I set up ProtonVPN on the router for a few months & the family hated it. HATED IT! They were constantly asking me to disable the VPN so they could log in to a site here, or make a credit card payment there. It was a mess.
Eventually I just disabled it on the router & ran my VPN at the device level. Much better now & the family doesn't hate me! :)
I use the fusion VPN function of my Asus router so new devices and specific devices can only use the VPN. Other devices can access.internet without the VPN.
It's pretty stable. I think I've had the connection ( wireguard ) drop twice so that I had to reconnect it. Not sure if that is related to the VPN on Asus though.
The reason not all devices use the VPN is because there's a bunch of streaming sites ( local ) that claim you're not in the country while the VPN is. Or it just doesn't allow you to play the videos.
I've got it on a travel router. it's been good and an easy setup. However, it can sometimes be detected by sites that block VPNs. It works more often than Nord did for that, but it still happens sometimes. Speed has been good.
The downside is that you can't really choose the most available server. You have to pick based on configs, but you can at least add as many configs as you want.
I've found that setting the country to Ireland solves the vpn block for me.
I've got a Mikrotik that's connected to Proton with Wireguard. It uses routing rules to control which traffic goes through VPN.
It's pretty much "set it and forget it" once you get everything configured the way you want.
I'm not entirely sure why you would put a VPN at your router.
So all devices on the network uses the VPN by default?
Because it’s better than adding it per-device?
A router-level VPN is like a privacy shield for your entire home network. Instead of installing a VPN on each device, you set it up once on your router. Here are the benefits: Protects All Devices Automatically: Every device connected to your Wi-Fi—like phones, computers, smart TVs, and game consoles—is automatically secured by the VPN. Simplifies Setup: You only need to configure the VPN one time on the router, saving you the hassle of setting it up on each gadget. Enhances Privacy and Security: It encrypts all your internet traffic, keeping your online activities private and safe from hackers or snoopers. Bypasses Internet Restrictions: The VPN can help you access websites or streaming services that might be blocked or limited in your area. In simple terms, a router-level VPN makes your entire home internet more secure and private with less effort.
Thanks! That's a great explanation and now it makes a lot of sense to me.
I use the OpenVPN configuration on mine to get around geoblocks. It works fine but I do need to disable IPv6 to force my client (a Roku) to connect over IPv4.
I have found that after about 45 minutes the bandwidth tanks and my stream looks like potato quality. Maybe because I'm on free tier and am streaming HD content? I did find out that the website only checks my IP address on startup so now I only run the VPN long enough to connect.
Do any of the streaming services whinge about the geolocationing?
In my case it's ESPN+ to watch hockey games. ESPN only checks geolocation when you first connect to the stream. So long as you don't turn off the stream you can watch the entire game. So I turn the VPN on for about 10 seconds and then turn it off. Works every time... at least last season it did.
I’ve had Mullvad running on a Gli Flint router, and it was perfect until some weird power-cycling issues bricked the router… pita.
I was just looking at the GL.iNet Flint 2 (GL-MT6000), since it was recommended in a thread on the OpenWRT forum, and thought about possibly getting that one. Is that the one that bricked, or was it an earlier product of the Flint-series of routers?
Nah, mine was the 1800. Can’t really blame the router either, or solar has a weird issue for a while where power flicked on and off repeatedly, and something about that cleaned its clock
I've used expressvpn on an Asus router, using fusion to split different ip addresses onto different vans and its been sound, no issues. So much easier than I was expecting.
