{"id":144981,"date":"2025-04-08T00:55:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T04:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?p=144981"},"modified":"2025-04-22T00:30:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T04:30:50","slug":"adding-a-vpn-to-a-home-network-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/adding-a-vpn-to-a-home-network-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding A VPN To A Home Network &#8211; Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"daves-3140252576\" class=\"daves-single-post-before-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\r\n<p>In Part 1 of this article, I explained what a VPN is, the reasons to put a VPN on a router, and equipment concerns. In this part of the article, I will cover how to add a VPN client to a router and what modifications to make to the default settings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Getting The Config File<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>To install a VPN client on your router, you will need a configuration file. Although there are many VPN tunneling protocols, the two that matter are <strong>OpenVPN<\/strong> and <strong>WireGuard<\/strong>. <strong>OpenVPN<\/strong> has been around for a long time and is more widely compatible. However, OpenVPN was not designed for modern processors and is relatively slow compared to WireGuard. <strong>WireGuard<\/strong>\u00a0is a\u00a0modern protocol and\u00a0is generally fast. Given the choice, you will probably want to go with WireGuard.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\r\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td><strong>WireGuard<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td><strong>OpenVPN<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Speed:<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td>High<\/td>\r\n<td>Moderate<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Encryption:<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td>High<\/td>\r\n<td>Low to high (configurable)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Security:<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td>Relatively high<\/td>\r\n<td>High<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Encryption:<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td>ChaCha20<\/td>\r\n<td>AES, Blowfish, Camellia, and also support ChaCha20<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Compatibility:<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td>Low<\/td>\r\n<td>High<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Go to your VPN provider to download a config file. My VPN provider is Windscribe. Since my router cannot run WireGuard, I will use Windscribe\u2019s OpenVPN configurator to get an OpenVPN configuration file (the file will have an .<strong>ovpn<\/strong> extension).\u00a0 You will need to choose the <strong>VPN server location<\/strong>. I chose a server in New York City. You may also have a choice of configuration settings. Windscribe gives a choice of <strong>protocol <\/strong>(I chose UDP), <strong>port <\/strong>(I chose 443), and <strong>OpenVPN version<\/strong> (I chose the latest).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>You will also need <strong>logon credentials<\/strong> for the server. Windscribe\u2019s configurator supplied me with my <strong>username <\/strong>and <strong>password<\/strong>.<\/p><div id=\"daves-53111753\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"419\" class=\"wp-image-144985\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-640x419.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-640x419.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-350x229.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-150x98.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-1536x1007.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator-1320x865.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Windscribe_OenVPN_Configurator.jpg 1996w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Creating The VPN Client<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>You will need to access your router\u2019s settings page. Open a web browser and enter your router\u2019s IP address in the address bar (common IPs are 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). Enter the router&#8217;s username and password to log in. Once in, look for a <strong>VPN settings<\/strong> page.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>My router\u2019s VPN page has six tabs &#8211; I will select the <strong>VPN Client<\/strong> tab. Next, I will select the <strong>OpenVPN<\/strong> button since this is the type of client I am going to set up. Now I need to load the <strong>.ovpn<\/strong> configuration file I downloaded from Windscribe. In the <strong>Client control<\/strong> area, I will click on the <strong>Choose File<\/strong> button, navigate to the folder where I downloaded the file, and select the file. I will now click the <strong>Upload<\/strong> button to load the file. After the file loads, I will give it a name in the <strong>Description<\/strong> field.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"374\" class=\"wp-image-144986\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-640x374.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-640x374.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-350x204.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-768x449.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1-1320x771.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_1.jpg 1407w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"418\" class=\"wp-image-144987\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2-640x418.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2-640x418.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2-350x228.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2-150x98.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2-768x501.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_2.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>I need to enter the login credentials that I received from Windscribe\u2019s configurator page. I will page down to the <strong>Authentication Settings<\/strong> area. In the <strong>Username<\/strong> field, I will enter my username. In the <strong>Password<\/strong> field, I will enter my password. I will select the <strong>Apply<\/strong> button at the bottom of the page to save the settings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"707\" class=\"wp-image-144988\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3-640x707.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3-640x707.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3-350x386.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3-136x150.jpg 136w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3-768x848.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_3.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>I need to test the VPN Client\u2019s connection to Windscribe\u2019s NYC VPN server. Go back to the <strong>Client control<\/strong> area and toggle the <strong>Service state<\/strong> button to <strong>ON<\/strong>. If everything worked, I should get a message that the client connected to the server.\u00a0<\/p><div id=\"daves-3864101231\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-2 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"216\" class=\"wp-image-144989\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4-640x216.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4-640x216.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4-350x118.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4-150x51.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4-768x259.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_4.jpg 1304w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Now I am going to make some changes to the default settings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In the <strong>Client control<\/strong> area, I am going to change the <strong>Automatic start at boot time<\/strong> to <strong>Yes<\/strong>. This will start the VPN client every time the router boots.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In the <strong>Network Settings<\/strong> area, I need to decide how the router will handle DNS servers pushed by the remote VPN server. In the <strong>Accept DNS Configuration<\/strong> field, I am going to choose <strong>Exclusive<\/strong>. All DNS servers will be routed through the VPN tunnel. This should ensure that there are no leaks in the DNS queries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In the <strong>Network Settings<\/strong> area, I need to decide how the router will handle internet traffic. If I select <strong>No, <\/strong>no traffic will go through this VPN client. If I select <strong>Yes<\/strong>, all traffic will go through this VPN client. I am going to select <strong>VPN Director (policy rules)<\/strong> because I want to control what internet traffic will go through this VPN client and what traffic will not go through it. Remember to click the <strong>Apply<\/strong> button at the bottom of the page to save the settings.<\/p><div id=\"daves-2840576618\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-3 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"486\" class=\"wp-image-144990\" style=\"outline: red dashed 1px;\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5-640x486.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-outline=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5-640x486.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5-350x266.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5-768x584.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/VPN_Client_Setup_5.jpg 1116w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>How do you create rules to get traffic to the VPN client? How do you manually assign an address to a device on the network? I\u2019ll explain these concepts in Part 3 of this article. Stay tuned!<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/adding-a-vpn-to-a-home-network-part-1\/\">Adding A VPN To A Home Network \u2013 Part 1<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li>Adding A VPN To A Home Network \u2013 Part 2\u00a0<span style=\"color: #339966;\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\"> \u2b05<\/span> <span style=\"color: #339966;\">You are here<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/adding-a-vpn-to-a-home-network-part-3\/\">Adding A VPN To A Home Network \u2013 Part 3<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/adding-a-vpn-to-a-home-network-part-4\/\">Adding A VPN To A Home Network \u2013 Part 4<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"daves-3759496187\" class=\"daves-after-content daves-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3225321574\" \ndata-ad-format=\"autorelaxed\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Part 1 of this article, I explained what a VPN is, the reasons to put a VPN on a router, and equipment concerns. In this part of the article, I will cover how to add a VPN client to a router and what modifications [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4183,"featured_media":144976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,28,13],"tags":[14249],"class_list":["post-144981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how","category-internet","category-security","tag-router-vpn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}