Remote VPN access to my home VPN?

[michael4]

Hi!

I need to create home VPN that sits on my home router. I'd like to access that when I'm outside home so that I the sites that I'm browsing don't detect actual IP but the one that is in my home. And just to be on a save side, I also have a back-up (mobile) internet that I want to router to switch to in case my main internet goes down.

Is this possible with a home (non professional / expensive) router? I've got public IPs on both internerts (although dynamic - the routers I've found can manage DDNS with OVPN).

I've found two affordable routers:
Asus RT-N12+ (https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RTN12Plus/) - no Dual WAN though
Asus RT-AX53U (https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RT-AX53U/techspec/)

Would the RT-AX53U model work nicely for what I need? I don't need a high speed etc., just a possibility to access certain sites so that they don't detect I'm outside my home network.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Jeffrey Young]

The AX53U specs shows the following VPN servers as being offered;

VPN Server IPSec : Yes
VPN Server OVPN : Yes
VPN Server PPTP : Yes

Dual WAN : Yes

So, yes it will do what you want. If you want the ability to grow, invest a tiny bit more and go with something like the AX58U which supports the ASUS-Merlin firmware which will also give you the option of using an add on to support Wireguard VPN. Asus is working on a Wireguard implementation, but it may be a while before you see it.

 

[Tech Junky]

don't detect actual IP

Easiest way would just use a proxy IP or a VPN client.

If you need access to your files @ home then this home/vpn option is needed.

access certain sites so that they don't detect I'm outside my home network.

Are these based off a system in your internal network?

 

[michael4]

Easiest way would just use a proxy IP or a VPN client.

The issue is that I don't want to configure anything on a laptop. So I've got a travel router (https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar300m/) that itself connects to a VPN server, so when I connect a laptop to it, there are no logs on the laptop of the actual IP. Not sure I can do a proxy IP on this travel router that would work similar (ie, so that neither laptop nor the services I visit detect the actual IP)?

If you need access to your files @ home then this home/vpn option is needed.

No, I don't need access to my home network files.

Are these based off a system in your internal network?

They're off site, on the internet.

 

[michael4]

The AX53U specs shows the following VPN servers as being offered;

VPN Server IPSec : Yes
VPN Server OVPN : Yes
VPN Server PPTP : Yes

Dual WAN : Yes

So, yes it will do what you want. If you want the ability to grow, invest a tiny bit more and go with something like the AX58U which supports the ASUS-Merlin firmware which will also give you the option of using an add on to support Wireguard VPN. Asus is working on a Wireguard implementation, but it may be a while before you see it.

Thanks!

Each of the VPN Server features relates to accessing an internet through the home VPN server?

The other router (https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RT-N12-plus-PRO/techspec/) has:
VPN Server IPSec : No
VPN Server OVPN : Yes
VPN Server PPTP : Yes

So the VPN is at home (say Country 1), and I'm in a Country 2. I'm connecting to a Country 1 VPN in Country 2 through VPN Client on a travel router (https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar300m/). The goal is to access internet so that both my laptop (in Country 2) and sites that I visit detect the IP of a Country 1.

 

[Tech Junky]

The issue is that I don't want to configure anything on a laptop. So I've got a travel router (https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar300m/) that itself connects to a VPN server, so when I connect a laptop to it, there are no logs on the laptop of the actual IP. Not sure I can do a proxy IP on this travel router that would work similar (ie, so that neither laptop nor the services I visit detect the actual IP)?

No, I don't need access to my home network files.


They're off site, on the internet.

Considering the GLI is capable of VPN itself then a VPN subscription run from the GLI would work.

Also, since it supports WG that will give you optimum speed over an OVPN option.

With WG through Nord I get decent speeds. For instance on a 1gigbit/40mbs connection here's a speedtest.

I suppose if you want to bounce off your home network it's one way to do it though as well. With an actual VPN provider though you can appear to be anywhere in the world based on the server you select to connect to. It just depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it.

 

[michael4]

Considering the GLI is capable of VPN itself then a VPN subscription run from the GLI would work.

Also, since it supports WG that will give you optimum speed over an OVPN option.

With WG through Nord I get decent speeds. For instance on a 1gigbit/40mbs connection here's a speedtest.

View attachment 38911

I suppose if you want to bounce off your home network it's one way to do it though as well. With an actual VPN provider though you can appear to be anywhere in the world based on the server you select to connect to. It just depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it.

Thanks @Tech Junky !

No, I don't want to use a VPN subscription - that's something I leave as a last resource. The primary goal is to, as you've put it, bounce off my home network. I want both my laptop and the services I visit to record my hope IP only, so that the actual IP (of a country/region I'm connecting from) isn't detected.

I'm curious as to whether either of the two routers
Asus RT-N12+ (https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RTN12Plus/) - no Dual WAN though
Asus RT-AX53U (https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RT-AX53U/techspec/)
can do that (ie, create a home VPN that can allow me to access internet where I connect to it from another place).

I was advised that these type of home routers, even though have a VPN server capability, can't do a routing that would allow me to access the internet (ie, they only good for assessing a home network), and that I should look for something like Cisco, Mikrotik or UBQ...

 

[Tech Junky]

A router that can perform as a VPN Server should suffice.

The throughput though might be affected by the lack of horsepower the router has to perform the encryption / decryption on the fly and could result in a slower response.

On a larger scale I deal with Cisco / Juniper systems for security based routing.

A VPN client would be more ideal and less resource intensive especially if it's Wire Guard based as there's less overhead being dealt with.

Depending on your budget one of those other OEM's could provide a decent enough experience. With a VPN client though like Nord for example you can choose which region you want to connect as w/o sacrificing your home IP information to sites you're visiting. It's a nice to have option on your phone too when connecting to unknown WIFI in stores / businesses while on the move. If you have hotspot access and a decent data bucket on your phone you can keep things even more private by using your phone w/ VPN as your own ISP.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

As others have pointed out, a VPN client would be simpler - but I get it - a VPN provider is extra dollars - of which I personally think they are too expensive.

An OpenVPN server will do what you want, but you will have to do your homework and due-diligence in making sure you have the client side setup properly as to force all traffic through the tunnel when you have it up. Lots of documentation on the internet on to set up a home OpenVPN server.

 

[Tech Junky]

think they are too expensive.

I pay ~$2/mo and everything is funneled through the central device. I've been using Nord for ~4 years now w/ no issues for the most part except last Aug - Oct when they borked something for extended devices not working on the US servers properly. I pointed this out to their support team and got it fixed by showing them a working server config in a different region.

Using WG I also don't lose much BW in the process as compared to OVPN.

I of course did due diligence with other providers coming up to the renewal period and others couldn't compete for the simplicity of how I tweaked Nord to work automatically. Other providers had GUI apps that wouldn't initiate w/o login to the desktop and others just didn't have the infrastructure to support high speed connections. Then the flipside was the overpriced ones being $5-$10/mo or higher.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

I agree that you can find bargains if you stroll the internet and other various websites to find the deals. That said, we don't know the country that the OP is from - his costs may be significantly higher than yours or mine. For myself, my costs are inflated further as most VPN providers are US dollars, so now I have exchange rates and bank fees to convert. All I am saying here is that it is an extra expense that I get the OP may not be able to, nor want to, get into.

That said, for what he/she wants to do, setting up a travel router or client software with a VPN to one of the mainstream providers would be easiest, would take most of the technical side of making sure the tunnel works as intended, and also avoid having to maintain reliability of a home server is certainly the most ideal. In the end, it is probably the safest option for the OP as well if you are unsure of what you are doing.

Cheers mate ....

 

[michael4]

Thanks @Tech Junky & @Jeffrey Young a lot for your responses!

Before buying a router, I'm testing this with the travel router I've mentioned earlier as it does have an OpenVPN feature. Unfortunately, it doesn't work: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/openvpn-server-behind-isp-router-cant-connect.77255/ :-(

As for the VPN provider, no, money is not an issue here. Although I wouldn't like to spend tons of money and would like to buy a budget/home router, the reason for this is that I simply want to use my hope IP address, and not a VPN one, that's all really.

 

[Chuckles67]

I've done this with a home router (Asus AX-86U) running Merlin using the router OpenVPN server, and remote with a similar GL.iNet router GL-MT300N-V2 using the VPN client. It worked: e.g.: showed the home router WAN IP to web sites, and allowed access to home networked devices.

The only downside was this GL.iNet router CPU limited the speed to 9Mbps; instead using a software VPN client on a MacBook the speed was 24Mbps. The broadband at both ends was 100Mbps.

 

[Tech Junky]

@michael4​

I see you have a couple of threads going about this and it would be simpler to have all of your questions in one thread. The other thread mentioned a CGNAT from the provider modem being issued. While not entirely private as a RFC1918 address it does pose some problems with your setup.

It might result in either changing providers or using an actual VPN service to get an IP in the region you want to be in virtually.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

I was not aware the @michael4 had other posts going. CGNAT will, for sure, create problems. I too am behind a CGNAT. Talk to your ISP provider. Perhaps they can assign a public IP for you (at a cost), or as my ISP did, they setup a static CGNAT address and port forwarded a group of ports to me. Not elegant, but allows me a VPN Server and a NextCloud Server.

 

[Tech Junky]

@Jeffrey Young

OpenVPN Server behind ISP Router - can't connect

Hi, Following on from my earlier post https://www.snbforums.com/threads/remote-vpn-access-to-my-home-vpn.77019/ (thanks a lot for all responses), I've got the following set-up: 1. ISP router with a public IP 2. GL.iNet GL-AR300M16 (GL-AR300M Series / Shadow) router with an OpenVPN server setup...

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