These days, you need as much internet security as possible. Whether it's telecommuting or just watching your favorite show on a TV screen, you need maximum security. smart TV the average consumer's attack surface is three to four times larger than when most of us had just one PC. It's not just a hassle, it's also a hassle, as you'll need to install protection software on all those devices. But if you can't get away with installing separate antivirus software on each device, you can at least make sure your antivirus software is effective. virtual private network (VPN) by skipping the per-device procedure and simply installing a global VPN on your router.

Why a VPN?

VPNs are internet security staples for a number of reasons. First, they make your computer appear to be in a different geographic location than where you actually are. In effect, you connect to a server operated by the VPN provider and run your web sessions from there. This means that when cookies or big bad government agencies try to track you from your web activities, they will find the VPN provider's server, not you. Better yet, just like you, hundreds or thousands of people will do the same thing from the same server.

But VPNs do more than anonymize your session. They also encrypt your traffic. VPNs can use a variety of different encryption methods, but the most popular is 128- or 256-bit AES. Combine that with anonymization, and you have a scenario where your location is hidden and your individual encrypted traffic stream is ridiculously hard to spot because your encrypted gibberish stream is one of hundreds or thousands of other encrypted gibberish coming in and out of the same server farm.

That's the point of a VPN: you get all these benefits by installing a simple web client on your device and making sure it's active before starting any other web or cloud session.

But if you have multiple devices in your household, and especially if you think some of them may be running connected software that starts before you've even had a chance to activate your VPN, something more consistent may be needed. This is when you opt for installing a VPN client on your computer. wireless router. With a VPN client on your router, anyone using your local network to browse the web or access a cloud service will automatically use the VPN, because they cannot access the Internet without going through this vicious cycle.

Several types of VPN routers

Today, although some routers allow connecting to VPN services via OpenVPN or Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), you probably won't find this feature on most consumer routers. It's also not a light chore to set up. Some more expensive routers will support VPNs using these features, especially if the manufacturer is looking to sell them to small businesses as well as individuals.

There are also a small (but growing) number of VPN providers who have taken it upon themselves to ensure that you can install their VPN client on a router's firmware (more on that below). But these clients aren't usually universal, and you'll need a router that's on the VPN provider's compatibility list. That's a good thing, but you're probably happy with your current router, and buying a brand new router just to get a VPN client isn't necessarily an attractive option.

Now all you have to do is find an alternative firmware that supports either OpenVPN or your VPN provider's client. The most popular of these is DD-WRT, but another option is Tomato if you have a Broadcom-based router. DD-WRT is the more mature of the two and works on many routers, old and new. You can check if your particular router is supported. here.

It is also possible to turn an old x86 PC into a router by adding an additional network port via an expansion module. expansion card and then install DD-WRT on it. It does take a little extra work, but if you have the skills, it's a great way to build a highly customizable, high-performance router yourself without a lot of extra cost.

Most people, however, will stick with installing DD-WRT on their compatible router, which is not only what it's supposed to do, but also a great way to update and expand your networking skills. The only downside to using your router this way is that you can void your warranty, or worse, render the router completely inoperable if things go wrong. The best way to avoid this is to make sure your goal is to install DD-WRT on a router that is not only supported (check the link above), but has been supported for quite a while, too.

The longer your router has been supported, the smoother the firmware installation will be since the development team will have had plenty of time to iron out any issues. You should also find a support forum with users who know both your router and DD-WRT. Some router manufacturers have such forums on their support pages, but more often than not you'll find them on independent websites, like the main DD-WRT website or Reddit.

With these resources in place, we've put instructions on how to get started upgrading your router below. To write this article, I upgraded three routers. Two of them were branded Linksys, namely the LAPAC1200 AC1200 Dual Band Access Point and the WRT1200AC v2. While the LAPAC1200 upgrade failed, probably due to it not being a full-fledged router, the process worked fine on the WRT1200AC. For fun, I decided to do another install on an old generic Windows PC that I outfitted with two gigabit network interface cards (NICs). The process also went smoothly, and while it's certainly bulkier than the WRT1200AC, it's still the faster of the two.

Access to your router configuration

Every router is a little different, but most Linksys routers follow a similar pattern when it comes to connecting and making configuration changes. This process is also similar to what you'll find on most other brands of routers, making it a good example for this article. The first thing you need to do is determine your router's Internet Protocol (IP) address. To do this, on Microsoft Windows 10 click on the Start menu and type Command Prompt and click Enter. Then type ipconfig and click Enter again. You should see the same as in the screenshot below, but with different address numbers. Your router's IP address will be listed as the default gateway. Here it is 192.168.13.1.

Next, open your browser and type in your router's IP address as the URL (http:192.168.13.1). You will then get a prompt to login to your router's admin console. If you have never changed your router username and password, searching for your router model on the Linksys website should take you to a support page where the credentials by defect are indicated. If it's not Linksys, find your router's original setup instructions and the default credentials will be there. If this document is long gone, go to your router manufacturer's website and find instructions on how to reset your router to factory defaults. The default credentials should also be there. If that doesn't work, you'll need to call your router's support department and ask them.

Once you have access to the administrative functions of the router, you must find the console which allows you to update the firmware. Typically, it's under the Administration tab. For specific instructions for Linksys routers, see here. Other router vendors have similar instructions available on their support pages.

Downloading and Installing DD-WRT

This step is arguably the most important, as you can potentially 'brick' (i.e. render inoperable) your router if something goes wrong. This could happen due to incompatibility on the software side or simply because you experience a power outage at a particularly critical stage of the update process. I'm not trying to scare you here, and the vast majority of DD-WRT installs go just fine, but the reality is that something bad can happen to the router, so exercise caution.

Navigate to this page and enter the model name of your router. You will get a list of potential candidates. Choose the one that matches your router brand and model number, then download the bin file app.

Now from the Firmware Update screen, download the bin file and wait. If everything went according to plan, you will have a router that works with DD0-WRT and is therefore compatible with OpenVPN. If things go wrong and your router decides you're not on good terms anymore, don't panic. This happened to me when I tried to upgrade the Linksys LAPAC1200 access point. Just do what I did: Go to this page and follow the instructions exactly. Hopefully, you'll find a good starting point to try again.

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Once everything has turned on as it should, the default IP address for a fresh DD-WRT install is http://192.168.1.1. Enter this address again in your PC's web browser as the URL and you will see a screen prompting you to reset the default username and password. After this step, you can move on to the basics of the setup process for your new router. For business users and those with more advanced networking needs, DD-WRT offers a lot of advanced capabilities, so reviewing everything is beyond the scope of this article. But for most home and small business implementations, you'll need to set your router's connection type. wide area network (WAN), i.e. your internet service provider. Typically, you'll find it under Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), so if you're not sure, that's a good place to start.

VPN Client Setup

Start by getting your router to communicate with the internet on one end and your local network on the other. Next, configure any more advanced network settings you need, such as Quality of Service (QoS) or access controls. Only when the router is fully operational can you consider installing your VPN client.

To do this, you need to navigate to the VPN tab under Services. From there, check the Enable bubble next to "Start Open VPN Client". At this point, there are no unique instructions for this to work. The settings will be completely unique to the VPN provider. However, there are ready-made instructions for setting up your VPN client on DD-WRT for several of PCMag's top VPN players. For example, NordVPN has DD-WRT setup instructions here, and Private Internet Access VPN has the same for its VPN here. Some VPN brands will want to install their own software, others will want to use OpenVPN. Just follow your VPN brand's instructions, and you'll be on your way.

Check your work

DD-WRT has a nice Status tab with a VPN section that will show you if you're connected and everything worked as expected. If you want to go further, you can check your IP by typing "What is my IP?" in Google. You should get a different result than you got initially, since you're surfing Google from your VPN provider's server rather than from your PC if your VPN is working properly. If so, congratulations! You can now browse the web with more anonymity on all your connected devices.

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