My router is an RAX50v2 with Firmware Version V1.1.4.28_2.1.26, and I run Win 11 and the latest version of iOS. I'm not terribly conversant on VPNs, but I'm interested in setting one up that will work well with my router. I looked into Nord, but it seems to require that I flash my router's firmware, which strikes me as potentially risky, as I don't want to hose a new router. So, can anyone recommend a VPN for a newbie that will work well and seamlessly with my system? Thanks.
What for exactly you think you require using a 3rd party VPN service?
For securely connecting to your home Internet connection, the RAX50v2 does have an OpenVPN service installed, perfectly sufficient to "call home" in a secured way.
Use VPN to access your Internet service at home When you’re away from home and you access the Internet, you usually use a local Internet service provider. For example, at a coffee shop you might be given a code that lets you use the coffee shop’s Internet service account to surf the web. Your router lets you use a VPN connection to access your own Internet service when you’re away from home. You might want to do this if you travel to a geographic location that doesn’t support all the Internet services that you use at home. For example, your Netflix account might work at home but not in a different country.
Thanks. I rarely access the internet away from home. When I do, it's usually through my phone, an Android using Chrome. I just thought that a VPN would provide an additional layer of security and privacy.
I just thought that a VPN would provide an additional layer of security and privacy.
This is one of those marketing ploys that IT businesses deploy to scare us all witless.
As the ISPs, network operators and the likes of Microsoft and Apple, not to mention the designers of network hardware, get better at protecting us, the "security" industry has to be more imaginative in the scare stories it deploys to extract money from our wallets.
Careful use of your network and keeping software up to date seems to keep most people safe. Modern browsers also have ways of shielding your behaviour.
Of course, nothing will protect people from doing seriously dumb things, like handing out banking details to dodgy websites, such as those claiming to be affiliated to Netgear.
There may be a reasons for using different types of VPN.
Getting onto your network from the outside world is available free from Netgear. @schumaku has given you a good pointer there.
Accessing things like regionally locked material – British TV in the US and vice versa – needs a different sort of VPN. But that is hardly a "security and privacy" tool.
Then there is the need to get Into a corporate network when you are working at home, for example. That sort of thing is best left to the people who want you to access their system. They will be paranoid about security and privacy and won't want you messing around with their toys.
