Best VPN Router for ADSL/VDSL

Hello,

I’m with sky broadband, which fiber to cabinet then copper to my house. So I need a good DSL router which will work with Nord VPN. I’ve looked online and there are many options and it’s a little confusing. Do I get one which has been flashed, do I plug the new router into the ethernet of my.sky router and turn the WiFi off the sky router and connect to my new router which has VPN.

Also I need advice on how I can have a media centre (hard drive) for my home where its plugged into the router and I can access it from anywhere to upload or view the files it. I had a WD cloud hard drive a few years ago but that was mega slow transfering files to it even via my home.network.

As you can tell I’m not sure what I’m talking about.

Thanks in advance if you know what I’m talking about.

TL;DR Put your DSL router into bridge mode. This will open up your choices for routers. Whether to get a router with outbound VPN support depends on how you want to use the VPN. Inbound VPN support is uncommon on consumer routers. Either get a higher-end router or set up a VPN server inside your network.

You are asking for two things that are often addressed independently of each other. Let’s take them one at a time.

Outbound VPN

Accessing the Internet through a VPN provider, like NordVPN, is what some call an outbound VPN.

The question back to you is this, “Do you want everything to go through NordVPN, or do you only want to use NordVPN on, say, one or two devices?”

If you only want one or two devices to use NordVPN, then you may might consider installing a NordVPN client on those devices. No need for a router with built-in VPN support.

If you want all traffic to go through NordVPN, then a router with VPN support can do the job. Some VPN routers can also selectively route some devices through the VPN while routing other devices directly to the Internet. Asus, for example, has routers that can do this.

The challenge you face is finding a DSL router with VPN support. Relatively speaking, DSL is ancient technology. The market for DSL routers is very small. I doubt you will be able find one with VPN support built in.

If you can put your existing DSL router into bridge mode (i.e. disable its routing functions and have it function purely as a modem), then you can buy a regular router with or without VPN support, depending on your answer to the question above.

Inbound VPN

Remote access to your home network is best accomplished by setting up your own inbound VPN. It’s the most secure method. This is accomplished by setting up a VPN server in your network. Most consumer grade routers with VPN support only support outbound VPN connections, not inbound. You’ll either have to get a higher grade router, or you’ll have to install VPN server software somewhere inside your network. It can run on a computer or even a Raspberry Pi. Some NAS systems, like Synology or Unraid, can run it. You’ll have to set up port forwarding on your router to allow remote access to the VPN server.

OpenVPN and Wireguard are two top VPN software choices. Wireguard is probably what you should use. Tailscale, which uses Wireguard under the covers, is very popular due to its ease of use.

You can find plenty of guides and videos on setting up Wireguard or Tailscale.

Very many thanks for your reply. I’ll have another look online later. I believe my sky router can’t be put in modem only mode. I’ll do more research tomorrow.

Thanks again.