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Forum Discussion
chaoticbeliever
Sep 18, 2018Aspirant
Can the Netgear builtin VPN be replaced?
I have got the Nighthawk AC1750 router and as an option it gives is to enable a VPN. however, the description makes it sound like I would be somehow using my home wifi instead of whatever access po...
StephenB
Sep 19, 2018Guru - Experienced User
chaoticbeliever wrote:
would it be a replacement for a paid VPN for UK such as Ivacy or Nord?
No, its not a replacement
Normally you'd use openVPN in the nighthawks in order to securely access your home network when you are away. For instance, I use it to reach my ReadyNAS. https://kb.netgear.com/23854/How-do-I-use-the-VPN-service-on-my-Nighthawk-router-with-my-Windows-client
The VPN itself is encrypted, but that is perhaps misleading.
Traffic going to your home network is decrypted in the router before being sent on to your home network, and the internet hop is secure.
But if you enable the "All sites on the Internet & Home Network" setting, then any internet traffic that is sent on from the router to the internet looks the same as if there were no VPN. So traffic analysis would show the sites you are browsing, etc.