Need advice for VPN capable router

[omairkha]

Hi everyone,

So I need to set up a very simple VPN for my home office to be able to access files while out of the network. The goal is to VPN into the home office network using the Windows built-in VPN caller.

I had planned to setup the Windows 8 built-in PPTP server on a desktop in the network which seems like a very simple solution for my need. Unfortunately, after many headaches and sleepless nights trying to unsuccessfully setup the server I found out that the problem lies with my current router. It appears to be a wide spread issue (according to some forum posts I read) that the WRT610N doesn't properly handle/forward VPN protocols and many are experiencing the same issues I am with setting up a VPN server with this router.

So looks like I need a new router if this is going to work. If I need to change out my router, I would like something that supports Gigabit ethernet. While looking at routers I started looking at SMB Class routers also, mainly the Cisco RV220W. It seems to have a fairly good throughput from what I can gather.

So what I was wondering is if there is a significant advantage to having the VPN built into the router vs. using the Windows 8 built in PPTP server? Does one provide better throughput over the other?

I don't really need all the other bells and whistles that come with the SMB routers like content filtering etc so if there's a router out there that would allow me to have a very good throughput with using the Windows 8 PPTP server then I would be very interested in hearing about that.

My only concern is that I don't want to purchase a new router and have the same issues as the WRT610N with the VPN protocols. So maybe getting a router with built in VPN is better in that sense? But is the higher price really worth it?

Thanks for the help!

 

[servies]

The RV220W on paper is a good solution but I would not buy it. It's throughput is more than enough unless you have Gigabit internet. The VPN server mostly works, but has some problems with 64bit windows clients for some of the protocols...
But, and that's a huge 'but', the RV220W is buggy and no longer receives updates from Cisco (the last firmware update is from August 2012).
Mine reboots itself on average about once aday...

So what I was wondering is if there is a significant advantage to having the VPN built into the router vs. using the Windows 8 built in PPTP server? Does one provide better throughput over the other?

I would say that the throughput could be better with a dedicated PPTP server as a such a server should have more processing power to decrypt/encrypt the data...

My only concern is that I don't want to purchase a new router and have the same issues as the WRT610N with the VPN protocols. So maybe getting a router with built in VPN is better in that sense? But is the higher price really worth it?

I can't tell you as I have always had a router with built in VPN capabilities. I only replaced my previous Draytek 2900 because it couldn't handle the fiberspeed internet I now have... When the wireless version of the 2925 becomes available I'm back to Draytek... I totally lost my confidence in Cisco Small Business...

 

[omairkha]

Hi servies,

Thanks for the reply.

This is a real bummer. Most of my systems are now 64bit windows and I wonder why there are no more updates from Cisco since I don't see any newer models available.

I don't have Gigabit Internet available in my area yet so don't have to worry about that. I have a cable internet which averages 30-35Mbps download and 3-5Mbps upload. But if the price is not too high I wouldn't mind getting a router that can handle Gigabit Internet for when Google fiber reaches here.

I would say that the throughput could be better with a dedicated PPTP server as a such a server should have more processing power to decrypt/encrypt the data...

That makes sense.

I took a look at DrayTek. Their routers look really nice but I couldn't find any pricing info. Looks like I'll need to contact them for pricing but I feel like this might be a little pricey for my budget.


I'm thinking of giving another "good" consumer grade router a try. The ASUS RT-N66U looks promising and pretty appealing with a <$150 price tag. Does anyone have experience with this router and setting up a VPN server?

Thanks!