Portable VPN Router

A

adan

Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2000
Messages
755
I have been doing some research. Does anyone have any reformations for a portable vpn router? I need to be able to use it as a wireless bridge. As in router uses hotel wifi and I can connect to it via wifi and have it go through a VPN
 
What is the use case for this? Why not use a VPN client instead? Seems like a clunky way of just using a software VPN client.
 
International travel, So i can use laptop, tablet and cell phone... etc
 
There are VPN apps/browsers for each of those platforms. Introducing hardware into this kind of complicates it more than it needs to be. You may find some "portable" or non-portable routers designed with this in mind, but the general consensus is that they aren't a perfect solution that software doesn't already solve. Also, you will want to make sure you check the local laws in the countries you are visiting, obviously.
 
I recommend just using vpn clients on your devices. Then you can just connect to hotel wifi, cellular data, coffee shop wifi or whatever. You don't need to haul around this extra device and complicate your setup.

I just got OpenVPN setup on my pfsense router and its really great. I can login to my home network from anywhere just clicking a box and typing a password in my laptop. It really doesn't get easier than that.
 
+1 on the software clients - what would you do if the VPN router was lost/stolen/broken/confiscated?

Are you connecting to your home/work network or are you just hiding your surfing habits?
 
If you go with the hardware solution, check the VPN rules in the countries you plan on visiting. Some countries view VPNs as a threat to national security. You don't want your visit to become an extended stay involving lawyers. Far easier to explain a software vpn client as 'employer installed' then a separate piece of hardware.
 
Also make sure if you have any VPN to your house that you also use user/pass authentication to the server. That way if the certificates or the device is stolen, they still need to authenticate to the VPN server. In fact this goes with anything. Ex: SSH and FTP clients on your devices, don't set them to remember credentials. You want to make sure that if your device is stolen or confiscated that they can't start screwing around on your home network too.
 
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