{"id":48410,"date":"2023-06-09T07:17:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T11:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=48410"},"modified":"2023-06-09T07:17:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T11:17:22","slug":"how-to-use-vpn-on-routers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-to-use-vpn-on-routers\/48410\/","title":{"rendered":"Network-wide protection: how to set up VPN on a router"},"content":{"rendered":"

VPNs are getting more popular by the day: better privacy<\/a>, access to the content you need<\/a>, and other advantages<\/a> have won over even those not much interested in technology. To enjoy these benefits on all home devices \u2014 including computers and smartphones, game consoles and smart TVs \u2014 the best way is to set up a VPN directly on your router (aka \u201cWi-Fi box\u201d). That way, there\u2019s no need to waste time configuring a VPN on each device separately, plus you get all the benefits even where VPN support is lacking, such as on a smart TV or game consoles. Sounds interesting? Then let\u2019s get started!\u2026<\/p>\n

VPN requirements<\/h2>\n

To protect your entire home network with a VPN, both your VPN and your router need to support this option. The first thing to note is that most free VPNs don\u2019t offer network protection at the router level. Nor will your VPN run on the router if the VPN exists only<\/strong> in the form of a browser add-on or mobile app. If you\u2019re not sure whether your VPN supports router-based operation, read the manual or contact tech-support.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to find out the details from tech support, not just a \u201cyes\/no\u201d answer. What specific VPN protocol can be used for the router (and the whole network)? Are all the VPN servers you need available using this protocol? Armed with this knowledge, next go to the technical support site for your particular router.<\/p>\n

Router requirements<\/h2>\n

First of all, the router must support sending all home traffic through the VPN channel. These days even cheap models have this feature, but there are still cases when a router can\u2019t work with a VPN, especially if it\u2019s leased out by the internet service provider (ISP). What can also happen is that the VPN is already being used to create a channel from the router to the ISP and is a part of the standard home internet setup. This kind of \u201cVPN service\u201d usually doesn\u2019t provide the core benefits that most users want.<\/p>\n

You can check your router in three ways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Go to the web control panel (the address and password are usually shown on the underside of the router) and study the available settings<\/li>\n
  2. Read the documentation on the router vendor\u2019s website<\/li>\n
  3. Contact the vendor\u2019s technical support or \u2014 if you got the router from your provider \u2014 get in touch with its tech-support<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If your ISP doesn\u2019t offer VPN support, consider switching provider. If the problem lies with the router itself, check for an alternative firmware that has the functionality you need. The best known are DD-WRT<\/a> and OpenWRT<\/a> \u2014 the links point straight to a page where you can check your router\u2019s compatibility. Replacing the router firmware can be technically challenging, so make sure you fully understand both the procedure and risks before starting.<\/p>\n

    After making sure that the router offers VPN support in the first place, next check which specific VPN protocols it can use. The most common are OpenVPN<\/a> and WireGuard<\/a>, with each having its own pros and cons.<\/p>\n

    OpenVPN<\/strong> has been around for a very long time and is widely supported by routers, but doesn\u2019t usually provide maximum VPN speed, and also puts a heavy load on the router\u2019s processor. For cheap routers with a weak processor, this can affect their performance and overall Wi-Fi speed in the home.<\/p>\n

    The newer WireGuard<\/strong> protocol is very fast and secure. If you have a really fast Internet connection, WireGuard will outperform OpenVPN in terms of speed and a lower load on the router\u2019s processor. Among the disadvantages are the more involved initial setup (the user has to generate a pair of client keys) and fewer connection options: WireGuard binds the user to a specific server, OpenVPN \u2014 to a location, so the latter lets you switch to another server in the same location if the one previously used is down. Besides, not all routers recognize WireGuard.<\/p>\n

    And almost all routers support legacy L2TP\/IPsec<\/strong> and PPTP<\/strong> protocols. We do not recommend them<\/a>, because they fall short of the latest security standards and don\u2019t encrypt traffic by default. However, if the two more modern options are not available, and a VPN is still needed, better to use L2TP\/IPsec or PPTP with traffic encryption enabled than no VPN at all.<\/p>\n

    How to activate VPN on a router<\/h2>\n

    The specifics differ from provider to provider and from router to router, so we can only describe the setup in general terms.<\/p>\n

    The first step is to download the right VPN profile from the VPN website. The profile is usually individual, so you need to go to your personal account on the website and find the page with VPN profiles. This might be a list of protected devices where you can add a router, or a special Add Router<\/em> section, or a section for managing specific VPN protocols (OpenVPN, WireGuard) where you can generate the desired connection profile.<\/p>\n

    For example, for Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection<\/a>, you can create a router profile on the My Kaspersky<\/a> site in the Secure Connection<\/a> section in three simple steps. Currently, only an OpenVPN profile is offered for routers, but by end of 2023 we plan to provide WireGuard support as well (note that WireGuard is now available in our VPN<\/a> for Windows).<\/p>\n

    \"Creating<\/a>

    Creating an OpenVPN profile for a router on the My Kaspersky site.<\/p><\/div>\n

    When adding a new profile in your personal account, you need to answer certain questions. These include the profile name, your choice of server, and so on. The same window often provides space for technical details \u2014 such as private keys, names and passwords \u2014 but most providers support automatic generation of all this, in which case they can be left blank. Next, a link appears to download the .ovpn<\/strong> file for OpenVPN or .conf<\/strong> file for WireGuard.<\/p>\n

    For L2TP and PPTP, you don\u2019t need to download anything. Instead, you need to write down some information from your personal account:<\/p>\n