VPNs can be very helpful for businesses, and by having a VPN-enabling device it will ensure everyone is connected to the same IP address. A business-grade router VPN is strong enough to connect both employees and clients to the network and offers five dedicated channels for mobile phones. This tool is helpful for all, not just businesses. For a more general look at router options, take a look at our roundup of the best secure routers. The best VPN enabling devices will protect and connect any type of user. Setting up the VPN is easy, thanks to the included client software that does the heavy lifting for you and has you up and running (securely, of course) with just three simple steps. Ultimately, the ZyXEL works to keep monitoring and administration efforts low while allowing customers or employees to access internal company servers, e-mail or data safely and securely anywhere in the world. Processor: Multi-core | Security: 1000 IPSec, Sha-2 encyrption | Standard/Speed: 800Mbps| Wired Ports: 9 For devices running on a network that doesn’t require VPN protection, the WRT3200ACM applies split-tunneling that lets devices access the VPN-enabled network and non-enabled network simultaneously without impacting bandwidth or performance. Furnished with an enterprise-grade dual-core processor, the WRT3200ACM is perfect for both small offices and homes where protection is a must. Processor: Dual-core | Security: Open source firmware | Standard/Speed: Dual-band 600Mbps and 2600Mbps | Wired Ports: 5 The BR500’s secret sauce is Netgear’s Insight Cloud Portal, which is used to establish VPN connections between routers and clients with a minimum of fuss. Instead of having to configure sometimes-complicated VPN settings on each end, each BR500 communicates with Netgear’s cloud servers to exchange all of the information needed to create a VPN between two sites, or from a computer using the Insight VPN Client, which remote workers can easily download and set up from the Cloud Portal with only a few clicks. The Cloud Portal also handles all of the other configuration aspects of the BR500’s, and for a small additional fee you can even get proactive performance monitoring and advanced controls. It’s a great and simple solution for anybody without a lot of networking experience, but like any simplified solution, more advanced professionals may be disappointed by the inability to tweak more advanced settings or use it with OpenVPN clients. Processor: N/A | Security: IPSec, VLAN | Standard/Speed: 924Mbps| Wired Ports: 4 This compact unit offers a stateful packet inspection firewall that will protect your network against DDoS attacks and also offers application-level gateways, port forwarding, and filtering options. It can also support up to 20 IPSec tunnels and 16 PPTP tunnels and 16 L2TP tunnels, although the straight IPSec protocols are only supported for site-to-site VPN configurations; clients will have to rely on PPTP or L2TP. The TL-R600VPN offers theoretical performance of up to 120 Mbps on a non-VPN connection, while throughput drops down to around 20 Mbps when traveling over an IPSec tunnel, reasonable values for a router in this price range that should be more than suitable for small businesses. Processor: Single | Security: 20 IPSec, 16 LT2TP, 16PTTP, DoS defense, IP/MAC/Domain name filtering | Standard/Speed: Gigabit | Wired Ports: 5 Once you log into the web-based admin interface, the system page lets you look at the main stats, as well as the setup wizard (where you can set the time, passwords and WAN/LAN settings). The rest of the options are available under a configuration tab that provides slightly deeper control of the LRT224 functions. While Linksys claims the LRT224 offers the highest throughput of any dedicated business-class router, it does so without a browser-based SSL VPN, which might be a mandatory requirement in some business or enterprise settings. Processor: Single | Security: 50 IPSec, 5 OpenVPN | Standard/Speed: 900Mbps | Wired Ports: 6 Benjamin Zeman has been writing for Lifewire since 2019. He has over 20 years of experience in the tech industry and has previously been published in SlateDroid.com, AndroidTablets.net, and AndroidForums.com.
What to Look for in a VPN-Enabling Device
DD-WRT and Tomato
If you want the most flexibility possible, look for a router that is compatible with DD-WRT or has it preinstalled. Another good option is a router that’s compatible with Tomato, or Sabai OS, which is based on Tomato.
Dual-core Processor
VPN-enabling devices have to do a lot more heavy lifting than the average router, so a slow processor can easily deliver a knockout punch to your data transfer speeds. If you want to be able to stream video or do anything else that requires solid connection speeds, then it’s important to choose a VPN-enabling device that’s packing some serious processing power. A good processor should be clocked around 1.8GHz and use the latest 802.11ac network standards. MU-MIMO capability is another plus that benefits for a processor, allowing you to run multiple devices at the highest speed.
Free VPN Subscription
Finding the right VPN-enabling device is just the first step. Before you can secure all of your devices behind a VPN, you need to set your device up with a VPN service. Some VPN-enabling devices come with a free subscription to a premium VPN service, which simplifies this process. Prices can vary, from as little as $8 a month to as much as $13 or even more depending on the VPN you pick.
