Browsing in a safe and secure way has become increasingly difficult: government agencies and telephone operators themselves can impose filters to monitor the Internet traffic of each user, so as to be able to track the activities carried out on the network (especially in the event of a massive exchange of files) . If we want to protect the entire traffic of our network and prevent someone from knowing exactly what we are downloading or exchanging, we will have to configure a VPN service directly inside the router, so that we can create a secure connection upstream and avoid any type of filtering and control over our line. In this guide we will show you how to configure VPN on a router, so as to protect our privacy and bypass the geographical filters or IP filters imposed by the providers. The procedure is not very difficult, but it may require additional hardware (therefore an additional expense in addition to the costs of the VPN).
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Preliminary information
When we talk about VPNs, in most cases we talk about web services that allow, through apps or special network configurations, to create an encrypted and secure tunnel to be exploited to be able to connect to the Internet and obtain a new IP, completely different from the real one provided by the Internet operator that we use. The best VPN services that we can activate can be found in our dedicated guide Best VPN services and programs . We remind you that many services offer a quantity of bandwidth that can be used for free, but that in many cases, given the huge amount of data that we can exchange in our network, it is always advisable to subscribe to a paid subscription in order to benefit from the maximum speed and to be able to exchange data without time and bandwidth limits (also H24).For our guide we will show you how to configure the VPN connection in a router using the ExpressVPN service, currently one of the best in the world for speed and connection capacity.
This type of service is not to be confused with the VPN available as a stand-alone service on many router models : in this case the router only offers the possibility to connect to it remotely, using another computer or smartphone, and therefore be as always connected to the home network (in this specific case we speak of the Extended LAN ). To understand the difference, just know that with this last service we will create a VPN tunnel from our computer or smartphon wherever we are and we will also be able to see the other computers on the network, as well as being connected as if we were inside the home network (therefore we will also have our home IP outside the home). For this type of connection we will create a dedicated guide in the future, since the topic is long enough to deserve a separate article.
Purchase the right router
After seeing the preliminary information, it's time to get down to business: in order to configure our local network to always take advantage of the masking VPN service, we will necessarily have to buy a dedicated router, even if we already have a modem or a modem / router provided by the operator.This is necessary because the modem component is not able to correctly route to the VPN server that we intend to configure (it will connect only to the assigned telephone exchange), while by connecting a separate router we will be able to create the "call" that allows you to create the VPN tunnel for the entire LAN.
In this regard, the best routers (without integrated modem) that we can buy in order to establish the VPN connection are the following:
- TP-Link Archer C7 (72 €)
- Netgear Wifi Router Ac1750 (102 €)
- TP-Link Archer C9 (111 €)
The chosen router will be connected to the home modem via Ethernet cable and thus creating a cascade, as described in detail in the guide on how to connect a new router to the modem without changing the network .
This step is essential in order to establish the VPN connection and hide the identity of all the devices used in the home; if you want to choose another router, make sure before purchasing that it supports the L2TP protocol.
Configure VPN on router
In this part of the guide we will show you the steps to follow in order to configure a VPN service (such as ExpressVPN) inside the router, in order to surf anonymously. After connecting the new router to the modem, we access the control panel of the latter and disable Wi-Fi and all the other useless settings (because they are now redundant); to facilitate the configuration, we bring the IP of the router into the DMZ of the modem, so that we can easily overcome the firewall and the NAT settings of the modem.After making this configuration, we access the configuration panel of the new router, activate the advanced settings (for example by clicking on the Advanced tab at the top or by selecting this mode in a dedicated drop-down menu) and go to the Internet settings, as shown in the image down.
From this screen we click on the Internet connection type menu and select L2TP, so as to unlock the parameters necessary to configure the VPN connection. Obviously the menus will be different according to the chosen router, but the steps are practically the same.
On the same page we click Dynamic IP, change the Connection Mode to Manual and set MTU to 1460 .
Now it's time to set up the VPN account: we access our email address where the welcome email was sent to the chosen VPN service or we access its website (from another computer or smartphone) and retrieve the following information :
- Username
- Password
- IP Server VPN
Having obtained this precious information, let's go back to the router's L2TP configuration screen and enter it in the appropriate fields.
After entering the items, scroll down the screen until you find the Save button, then press on Connect to start the VPN. If the settings are correct, we will be able to surf the Internet after a few seconds of waiting, using the set VPN server, using a completely different IP from that of our line (therefore completely anonymously); to verify the IP, we recommend that you connect directly to the My IP site.
To exit the VPN connection, simply return to the screen and click Disconnect to switch off the service and browse normally with your personal IP.
If we are looking for other methods to hide our identity on the Internet and surf anonymously, we invite you to read our two guides Surf the internet anonymously with proxies, vpn and fake IP addresses and Download Tor Browser anonymous, Italian, portable .
