Asus RT-AC3200 OpenVPN server security

[Nigma]

Hi,

I have been using a raspberry pi as an OpenVPN server in my home to enable me to remotely access my home network and stream content.

However, I have just purchased the RTAC3200 and see it has a VPN server built in. Are there any drawbacks in using this inbuilt functionality ? My main concern is that it might not be maintained on the latest version of OpenVPN and the other libs it depends on possibly exposing security vulnerabilities.

Thanks
Anand

 

[L&LD]

Is the raspberry pi a more powerful processor than the RT-AC3200? If so, it will be the better choice. Otherwise, the router will do an adequate job for VPN for all devices on the network (not just to what is connected to the raspberry pi).

 

[Nigma]

Yes, the raspberry pi probably is a more powerful processor, but as I only use the VPN functionality once every couple of months seems a waste to have a dedicated device plugged in just for that. If the router is able to keep up with streaming video to a single VPN client then prefer that option providing there are no compromises on the security side of things.

 

[RMerlin]

Yes, the raspberry pi probably is a more powerful processor, but as I only use the VPN functionality once every couple of months seems a waste to have a dedicated device plugged in just for that. If the router is able to keep up with streaming video to a single VPN client then prefer that option providing there are no compromises on the security side of things.

Stock firmware is a few years behind in OpenVPN version, but they have an up-to-date OpenSSL version.

Moving to third party solutions, my firmware also has the latest version of OpenVPN.

 

[yorgi]

Hi,

I have been using a raspberry pi as an OpenVPN server in my home to enable me to remotely access my home network and stream content.

However, I have just purchased the RTAC3200 and see it has a VPN server built in. Are there any drawbacks in using this inbuilt functionality ? My main concern is that it might not be maintained on the latest version of OpenVPN and the other libs it depends on possibly exposing security vulnerabilities.

Thanks
Anand

I would keep the raspberry pi for open VPN and the ASUS router for everything else.
ASUS routers suck when using VPN and QOS together because there is a known bug on the QOS where all traffic from VPN shows up as Upload traffic. Therefore impossible to have a proper QOS working.
I believe that when there are many devices in a LAN and Wi Fi a QOS is really needed in order to keep all the devices happy.
Also if the raspberry has better CPU power then the ASUS then you will get better speeds when using VPN with higher encryption and over all performance.
So if you keep the raspberry for VPN and the ASUS for the rest and use a QOS
from the ASUS you should have good traffic flow. Otherwise the ASUS router would be a good choice to do it all and use Merlin firmware is a must!