Best VPN for 86U + Merlins???

[Poseidon]

I've never used VPN before and I know many in this community use it with their Asus routers.

Can someone recommend me the best/fastest VPN for the 86U router using Merlin's f/w please.

 

[Jack Yaz]

Personally I've never had an issue with NordVPN, and their 3 year deal when it was on sale was a steal

 

[CaptainSTX]

PIA has worked well for me as well as Astrill on routers running OpenVPN. Speed with VPN is 95 -97 % ISP speed.

One thing I like about Astrill is that IMHO they have the best app that I have used for both PCs, tablets and phones which is important when away from home to protect from man in the middle exploits.

If you want to geo shift particularly with Netflix select a VPN server that isn't blocked by Netflix and perhaps other video sources. Astrill has worked well for me and I set it up on my son's router so he can watch Cubs games on MLB when they are blocked in the local DMA.

 

[Marin]

Personally I've never had an issue with NordVPN, and their 3 year deal when it was on sale was a steal

Yes, I couldn't agree more. NordVPN has worked very well for me. Lots of server options to pick from. I, too, signed up for their 3 year deal.

 

[Pampa360]

I use express vpn on a rt86u and never got any problems . Works like a charm

 

[skeal]

I use Torguard and have been for over 2 years. It has been a really great experience.

 

[no_name]

ExpressVPN on my RT-AC86U has never failed


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Parker]

Everyone has there favorite. Mine is ExpressVPN. Has never failed and they have servers all over the world. Second choice is Torguard. Most providers offer a free trial period. Maybe try two or three and see what works for you.

 

[Poseidon]

I know it depends on the server location but typically how much are speeds reduced by when using a VPN service?

Is it a noticeable degrade?

 

[CaptainSTX]

As I said in my first reply with the right VPN provider with a VPN server located within 500 miles expect to lose 3 - 5%, However if the speed from your ISP is over 250 Mbps don't expect to get more than 200 - 300 Mbps downloads when using a VPN tunnel.

 

[Dave Parker]

Don't know where your located but something else to consider if security and privacy are high on you list consider where your VPN provider is located. I'm in the US and ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands. They keep absolutely no records. Not implying that anyone here is involved in any illegal activity, just a thought.

 

[rcc344]

Yes, I couldn't agree more. NordVPN has worked very well for me. Lots of server options to pick from. I, too, signed up for their 3 year deal.

I have one issue with NordVPN on a router. On two past occasions NordVPN decided to take my selected US server down without notice. I loose the tunnel and the router activates the KILL Switch. I then need to pick another server. This disrupts the household. I expect this practice to continue.

 

[Martineau]

I have one issue with NordVPN on a router. On two past occasions NordVPN decided to take my selected US server down without notice. I loose the tunnel and the router activates the KILL Switch. I then need to pick another server.

Perhaps using VPN_Failover.sh in 'multiconfig' mode might be useful?

 

[Xentrk]

I've never used VPN before and I know many in this community use it with their Asus routers.

Can someone recommend me the best/fastest VPN for the 86U router using Merlin's f/w please.

Do you require the use of streaming services that block known VPN providers? If so, please see the post Why I use TorGuard as my VPN Provider. The 50 percent discount code combined with the one and two year subscription plans keeps the monthly costs very competitive with other providers.

For encryption, I recommend the AES-128-GCM cipher for best performance along with the UDP protocol. Please see the post OpenVPN Performance for details.

Good news is there are many choices on the market and the competition keeps the prices low. Cloudflare will soon launch the Warp VPN service with a free and a premium tier. I doubt the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware will support it though. Looks like an app will be available for client OS devices though.

 

[XIII]

Cloudflare will soon launch the Warp VPN service with a free and a premium tier. I doubt the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware will support it though.

I think I read that it will be based on WireGuard, not OpenVPN.

That would mean it would be more effort for Asus/others to support it.

 

[callenbooth]

Best and Fastest VPN Service in my opinion is one and only expressvpn i know express vpn expensive but sustainable speed and security i am using this service since 1 year and not facing a single problem the main advantage is 30days money back guarantee and 24/7 Live Support its really awesome and i am confirm its proper work on all routers for confirmation you can read providers detail reviews i am sharing the links those i can follow these are the best and real reviews write these website i follow regarding vpn updates rivipedia.com & Cnet.com & Pcmag.com

 

[Poseidon]

Express VPN states that their configuration files are not compatible with the 86U.

For those who are using it on the 86U - how are you doing this?

I've never used VPN before and would appreciate some assistance in setting it up on my 86U w/ Merlin's fw.

 

[Xentrk]

Be careful about VPN providers claims they are faster or the fastest when compared to others.

IMHO, the factors influencing perfmance has more to do with the client device CPU, encryption settings, protocol and distance to the VPN server than the provider.

1. OpenVPN is single core threaded and does not support multi core processors. My pfSense has an i5 core processor with AES-NI enabled. Super fast when compare to my AC88U that does not support AES-NI. The AC86U has a CPU designed to vastly improve OpenVPN performance. Many users on the forum have reported their happiness with the speeds. Sadly, I was not able to duplicate their success the short time I had one in my hands for testing.

2. Encryption Settings. The higher up the encryption levels you go, the harder the CPU has to work. AES-512-GCM may result in slower performance when compared to AES-128-GCM.

3. Distance to VPN server. If I choose a VPN server near my geolocation. I can get near native line speed. But if I select a server half way across the globe, my speed can be reduced by 50 percent.

4. UDP protocol will usually be faster than TCP. TCP has more overhead in the validation it performs on the packets.

And lastly, your native ISP speed will be another factor.

 

[Xentrk]

Express VPN states that their configuration files are not compatible with the 86U.

For those who are using it on the 86U - how are you doing this?

I've never used VPN before and would appreciate some assistance in setting it up on my 86U w/ Merlin's fw.

That does not sound right. I think I have seen others AC86U users mention Express. Send their support team an email asking them to verify. Perhaps their website is out of date.

 

[no_name]

Express VPN states that their configuration files are not compatible with the 86U.

For those who are using it on the 86U - how are you doing this?

I've never used VPN before and would appreciate some assistance in setting it up on my 86U w/ Merlin's fw.

I sign in to my ExpressVPN account, choose set up ExpressVPN. Scroll down and select manual configuration where you will see America’s, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. This is where you download your .ovpn files to upload to your router. I personally choose a London based server that’s 60 miles away and pretty much have the same download upload speeds that I pay for