VPN router help

bigcletus123 · Oct 6, 2014

I currently am running a Mac Pro 3.1, and iphone and ipad thru an Apple Time Capsule (the original one I believe). This is connected to my provider's Actiontec H1000 router. I understand that neither of these routers can be configured to permanently stay connected to my VPN, Private Internet Access. I'd like to change this so my other devices, i.e. Roku, can go thru VPN too. I understand that I need a WW DDT router and that neither of my current ones are.
I understand I'd need to replace my TC, or can I leave it in the "chain' ?

Any suggestions on a decent supported router ??

I did a search and didn't see any previous thread on this)
Thanks

Altemose · Oct 6, 2014

bigcletus123 said:
I currently am running a Mac Pro 3.1, and iphone and ipad thru an Apple Time Capsule (the original one I believe). This is connected to my provider's Actiontec H1000 router. I understand that neither of these routers can be configured to permanently stay connected to my VPN, Private Internet Access. I'd like to change this so my other devices, i.e. Roku, can go thru VPN too. I understand that I need a WW DDT router and that neither of my current ones are.
I understand I'd need to replace my TC, or can I leave it in the "chain' ?

Any suggestions on a decent supported router ??

I did a search and didn't see any previous thread on this)
Thanks

It depends on what you are trying to do with your VPN. If all you want is a way to access your home network via the Internet then the Time Capsule is capable. However, if you want the router to do more than that or a full on VPN service then you would need to upgrade. I do not work with VPN much so I cannot say what router you would need to buy. However, since the Time Capsule supports true bridge mode, you can keep it behind the other router as a wireless access point or NAS.

BrianBaughn · Oct 6, 2014

Altemose said:
It depends on what you are trying to do with your VPN. If all you want is a way to access your home network via the Internet then the Time Capsule is capable. However, if you want the router to do more than that or a full on VPN service then you would need to upgrade. I do not work with VPN much so I cannot say what router you would need to buy. However, since the Time Capsule supports true bridge mode, you can keep it behind the other router as a wireless access point or NAS.

He's trying to stay connected to and run everything through an external VPN...but that last statement is still valid.

DD-WRT, which is what I think the OP means, comes in many forms but I believe most versions can do what is wanted. Be sure to research it before buying one pre-loaded with DD-WRT.

I'm sure there are other, off-the-shelf routers that can connect to a VPN but I don't know which ones can. There's a little research to do and perhaps someone here can make a specific recommendation.

Altemose · Oct 6, 2014

BrianBaughn said:
He's trying to stay connected to and run everything through an external VPN...but that last statement is still valid.

DD-WRT, which is what I think the OP means, comes in many forms but I believe most versions can do what is wanted. Be sure to research it before buying one pre-loaded with DD-WRT.

I'm sure there are other, off-the-shelf routers that can connect to a VPN but I don't know which ones can. There's a little research to do and perhaps someone here can make a specific recommendation.

Building off of your point, some routers are advertised as DD-WRT compatible and therefore should have better support than the average off the shelf router.

Weaselboy · Oct 7, 2014

bigcletus123 said:
I currently am running a Mac Pro 3.1, and iphone and ipad thru an Apple Time Capsule (the original one I believe). This is connected to my provider's Actiontec H1000 router. I understand that neither of these routers can be configured to permanently stay connected to my VPN, Private Internet Access. I'd like to change this so my other devices, i.e. Roku, can go thru VPN too. I understand that I need a WW DDT router and that neither of my current ones are.
I understand I'd need to replace my TC, or can I leave it in the "chain' ?

Any suggestions on a decent supported router ??

I did a search and didn't see any previous thread on this)
Thanks

The TC won't handle VPN server like you want for all your devices.

PIA uses a standard OpenVPN server in routers for access and they have setup instructions on their page. Running a VPN server in a router like this can require a lot of CPU power, so you want to get one of the newer AC routers even if you don't care about having 802.11ac. These newer AC routers all tend to have faster dual core CPUs in them that will be better for this.

The Netgear R7000 can use DD_WRT for OpenVPN and the Asus RT_AC68U can use Merlin's variant of WRT for OpenVPN. Both free (the firmware... not the router

).

Go to the SmallNetBuilder forums here and search for "OpenVPN" and you will find quite a bit of info on this.

So you will need the H1000 in bridge mode... then like this.

H1000 (in bridge)>OpenVPN Router>TC (in bridge mode)>client devices.

So everything will pass through the TC so you can still use it for backups then Internet traffic will go out through the VPN tunnel on the new router and through the open H1000.

The piece of the pie here I am concerned about is if that H1000 (even in bridge mode) will pass through the VPN tunnel. In theory it should.

mvmanolov · Oct 7, 2014

here is a resource where you can look at the throughput of various VPN routers:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/view

though in my experience VPN routers with good throughput are rather expensive.

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