VPN-capable routers have fast processors and special firmware (the router’s operating system) that allow them to directly connect to a VPN and protect your entire network. A VPN router allows you do connect an unlimited number of devices to an encrypted VPN tunnel, even devices that don’t have built-in VPN support like your Xbox, PS4, AppleTV, Roku, or Fire TV. A VPN router, on the other hand, protects all the devices on the network; without the need to install the software on each one. VPNs can only be installed on specific routers with firmware capable of handling VPN connections.
BestVPN RoutersWindows Central2019
One of the first steps in making sure your connection is secure and protecting your privacy online is using a virtual private network (VPN). You can set up a VPN on each device individually with support in new versions of Android and iOS as well as Mac, Windows, and Linux — and there are a ton of great VPN deals out there. The main problem is that it has to be set up on each device individually. The Asus RT-AC68U solves this by allowing you to program a VPN directly into the router with support for OpenVPN configurations. Currently, only Asus builds this functionality into its software out of the box but many router manufacturers like Linksys allow for custom firmware like DD-WRT, which is open source and adds OpenVPN support.
With a unique stand up design, the Asus RT-AC68U is not afraid to stand out. Three powerful antennas on top push the router's full AC1900 speed on Wi-Fi with 1300Mpbs at 5GHz and 600Mbps on 2.4Ghz. It also has a full host of connections on the back with a 4-port Ethernet switch, a USB 2.0, and a USB 3.0 port. The USB ports can be used with USB storage drives to provide fast access to files on your network.
After obtaining a VPN configuration file or the specific configuration details from your VPN provider, you can add it to the router's configuration software with a PC to get online securely. However, it's important to remember that while VPNs are getting faster all the time and speeds can vary between providers, connecting through a VPN will never be as fast as a direct connection.
Regardless, the RT-AC68U should be able to keep up with most of your online activity with Wi-Fi speeds fast enough for most everyday computing and video streaming. File transfers from a home server or synchronizing wireless devices could hit some buffering with a lot of simultaneous connections due to a lack of multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) support but should hold up fine for most home networks.
Pros:
- AC1900 wireless speeds
- 600Mbps on 2.4Ghz
- NVIDIA GameStream Ready
- USB storage support
- Native VPN support
Best Overall
Asus RT-AC68U
A balance of speed
The Asus RT-AC68U brings out-of-the-box software support for use with a VPN service. It provides those features with AC1900 Wi-Fi speeds and four Ethernet ports. This should be the only networking equipment most people need.
First and foremost, this router will not work with your VPN service out of the box. If you are the type of person that would be comfortable installing and testing custom software on your router, the Linksys WRT3200ACM is a compelling product when you install something like DD-WRT. To be clear, it's possible to install this software on a lot of different routers but this Linksys router is open-source ready and has a processor powerful enough to not get bogged down.
Once the software is taken care of, the WRT3200ACM's 1.8Ghz dual-core CPU pushes high Wi-Fi 5 speeds at AC3200 and four gigabit Ethernet connections. With four antennas and MU-MIMO management, consistency is kept high and buffering is minimized. The classic blue and black design brings back memories of the popular WRT54G and feels at home in any computer room.
It has to be stressed that custom software on the router will not be supported by Linksys' customer support and the user will be responsible for troubleshooting problems. Please be sure you are comfortable with this before choosing this as your VPN router.
Pros:
- AC3200 wireless speeds
- USB 3.0 and ESATA for storage
- MU-MIMO
- Classic design
Cons:
- Custom software required
- No customer support for software
Best with custom software
Linksys WRT3200ACM
Classic appeal, custom feel
With the sort of power you would expect in enterprise equipment, the Linksys WRT3200ACM compromises very little in pursuit of speed. AC3200 speeds and MU-MIMO support seek to put an end to buffering.
Don't let its lower price fool you. This router can keep up.
Setting up a VPN asks more of your router's CPU than most tasks. At 1Ghz, you can be sure the Asus RT-AC66U has the power you'll need to push its AC1750 speeds and keep things fast while connected. This router has a traditional layout with a USB 3.0 port on the front and a USB 2.0 port and four gigabit Ethernet ports on the back. Placing the faster USB port on the front of the router means you'll have to have a cable running out of the front of the router if you want USB 3.0 speeds for your storage drives. Swapping the USB placement or making both support 3.0 speed would have been more useful.
The RT-AC66U can be set up like other Asus routers to take advantage of your VPN service out of the box. It sacrifices top speed and NVIDIA GameStream support when compared to its big brothers and provides an adequate experience for the majority of users, only slowing down with 4K streams or large file transfers. It also keeps the three antennas on the back to make sure your signal strength stays high throughout your home.
Cons:
- No MU-MIMO
- No USB 3.0 speed on back
- NVIDIA GameStream is absent
Best Value
Asus RT-AC66U
Good enough for most of us
When it comes down to it, most people will be well served by a router with this feature set. The Asus RT-AC66U brings a touch of subtlety in its design but still delivers with specs that are good enough for most.
If Lamborghini designed a router it would look a lot like the Asus RT-AX88U. The AX in the model name refers to 802.11ax, which has recently been renamed Wi-Fi 6. It's a huge leap in speed and efficiency making this device one of the fastest consumer routers on the market. It keeps up the high-end specs with a 1.8Ghz quad-core CPU, eight gigabit Ethernet ports, and two USB 3.1 ports.
Supporting VPN service out of the box, this router is capable of delivering top Wi-Fi speeds to your Wi-Fi 5 devices and future Wi-Fi 6 devices. That means approximately 6Gbps on Wi-Fi 6. This router does have a large footprint to go with its powerful hardware but this isn't the sort of device you buy to hide behind a picture frame.
This is really a zero compromise router if you want or need to get online with a VPN. This product will be an upgrade for pretty much anyone and you would be hard pressed to get this router to bottleneck anything for years.
Pros:
- Ultimate Wi-Fi 6 speeds
- Eight Ethernet ports
- Native VPN support
- Fast quad-core CPU
Best with Wi-Fi 6
Asus RT-AX88U
Ultimate everything
When there is no room for compromise in your network the Asus RT-AX88U has all of the new features you expect and cuts no corners. The designers have chosen to show off those corners from every angle as well.
Bottom line
If you are willing to install custom firmware on your router, you can get a VPN running on nearly any model. If you want something to work out of the box, you are going to want to go with one of these Asus routers. The Asus RT-AC68U provides a great balance of speed and features to get your network running smoothly with a VPN for internet access. A VPN is easily set up in the setting menu once you get configuration details from your VPN provider. Thanks to these Asus routers, the flexibility from Linksys, and the people making the open source software, protecting your privacy online has never been easier.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Samuel Contreras When Samuel is not writing about networking at Windows Central, he spends most of his time researching computer components and obsessing over what CPU goes into the ultimate Windows 98 computer. It's the Pentium 3.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.
Best VPN Routers in 2019
Best Overall
Asus RT-AC68U
$136 from AmazonBest with custom software
Linksys WRT3200ACM
$230 from AmazonBest Value
Asus RT-AC66U
$100 from AmazonBest with Wi-Fi 6
Asus RT-AX88U
$340 from Amazon Installing a custom firmware on your Wi-Fi router is like God Mode for your home network. You can see everything going on, boost your Wi-Fi signal, beef up your security, and even do advanced tricks like install your own VPN. Still, there are so many options available it can be tough to pick the right one. Here’s what you need to know.
Why Bother Anyway?
Installing your own custom firmware isn’t just an afternoon project for alpha-geeks looking for something cool to do—it actually makes your router better. Pick the right one and you can monitor your network in real time, make sure your roommate doesn’t slow down your Netflix binge by downloading music (but make sure your music downloads are nice and fast), make your network friendly to guests but unfriendly to intruders, and more. Open firmware gives you more control over your Wi-Fi performance, and most even let you crank up your Wi-Fi signal so that one corner of the house doesn’t have to be a dead zone anymore. You also get perks like the ability to run your own VPN at home (something you should definitely try), and are updated to fix security problems way more frequently than the manufacturer updates their stock software, both of which are huge for security.
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Read more Read Sure, it may take a little work, but if you’re up to the task, you’ll get a faster, more secure home network, and one you’re in total control over at all times. If your speed drops, you’ll know exactly why. You’ll be able to log and monitor your connection to make sure your service provider (like Comcast or Verizon) isn’t throttling you down because you dared to watch Netflix or fire up Spotify.
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The Big Three: DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato
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Some of the most popular open router firmwares are names you may have heard already, like DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato. We’ve shown you how to install DD-WRT on your router before, and shown you how to supercharge a router with Tomato, but here’s a quick refresher on how they differ:
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- OpenWRT is the firmware from which many others were born. It’s completely open source and customizable, based on the Linux kernel, supports package management and has tons of extra add-ons and utilities. It’s not the easiest to use and install, but it supports the broadest base of hardware, from powerful and high-end home routers to pocket-sized travel routers and even enterprise hardware. It offers the most features of any open firmware, but it can often be tricky to configure. For example, OpenWRT supports just about any Linux device you can put on a network (like printers, webcams, and more), has a rich interface, real-time network monitoring, built-in dynamic DNS (so you can access your home computers from afar), IP tunneling for a built-in VPN, built-in Quality of Service (QoS) that lets you prioritize some things (like streaming or VoIP calls) over others (like torrents or other downloads, for example), and so on. You can check out supported devices here.
- DD-WRT is based on OpenWRT. DD-WRT carries a lot of OpenWRT’s features, like real-time monitoring, access control, QoS, and the ability to set up your own VPN, all packaged behind a more user-friendly interface. You also get extra features like Wake-On-LAN, so you can put computers on your home network to sleep, but wake them up when you need to connect to them from abroad. It’s easier to install than OpenWRT, and a bit easier to manage as well. It doesn’t support as many devices as OpenWRT, but it does support some of the most common home routers. You can search to see if your router is supported here.
- Tomato Firmware is most notable because it’s super lightweight, its user interface is intuitive, and it’s even easier than DD-WRT to install and use., Its biggest strength is its real-time bandwidth and connection monitoring, which mean you can see everything that happens on your network as it’s happening, which is great for troubleshooting connection problems or making sure there’s no one creeping on your network. It’s also lean, and unlike other firmwares here, it’s designed so you don’t have to reboot the router after every little change. Similarly, it makes increasing your Wi-Fi signal strength easier than a lot of the others here. Even advanced features like firewall configuration and access controls are easy to approach, even by new users. Tomato’s only downside is that it supports relatively few devices. You can see if your router is supported here.
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For most people, one of these three will support the device you have and give you all of the features you could possibly need. Of the three, DD-WRT is the most well-supported on home routers, and it’s relatively easy to install and set up. Tomato is the most user-friendly, and certainly the most attractive of the three, but it supports the fewest devices. OpenWRT supports the most gear in general, including stuff only a network engineer would use, but its learning curve can be steep. It’s also the most moddable and tweakable, and a good option if you have hardware that’s not supported by anything else. Even so, they’re not your only options by a long shot.
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While those three may be the most well known and most popular, there are tons of others to choose from as well. Here’s a rundown of all of your options:
- Gargoyle is also based on OpenWRT, specifically designed to be lightweight and for Broadcom and Atheros-based router hardware. It’s tiny, easy to install, has a great-looking web management page, and supports a number of travel and portable routers. It’s most notable for its ability to limit bandwidth to certain IP addresses or give you unique insight into how your bandwidth is being used. Gargoyle is ideal for people who have travel routers, or if you’re the type who’s less concerned with stuff like security and Wi-Fi signal and more concerned with how everyone in your house is using your bandwidth. It’s perfect for people with bandwidth caps. You can check out supported routers here, or buy one of their open hardware routers with Gargoyle pre-installed from their site.
- LibreWRT is a completely free and open firmware that’s adheres to the Free Software Foundation’s Free System Distribution Guidelines. If you’re wondering what router firmware someone who lives and dies by open-source like Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds would pick, this is probably it. LibreWRT is also designed to be a lightweight option for aspiring developers to get involved with and contribute to. It’s also based on OpenWRT, but it supports only a handful of devices (although you can certainly build it yourself, although it’s not a project for beginners.)
- DebWRT is another umbrella firmware that has a number of derivatives. Users of Debian-based Linux systems—like Ubuntu or Linux Mint—will appreciate it, since it’s essentially Debian, built on top of OpenWRT, and designed to run on home routers. It includes all of the basics you need, but it’s not the most feature-rich on its own. You’ll need to add packages and additional tools to make the most of it, and its command-line interface isn’t exactly the most beginner-friendly (although, if you’re already familiar with Debian, it’ll seem like home to you.) It also helps that it offers everything you would get in a standard Debian install, along with its package manager and any compatible utilities. Still, it’s probably not for the faint of heart.
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These are just the largest derivatives of the three major players. They’re great, but if you like the look of OpenWRT but need something specific, check out its other derivatives. For example, Gargoyle was designed to give OpenWRT a friendly, usable web interface that made customizing and setting it up simpler. Many of these also support third-party plugins for features like an at-home VPN, mesh networking to connect your network with the home networks of your friends, or any other more complicated setup you may have in mind. If you’re willing to get your hands dirty and you have some coding experience, you can rebuild any of these to make your own tweaks, or add your own packages.
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Start with What Your Hardware Supports and Browse by Features
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If you’re trying to decide between any of these firmware options, the first thing to consider is the router you have, and what open firmware supports it. If you’ve ever installed your own firmware, you know this already. Odds are yours—even if it’s a newer 802.11ac model is supported by one of these options, you just have to figure out which one.
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If you only find one option that supports your router, the decision is made for you. If you find several, choose based on your needs, but don’t forget to see how well supported the firmware is. Are there guides or documentation you can follow, or forums where you can get help? You want the best option for you, but you also don’t want to be out in the cold if you have trouble. “Once you’ve picked your firmware of choice, just follow the installation instructions they provide—but for more information, check out our guides on installing DD-WRT and Tomato here.
Where to Go for Help
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Finally, if you’re still stuck, or you don’t know whether a particular firmware will do what you want it to do, do some digging. Like we mentioned, many of these projects have forums for users to discuss the project and troubleshoot one anothers’ issues. Beyond that, Google your router model and the firmware you’re looking at to find out if it’s compatible, or if anyone out there is complaining about it before you install it yourself. After all, once it’s installed and set up, it’ll be your gateway to the internet, so after you’ve done the job isn’t the time to start doing research.
If you can’t find an open firmware that supports your router, or the one you want doesn’t work with the router you have, you do have the option to buy a router specifically for the firmware you want to run. Check the compatibility list for the firmware you want to run and pick your favorite router model from that list. That way you know you’ll get a router that’ll work without trouble. Alternatively, you could buy a router with your firmware pre-installed. For example, Buffalo sells routers with DD-WRT pre-installed, and some VPN providers even sell routers with open firmware installed and their VPN set up and ready to go. TorGuard and SlickVPN both do this. Just make sure you get the features that matter to you in the router as well as the firmware you want before you buy.
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Title image made using kentoh (Shutterstock), Viktorus (Shutterstock), and ridjam (Shutterstock). Additional images by audioreservoir, Arkadiusz Sikorski, Kevin Jarrett, and Thees.
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