Virtual private networks, or VPNs, are an essential tool in any internet privacy toolbox. They mask your public IP address, encrypt your traffic by routing it through secure servers and can make it appear as if you’re connecting from another location.
To use a regular VPN, you have to log in on each device that you want it to be activated, and you’re typically limited to a certain number of active sessions at any given time.
You can also install a VPN directly onto your Wi-Fi router to protect all the devices that connect to it. That’s really a question of convenience, according to David Barger, a network consultant at Crosstalk Solutions.
“When you use a separate application you have to remember to turn it on every time you want that extra peace of mind,” Barger said. “If you are using a VPN router, with the VPN configured properly, you know you are protected when you connect to it.”
I test and review routers for CNET, but I’ve never tried one with a VPN installed. I decided to test it out with my home router. I learned that for that extra layer of low-maintenance security, you will have to do a little bit of upfront legwork. Fortunately, it’s pretty light legwork — think power walk, not deadlift.
I’ll take you through my experience and everything else you need to know to get a VPN installed on your router as simply as possible.
Which routers let you install VPNs?
If you’ve purchased a router in the past few years, there’s a good chance it will allow you to install a VPN. (Routers issued by internet service providers are the exception, as these will never let you install a VPN directly.)
That said, some routers only work with specific VPN services. Below is a quick list of instructions from popular router manufacturers, along with links to their models that accept VPNs. A few of these models are also CNET’s best tested Wi-Fi routers, including the ASUS (best overall) and TP-Link (best budget), both of which also earned Editors’ Choice accolades.
The only router companies I found that don’t let you install a VPN are Eero and Google Nest. Eero does offer VPN service through Guardian when you subscribe to its Eero Plus service ($10 a month or $100 a year), but you’d have to add a non-Google router to install a VPN directly.
How to install a VPN on your existing router
Installing a VPN on your router isn’t as complicated as it seems. It only took me about 10 minutes from start to finish, and that’s including the time it took me to subscribe to the VPN service. We recommend connecting through OpenVPN or WireGuard protocols for a secure connection.
Log in to your router’s settings
No matter which type of router or VPN you’re using, this is where you’ll start. Most routers require you to set up an account when you first install them, and this is the same login you’ll use to install the VPN. If you’ve never set this up before, you can find the factory login at the bottom of your router. Now is a great time to create a unique and strong password for your router, too. We recommend changing this every six months.
Download the VPN firmware (potentially)
Depending on which VPN service you choose, you may need to download firmware for your specific router. ExpressVPN, for example, has a list of routers that come with firmware downloads, but you also have the option to install it manually. NordVPN, on the other hand, directs you to log in with a username and password that it provides you in its configuration settings.
ExpressVPN had me download firmware for your specific router model during configuration.
Configure the VPN service
This step will look slightly different depending on which kind of router you use, but the list of routers above provides relatively simple instructions for each brand.
The steps usually look like this: Find the settings that include “VPN” — often under the Advanced Settings — then add a VPN server from a dropdown menu. This is where you’ll select the VPN firmware that you downloaded in the previous section.
NordVPN directed me to log in with a username and password provided in its configuration settings.
Connect to the VPN
Once you’ve added the VPN’s firmware to your router’s settings, the final step is flip the switch on. In TP-Link’s settings — the router I use — that just meant toggling an “Enable” bar. Keep in mind, you’ll also have to have the VPN service set up before you can activate it on your router.
TP-Link’s settings require you to toggle the VPN to “on” after you install it.
Purchasing a router with VPN built-in
If that all sounds like too much of a hassle, there is another way: Buy a router that comes preconfigured with a VPN. You’ll have limited options if you go this route, but it’s hard to beat for simplicity.
ExpressVPN, our choice for the best VPN overall, sells a travel router and a home router, and both include six months of VPN service right now. Another popular option is the Privacy Hero 2, which describes itself as an “official partner” with NordVPN, but also works with ProtonVPN, IPVanish, Private Internet Access, Surfshark and others. Privacy Hero 2 earned the “best VPN router overall” badge of honor from our sister site ZDNET. It comes with one year of VPN service.
We haven’t had a chance to try these models out at CNET’s lab yet, but they’ll be high on my list for our next round of testing.
Will using a VPN affect my router’s speed?
Slower internet speeds are a sacrifice that all VPN users are faced with. CNET’s VPN expert Attila Tomaschek estimates that speeds can be diminished by 50% or more when using a VPN.
There are a number of things you can do to get that number down, like connecting to a server closer to you, using a different VPN protocol or enabling split tunnelling. But the most effective choice you can make is to pick a fast VPN in the first place. The best VPNs in CNET’s tests cut speeds by less than 25%, compared to the 50% we saw from other services.
The split tunneling feature in most VPN apps will help you sort your online activity between tasks that need the VPN treatment, such as streaming from different regions, while letting you keep other tasks outside the slower VPN tunnel — letting you preserve max speeds for downloads, for example.
Should you install a VPN on your router?
Whether or not installing a VPN directly on your router is a good idea depends on what you’ll be using it for. If privacy is your main reason for using a VPN, it makes sense that you would want to encrypt all of the data coming in and out of your home, not just to a device or two. In that case, installing the VPN on your router is your best bet.
If you’re using a VPN to mask your location so you can access geographically blocked content, you don’t necessarily need to install it on your router, just the device that will be accessing the content. In these kinds of one-off cases, it’s probably not worth slowing down all of the traffic coming in from your router.
