you may think. But by having a VPN router in place, it’s impossible for such a scenario to occur.

Finally, you won’t have to worry about which devices support a VPN and which ones don’t. By using a VPN router, you will be able to securely connect to the internet with all of them.

How to get one running as fast as possible

If you just want to setup a VPN router as fast as possible, it’s best to go with a VPN enabled router, which is something you can get up and running straight out of the box.

Alternatively, if you have extra time on your hands and don’t mind learning something new, you could also try setting one up on a PC, or even use a Raspberry Pi for that purpose. However, keep in mind that the latter solution is not ideal, mainly due to the processing power restraints.

What is the best VPN router you can buy?

Finding the best VPN router can be hard, that’s why we’ve come up with a list of the best VPN routers on the market today:

Linksys Business Gigabit VPN Router (LRT214)

This particular model supports 50 IPsec tunnels as well as OpenVPN tunnels which the iOS and Android users can take advantage of. In order to ensure top-quality speed and reliability, Gigabit connections are also supported. If a single WAN connection isn’t enough to cover your needs, a dual WAN version costs only about $20 more.

Cisco Systems Gigabit VPN Router (RV320K9NA)

If you’re looking for two levels of protection, hardware encryption, and stateful packet inspection, this is the router you should be looking at. It supports Gigabit Ethernet, which makes it incredibly fast.

TP-LINK TL-WR842ND N300 Multi-function Wireless Router

Featuring benefits such as the Wireless-N compatibility and a handy WPS button which allows you to quickly connect printers and other devices, this VPN router also has detachable antennae. For such a moderately priced unit, this is quite a rare thing to see. The default firmware allows you to do quite a lot of things, but if you’d like to customize it to your own liking, you can also install your own.

Conclusion

Today we’ve explained the benefits of using a VPN router and listed some of the best-selling examples. In the end, protecting your online privacy is important, and if you haven’t given it much thought before, it’s never too late to start.