New to SMB Forums, first post, so forgive everything in advance...
I am planning on upgrading my home network with a new Asus AX86U wireless router. Besides moving to Wi-Fi 6 (from 5), I also want to implement router-based VPN functionality for location masking and general identity protection. Going further, my intent is to provide the VPN access to a subset of the available devices in my home network, some of which will be wired and some wireless. My general reading is that a degree of segmentation is possible via IP ranges and/or static addressing, and that should also apply to wired clients. I have also considered purchasing the router with some configuration baked in from FlashRouters, a vendor focused on WRT and Asus Merlin offerings. My questions and thoughts I am looking to confirm are:
- Does the Asus + AsusWRT-Merlin combination support segmentation based on IP range (or VLANs, or something) that also includes applying that segmentation to wired clients in addition to wireless?
- Is my plan to have the router provide all core network services, mostly DHCP, for a mix of approximately 30 clients, split between wired, wireless, 2.4GHz / 5GHz, usual home stuff, cameras, computers, smart TVs along with VPN services make general sense? (see next question)
- I have also considered placing VPN access on a separate device like a FireWalla Purple, but it's both expensive and seems like overkill.
(really what I am asking is whether adding the VPN access to the router consumes too many cycles and might necessitate a dedicated device)
- FlashRouters seems like an option, but it also seems that they are doing nothing special other than loading the AsusWRT-Merlin firmware, not sure if they provide additional value beyond that, other than paid for support.
So just a sanity check here...
Thanks.
I am planning on upgrading my home network with a new Asus AX86U wireless router. Besides moving to Wi-Fi 6 (from 5), I also want to implement router-based VPN functionality for location masking and general identity protection. Going further, my intent is to provide the VPN access to a subset of the available devices in my home network, some of which will be wired and some wireless. My general reading is that a degree of segmentation is possible via IP ranges and/or static addressing, and that should also apply to wired clients. I have also considered purchasing the router with some configuration baked in from FlashRouters, a vendor focused on WRT and Asus Merlin offerings. My questions and thoughts I am looking to confirm are:
- Does the Asus + AsusWRT-Merlin combination support segmentation based on IP range (or VLANs, or something) that also includes applying that segmentation to wired clients in addition to wireless?
- Is my plan to have the router provide all core network services, mostly DHCP, for a mix of approximately 30 clients, split between wired, wireless, 2.4GHz / 5GHz, usual home stuff, cameras, computers, smart TVs along with VPN services make general sense? (see next question)
- I have also considered placing VPN access on a separate device like a FireWalla Purple, but it's both expensive and seems like overkill.
(really what I am asking is whether adding the VPN access to the router consumes too many cycles and might necessitate a dedicated device)
- FlashRouters seems like an option, but it also seems that they are doing nothing special other than loading the AsusWRT-Merlin firmware, not sure if they provide additional value beyond that, other than paid for support.
So just a sanity check here...
Thanks.