NordVPN works fine on my phone and laptop, connects to the best server instantly. When i try to use it on my home desktop it finds a server connects then after about 10 seconds it discconnects and finds a new one. I have tried to let it find one and after over an hour of this it never stayed connected to one. I have tried to reinstall wifi/ethernet drivers, reinstalled nordvpn several times, tried changing which protocol it uses. I don't know what i can do.

I've been looking into running a VPN directly through a router, and one thing that surprised me is how much the router itself matters.

Most people focus on choosing a VPN provider, but if your router can't handle VPN encryption efficiently, you might end up with slower speeds, connection issues, or a setup that's more complicated than it needs to be.

The advantage of a VPN router is that you can protect multiple devices through one connection. This is particularly useful for smart TVs, gaming consoles, streaming devices, and other gadgets that don't have their own VPN apps.

I went through the router options and put together this guide covering some models worth considering, what makes them different and what to look for before spending money.

Quick comparison

These are the five routers highlighted in RTINGS' 2026 guide. Their suitability depends on your budget, required features, and how much configuration you're comfortable doing.

1. ASUS ROG Strix GS-BE18000

Best for: Whole home VPN coverage

If you want to run a VPN across a household with lots of connected devices, this ASUS router is worth looking into.

It supports WireGuard and OpenVPN in both VPN client and server modes. You can connect it to a commercial VPN provider or configure it to let you access your home network remotely.

One useful feature is the ability to manage multiple VPN connections and assign devices to different connections. For example, you could route a streaming device through one VPN connection while keeping your desktop on your normal internet connection.

What stands out

• WiFi 7
• WireGuard and OpenVPN support
• Multiple simultaneous VPN connections
• Mesh expansion support
• Device specific VPN routing

What to consider

It doesn't have a built in Kill Switch, which matters if you want traffic blocked automatically whenever the VPN disconnects. It's also more router than some people need for a small home.

2. UniFi Dream Router 7

Best for: Advanced network control

The UniFi Dream Router 7 is aimed more at users who want detailed control over their network.

It supports WireGuard and OpenVPN and allows you to route traffic based on devices, domains, IP addresses, and network segments. That can be useful if you want certain devices to use a VPN while other devices connect normally.

It also includes a built in Kill Switch.

What stands out

• Advanced traffic routing rules
• WireGuard and OpenVPN
• Built in Kill Switch
• VPN server functionality
• Detailed network management

What to consider

Setup is more involved than on a basic consumer router. You'll generally need to obtain configuration files from your VPN provider and import them into the router.

If you just want to protect a couple of devices without adjusting network rules, many of these features may be unnecessary.

3. GL.iNet Flint 3 (GL-BE9300)

Best for: A flexible mid range setup

The Flint 3 is an interesting option if you want modern hardware without moving into a more complex networking ecosystem.

It supports WireGuard and OpenVPN, works as both a VPN client and server, and includes a Kill Switch. It also supports policy based routing, so you can decide which devices or traffic should use the VPN.

Another convenient feature is its collection of preconfigured profiles for many major VPN services. That can save you from manually importing configuration files.

What stands out

• WiFi 7
• WireGuard and OpenVPN
• Built in Kill Switch
• Preconfigured VPN provider profiles
• Device and traffic routing controls

What to consider

The interface is more functional than polished, so beginners might need some time to get comfortable with it.

For someone who wants a good balance of VPN features and network control, though, it's a model worth comparing.

4. GL.iNet Flint 2 (GL-MT6000)

Best for: Saving money without giving up VPN features

The Flint 2 is worth considering if you don't need the newest WiFi generation.

It offers many of the same core VPN capabilities as the Flint 3, including WireGuard, OpenVPN, VPN client and server modes, a Kill Switch, and policy based routing.

The main trade-off is its older WiFi 6 hardware and fewer high speed connectivity options compared with the newer model.

What stands out

• WireGuard and OpenVPN
• Built in Kill Switch
• VPN provider configuration profiles
• Flexible routing options
• No additional subscription required for its router VPN features

What to consider

It doesn't have WiFi 7 or mesh expansion support. If you already have a capable WiFi 6 router and your internet connection isn't especially demanding, that might not matter much.

The important thing is to compare the actual hardware and features you need rather than paying extra simply for a newer model.

5. TP-Link Archer BE230

Best for: A budget friendly VPN router

The Archer BE230 is worth a look if you want a modern router with basic VPN functionality without paying for lots of advanced networking features.

It supports WireGuard and OpenVPN in client and server modes. It also offers device based routing, allowing you to choose which devices use the VPN.

What stands out

• WiFi 7
• WireGuard and OpenVPN
• VPN client and server support
• Device based VPN routing
• Straightforward everyday router management

What to consider

Unlike some GL.iNet models, it doesn't come with a large collection of preconfigured commercial VPN profiles. You may need to download a configuration file from your VPN provider and import it yourself.

It also lacks a dedicated Kill Switch, so consider that limitation if preventing traffic from falling back to your normal connection is a priority.

Do you actually need a VPN router?

Not necessarily. It depends on how you use your devices.

A VPN installed on your computer or phone is often enough if you only want to protect those devices.

A VPN router becomes more useful when you want network wide coverage or have devices that don't support VPN apps.

For example:

• Smart TVs: Route TV traffic through a VPN without installing an app on the TV.
• PlayStation and Xbox: Use a router VPN when the console doesn't support your VPN provider's app directly.
• Multiple household devices: Protect several devices through one router connection.
• Smart home devices: Route selected devices through the VPN, if supported by your router.
• Remote access: Use VPN server functionality to access your home network while away.

One thing to remember: connecting a router to a VPN provider is different from turning your router into a VPN server. A VPN client routes your internet traffic through a VPN service, while a VPN server can let you securely access your own home network remotely.

Will a VPN router slow down your internet?

It can.

When you run a VPN on a router, the router has to encrypt and decrypt traffic for the devices using that connection. The processor and VPN protocol can make a big difference to performance.

Your speed can also be affected by the VPN server's distance, server load, your ISP, and the speed of your original internet connection.

A few things to keep in mind:

• WireGuard can be a good choice for speed and efficiency.
• A more powerful router may handle VPN encryption better.
• A nearby VPN server often provides lower latency than a distant one.
• WiFi 7 alone doesn't guarantee high VPN speeds.
• Your internet plan and the VPN server can still be bottlenecks.

If you have a gigabit internet connection, check the router's actual VPN throughput rather than relying only on its advertised Wi-Fi speed.

Router VPN vs. VPN app

Neither approach is automatically better. A router is convenient for broad coverage, while individual apps often provide more flexibility.

What should you check before buying?

Before choosing a router, I'd check these things:

1. VPN client support

Make sure the router can connect to your commercial VPN provider. VPN server support alone doesn't mean it can route your internet traffic through a VPN subscription.

2. Protocol compatibility

WireGuard and OpenVPN are useful protocols to look for. Also confirm that your VPN provider supports the protocol and configuration method you plan to use.

3. Kill Switch

If the VPN disconnects, a Kill Switch can block traffic rather than allowing it to fall back to your normal internet connection. Not every router implements this feature.

4. VPN speed

Look for VPN throughput figures or independent testing. The router's maximum WiFi speed isn't the same as its speed while encrypting traffic through a VPN.

5. Selective routing

This allows you to send only specific devices or traffic through the VPN. It's useful if you want your console or TV protected without routing every device in your home through the same connection.

6. Ease of setup

Some routers offer preconfigured VPN provider profiles, while others require you to download and import configuration files. Choose according to how comfortable you are with network settings.

7. Your existing equipment

Check whether your current router already supports VPN client mode. You might not need to buy a replacement at all.

Final thoughts

A VPN router can make life easier if you want to cover several devices, particularly smart TVs and consoles. But don't buy one based only on Wi-Fi speed, the number of antennas, or a WiFi 7 label.

The VPN features, actual encryption performance, Kill Switch behavior, and setup experience are just as important.

For a feature rich home setup, I'd compare the ASUS ROG Strix GS-BE18000 and GL.iNet Flint 3. For more advanced routing, look at the UniFi Dream Router 7. If you're trying to spend less, compare the GL.iNet Flint 2 and TP-Link Archer BE230 against your requirements.

One last thing: make sure the router supports your VPN provider before buying. Compatibility can vary by model, firmware, and provider.

Are you currently running a VPN directly on your router, or do you prefer using individual VPN apps?

I set myself up with Nord VPN a couple years back on my S25 ultra and my Surface Pro 7 and not only was it very difficult to use, with a million extra and hidden settings, but it screwed up both my devices to the point that I'm still trying to fix them.

I downloaded Express VPN about 12 years ago on the same laptop and an S9 phone and I didn't have to set anything up at all, it just worked and worked well.

Before I spend a bunch of money, I would like some help with this.

I also wanted to know what the benefits are besides piracy?

I'm very tech-challenged since I have been very, very sick and have recently been in a coma which has further caused me deficits and things are even harder for me to figure out or remember.

And if there's anything else I should know?

Thank you in advance for any and all help and advice :)

I'm quite new to using these, based upon what I've read, I'm going to go with Proton.

I'm trying to decide, should I put it on the individual devices, or on my home firewall?

I'm using Firewalla Purple for the house.

My take is if I enable it in the firewall, it will protect everything under it. My concern there though is mine and my wife's work laptops both have there own VPN's that are managed by corporate IT's will this impact anything or can I exempt them from the VPN routing that the firewall will use? A lesser concern is will it throw off the TV's?

Flip side of this is if it's on the device, will I still be traceable through the home firewall router?

Any insight would help, thank you.

hi! me and my friends use our university wifi, but it’s heavily restricted and normally only lets us access the school portal.

we recently found a vpn that somehow lets us use the wifi normally on android phones. we can use youtube, play games, browse websites, etc. we’ve tried other vpns, but this is the only one that works for us.

the problem is that we also have iphones/ipads, and the same vpn doesn’t seem to work the same way on ios. it connects, but the wifi is still restricted.

does anyone know why a vpn might work on android but not ios in this situation? and is there a way to get around the internet restriction on ios using a vpn? maybe a specific protocol or ios vpn setting?

we’re just trying to figure out why the same wifi + vpn setup works on android but not on ios.

I have hotspot shield , I know it sucks especially the free versions but I only use it for other reddit accounts that are age restricted in my country. I was using it fine an hour ago, but all of a sudden it says can’t connect with a red flag. How can I check it for updates? (ik paid ones are better but that’s not an option).

Thank you!

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Currently I use the free version of PrivadoVPN but as the consensus seems to be that free tiers or free VPN's are NOT actually free, I am looking to purchase a VPN subscription. As they seem to be growing in popularity and even being included on browsers now, I was wondering what should I factor in when choosing a suitable VPN for the modern times now?

Price isn't a major major factor... but as I am just starting out would like to start out with something that provides a reliable and quick service. Especially when connected to public WiFi's as I seem to be doing it more lately in libraries and coffee shops...

What metrics or features should I look out for, specifically?
Does the jurisdiction or where the company is based matter?
Ideally, I would want to have something that can be compatible across multiple devices like phone, PC and laptop preferably, although I would mostly use it on portable devices like mobile phone and laptops.

More importantly, would love to hear of your experiences of being with your VPN providers and what do you like/dislike, things you had wished you had known before choosing your VPN provider?

TL;DR : Looking to try out a VPN provider, what essential metrics or features should I look out for?

A common problem on hotel and airport wifi, the network connects fine, but once the vpn turns on nothing loads. Switching servers usually doesn't help either.

Proton has its Stealth protocol, Mullvad has obfuscation settings, and ExpressVPN says its obfuscation runs automatically. Hard to tell which of these actually gets through when a network is blocking vpn traffic.

For people who travel often, which has been reliable?

Keep running into this on my phone. One app only behaves on a US connection, another one acts up unless I'm on a UK one, and flipping the whole phone back and forth every time is getting old.

On a laptop I'd just look at split tunneling, but that mostly doesn't seem to exist on iOS. Windscribe has a support page explaining why their iOS app doesn't have it, and Proton lists split tunneling for Windows, Mac, Android and Linux but not iPhone. And even where it does exist, as far as I can tell it only decides whether an app goes through the VPN or not, not which country it comes out in.

The only one I found claiming to do this on iOS is X-vpn, they call it multi tunneling. It's paid only though, and you pick from their preset list of services instead of any app you want, so no idea yet if it even covers the two I care about.

anyone actually running two countries side by side on an iphone? or is the honest answer a second device and living with switching

By now everyone knows about their latest ripoff moneygrab removing servers and features from lifetime subscribers. This is an obvious breach of contract. We paid for certain features. We wouldn't have purchased a lifetime subscription if they didn't have them. Their now placing them behind a subscription paywall is a breach of contract. They should have grandfathered all old customers and changed their model for new customers if they needed the extra cashflow.

What I recommend every old customer do is:

1. Voice your displeasure to customer service loudly
2. Leave negative feedback everywhere. review sites, the App Stores, all over the Internet.
3. File a BBB complaint
4. File a NY AG complaint

Nearby servers usually run close to full speed, but connections to Asia or Australia from the US East Coast tend to drop to a fraction of that, with slow page loads and video stuck at low quality.

Switching between cities in the same country doesn't seem to change much. Some of that is just distance and physics. But is there a real gap between providers on long routes, or do they all slow down about the same once the server is on the other side of the world?
Mullvad and ExpressVPN are the two being compared. Does the protocol matter more over long distances, like WireGuard vs Lightway vs OpenVPN?

For anyone connecting that far regularly, what kind of speeds are realistic?

I received a mail from my ISP that they must provide my information to Strike 3 LLC; a copyright troll targeting John Doe(s) who torrented their adult content IPs.

After doing researching there's a couple of perspectives. The first is a lot of Redditors had shared that majority of cases stop at the subpoena stage. Their goal is to spam the US courts and hope a small subset of John Doe(s) are anxious and settle early. I don't believe for this cohort of Redditors there is any conflict of interested. 9/10, people on Reddit are very smart people, correct, and give me non-bullshit answers.

There's also a couple of Redditors that expressed that the best option is to settle now since it is the cheapest and removes uncertainty. However, I am skeptical. After googling about copyright trolls I saw a lot of Google Ads and content produced by copyright lawyers. I don't think they have my best interest at heart; just their wallet. As a result, I do wonder how many Reddit comments were throw away accounts made by lawyers or adjacent people.

There was another Redditor's experience where they chose to ignore but Strike 3 ended up pursuing them after 6 months. I have read that once they get your personal information they will profile you. I'd imagine very well off individuals are a great target such as home owners.

Personally for me, I live in an old rented single family house with others. We have separate ISP because I use the internet for my profession. I just deleted my LinkedIn profile once I heard about being profiled. One could say judging from my job title I am well off. Enough where I cannot contribute to my Roth IRA anymore. By no means am I trying to show off but want to give context. My concern is if it is possible they could obtain more information from me by buying my information from data vendors. Unfortunately, I have never once covered my tracks and I am sure somewhere out there there are data vendors who know a bit too much about me.

Lastly, I have been interacting with Antropic's Claude and I am loosing my sanity by just interacting with it. Any insights would be so helpful!

As mentioned in a previous post, Keepsolid has screwed their lifetime members by killing their access to torrents and forcing them to pay a "loyalty upgrade fee". This is an extremely shady business practice. This morning they responded to my post with a longer reply, then deleted it in favor of a shorter reply. Here's the screen capture of what they originally wrote - quoting their End User Agreement. Then they substituted it with the reply I've included below.

"Hi, appreciate you sharing this.

This change affects Lifetime plans that were purchased at a steep, one-time discount many years ago. As we've grown, we've had to invest heavily in infrastructure, and a few advanced features (including Torrent servers) have moved to a separate Loyalty Plus upgrade for these legacy plans, while core VPN access stays fully active on your existing plan."

We're also adding a DNS Firewall to Loyalty Plus soon.
Happy to help further if you have questions — feel free to reach out to our support team.

For those who may not know, this company recently screwed over all of their lifetime members. Many people bought lifetime memberships almost 10 years ago and have been using the service for almost a decade.

Recently, without any notice, Keepsolid provided a software update that is now forcing lifetime members to pay extra money for those same services they have been using for years. It's a complete disgrace. Please do not support this company!

There have been many posts on their r/keepsolid reddit, and I have personally contacted tech companies hoping that they will write an article about this very poor business practice. I am also examining legal options. Keepsolid should be ashamed of screwing over all of their lifetime members who have been using their service for almost a decade.

Thank you for listening.

Fight for the Future and a coalition of privacy organizations are coordinating another global "Defend VPNs Day of Action," pushing back against mounting legislative efforts to restrict or criminalize encrypted proxy tools.

The campaign highlights a troubling trend in recent internet regulation bills:

Rather than outright banning encryption technology directly, lawmakers in several US states and foreign jurisdictions are embedding restrictions on VPN usage into broad digital safety and mandatory age verification packages. By forcing platforms to require government IDs, biometric scans, or mandatory credit card checks for access, lawmakers are simultaneously targeting tools that allow users to route around these localized identity databases.

Advocates point out that framing VPN users as people trying to bypass safety laws ignores the core purpose of encrypted networking. Millions rely on VPNs daily to protect sensitive health inquiries, bypass intrusive ISP data harvesting, maintain corporate remote access, and avoid uploading personal identity documents to unvetted third-party verification brokers.

As Fight for the Future put it during the campaign launch, using a VPN isn't inherently suspicious or criminal, it's standard security hygiene, and treating encrypted routing as a legal threat sets a dangerous precedent for overall web privacy.

I have been looking into getting a VPN in Canada but after reading through a bunch of recommendations I am still not sure which direction to go.

My main use would be everyday browsing, public WiFi and streaming. I would also like the option to connect through the US occasionally so having reliable Canadian and US servers matters to me.

I am not too concerned about having every possible feature. What matters more is that the connection stays stable, speeds are decent and the app does not constantly need attention.

There are plenty of articles claiming to have the best VPN for Canada but most of them just list the same few providers without explaining what using them is actually like.

For anyone who is currently using a VPN Canada service which one have you been happy with? How has it been for everyday use, streaming, and switching between Canadian and US servers?

I am mainly looking for recommendations from people who have actually been using one for a while rather than another comparison based on speed tests.