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VPN gateway in bridge mode. Advices?

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berlen9810

New Around Here
Hello everyone! I am trying to set up a vpn network at home but I have several questions and requirements.
  1. My router (branded) does not support vpn protocols (openvpn/wireguard).
  2. I cannot install vpn client on my laptop. Still, I need this laptop to be connected to a vpn network.
  3. I would like to keep using my router since it provides telephony services, that I am not sure can be offered by other products.
My question for you: which router/device would you connect to the main router (say in lan), in order to create a wifi vpn network?

In this way every device connected to the gateway wifi will all be connected to the vpn, but all devides connected to the wifi network created by the main router will have direct access to the internet.

I would like the gateway to have wireguard capabilities to guarantee minimal connection speed drop with respect to the 300 Mbit when using providers like nordvpn.


Would routers like gl.inet, Asus work for this purpose? Alternatively can a raspberry pi 4 work?

Thank you for your help!
Where can I find a good tutorial?
 
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@berlen9810 welcome to the forums.

What are you trying to accomplish here? What 'VPN network' are you visualizing? What specific VPN do you need? What is the main purpose of this VPN?

Why is the laptop not able to install a VPN on it?

Can you provide a drawing of your network as you envision it?
 
Thank you L&LD!
Let me try this: here is a picture of how I pictured the network. I have little experience with such setups, so any suggestion is very welcome!

Branded router |-| VPN Server Gateway |---))) ((( Laptop on VPN network (Wi-Fi)
├──────────────────────))) ((( Laptop on unmasked network (Wi-Fi)
└──────────────────────| Main phone (cable connection)


The reason why I cannot install a VPN client on my laptop is that I use it for work and we have restrictions on the software we are able to have on it.

I was thinking of using the VPN mainly for videoconferencing and media streaming, so it should be able to sustain a stable stream.

My provider nominal speed is around 300Mbit/s, it gives about 150-180 Mbit/s of net speed with no VPN. Would it be possible to achieve around 70Mbit/s with the wireguard protocol?

The purchase advice I need concerns the device that should create the VPN Gateway network. Do you think a Raspberry pi 4 would suffice (I already own one)? If so, would a passive cooling case suffice to keep it from throttling?
Alternatively, should I buy an Asus router (for about 150 euros) or another dedicated device? I was reading that wireguard (the protocol that can take advantage of multiple cores for VPN connections) is not officially supported by Asus routers yet, but I it is supported out of the box by some smaller network devices like the GL.iNet GL-AR750S-Ext.

Do you have any experience with these products?

Finally I was leaning towards nordvpn as provider, but I have not made up my mind yet.
 
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I must state that I don't understand the need for the changes you're wanting.

Putting a VPN client on the laptop when the employer doesn't want you to do so is the same as putting it on your router. In that case, save yourself money and a huge hassle by installing it on your laptop and don't use it during 'work'. It is your laptop, correct?

What is your ISP paid-for upload speed? Do you have symmetrical up/down speeds?

I don't think WireGuard is anywhere close to being primetime yet, this would be a huge gamble to take for security, IMO.

I like a 'finished' solution like an RMerlin powered RT-AC86U which will provide up to 250Mbps VPN speeds when all aspects are optimized over the 'I might step on it' Pi.

Any paid-for VPN provider you consider isn't something I can endorse. If you don't own and control both ends of a VPN tunnel, I don't know what you're 'paying' for.

And for the record, for myself, using a VPN to merely watch 'media' is not a good enough reason either.
 

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