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Can I enable OpenVPN on RBR20 if I have NordVPN running on Mac?
I'm not savvy about VPN but just am aware of it generally. I had a problem yesterday where my Orbi network just stopped working. I rebooted it but the network was acting strange (devices connected but couldn't reach the Internet). I tried to login into the router directly but couldn't and I ~know~ I used the right password (I even tried the original factory password and it failed). So I factory-reset the router and re-configured it with my own network name/password as before. Concerned why this happened, I want to enable VPN on the router.
Q: Will doing this make my router more secure from "an external takeover"/re-purpose?
I also have installed NordVPN on my Mac and have read that NordVPN doesn't support Netgear routers using OpenVPN. Is VPN a "standalone" software config or does it only work when the router and all it's connected devices have it all enabled? The VPN Service tab implies that I need to download an OpenVPN package so that tells me that in order to enable VPN in my router, I need to enable this particular VPN on my Mac
Q: Can I enable VPN on my RBR20 while NordVPN is running on my Mac?
Q: How does enabling VPN on the router affect all of the devices connected to it, and do they all also have to be running VPN software? (Some wireless devices are "out of my control" such as Roku, Spectrum DVR, Vivint Alarm, etc.)
Thank you for your help - It's too expensive for me to pay $60 just to be able to ask these questions directly to Netgear 😐
Re: Can I enable OpenVPN on RBR20 if I have NordVPN running on Mac?
There are two parts of a VPN connection:
The VPN "client" which attempts to open a VPN "tunnel" into a host so that all traffic between the client and host are encrypted and thus protected from being observed along the path.
The VPN "host" which waits for devices to connect.
The OpenVPN that is included in Netgear routers is an OpenVPN host, not a client. The purpose is to allow the router administrator to connect to the router when not connected to the local network. I have OpenVPN configured on two Orbi routers so that I can connect to them and manage them remotely.
NordVPN's host is at various locations in the world. Customers install a NordVPN client on their local computer(s) so that they can connect to the NordVPN in a secure manner and then connect to other internet locations and appear to be coming from Nord. Nord hides their true location.
There is no problem doing both at the same time. A computer in the local network can install the NordVPN client and open a VPN tunnel to Nord at the same time as the Orbi router's OpenVPN host is waiting for a connection from the internet. You devices that are running NordVPN cannot detect that OpenVPN is running on the Orbi. Likewise, the Orbi cannot detect that your device is running NordVPN.
People often want to have their WiFi Router act as a VPN client and have every device on the local network pass through a single VPN tunnel for secure and anonymous access to the internet. Netgear routers do not support becomming a VPN client to do this. There are routers which can do this. Nord mentions several in their web pages. There is even a third party firmware for the Orbi RBR50 (only that model, not on the RBR20) which can act as either an OpenVPN client or as a Wireguard client. But Netgear routers running Netgear firmware cannot become VPN Clients.
Will VPN make a Netgear router more secure? No. As it is, the Netgear router will not accept any connection from the interent. It cannot be "taken over" from the internet.
Re: Can I enable OpenVPN on RBR20 if I have NordVPN running on Mac?
There are two parts of a VPN connection:
The VPN "client" which attempts to open a VPN "tunnel" into a host so that all traffic between the client and host are encrypted and thus protected from being observed along the path.
The VPN "host" which waits for devices to connect.
The OpenVPN that is included in Netgear routers is an OpenVPN host, not a client. The purpose is to allow the router administrator to connect to the router when not connected to the local network. I have OpenVPN configured on two Orbi routers so that I can connect to them and manage them remotely.
NordVPN's host is at various locations in the world. Customers install a NordVPN client on their local computer(s) so that they can connect to the NordVPN in a secure manner and then connect to other internet locations and appear to be coming from Nord. Nord hides their true location.
There is no problem doing both at the same time. A computer in the local network can install the NordVPN client and open a VPN tunnel to Nord at the same time as the Orbi router's OpenVPN host is waiting for a connection from the internet. You devices that are running NordVPN cannot detect that OpenVPN is running on the Orbi. Likewise, the Orbi cannot detect that your device is running NordVPN.
People often want to have their WiFi Router act as a VPN client and have every device on the local network pass through a single VPN tunnel for secure and anonymous access to the internet. Netgear routers do not support becomming a VPN client to do this. There are routers which can do this. Nord mentions several in their web pages. There is even a third party firmware for the Orbi RBR50 (only that model, not on the RBR20) which can act as either an OpenVPN client or as a Wireguard client. But Netgear routers running Netgear firmware cannot become VPN Clients.
Will VPN make a Netgear router more secure? No. As it is, the Netgear router will not accept any connection from the interent. It cannot be "taken over" from the internet.
Re: Can I enable OpenVPN on RBR20 if I have NordVPN running on Mac?
Thank you for your reply! It was a detailed summary that allowed me to understand. I indeed was hoping that by enabling VPN within the router, all of the device traffic connected to it would be encrypted. I understand now that that's not possible with Netgear router, noting the exception with RBR50 and other firmware. If all connections to it from the Internet are rejected, then that should suffice, I just found it very disconcerning that I had to factory reset it and re-configure it with my personal network name/PW. I'll likely still enable VPN in the router and NordVPN on my Mac since as you explained they can both be done at the same time. Again, Thank You for responding so quickly.
