Best router/VPN combination for streaming and P2P?

[Greenside]

Been trying to set up a VPN on my Asus DSL-N55U_C1 router using either PIA or Express and it's not working well.  Maybe some weirdness in the firmware, but even when I can get a connection the speed to the US is in single figures on a 30/10Mbps AIS fibre line.  PIA support suggests that the router is maybe not strong enough to carry the load which can be 6 devices on my network (although the testing I'm doing is only with three) so I'm looking at maybe an upgrade.  Important features are versatile parental controls, dual band wifi, gigabit ethernet and simple portforwarding, given AIS's Carrier Grade Nat which was very difficult to master on the Asus.

 

That's the router.  PIA's UK servers are recognised by the BBC and I'd like to find one that will install on the router that will go in under the radar.  Ditto with Netflix in the UK and USA.  Express works in those respects but it's about three times the price of PIA so something in the middle would be perfect.

 

If anyone has successfully installed Open VPN on the Asus N55U I'd really love to hear from them!

[touch]

 

somebody recommended the TP-LINK (Archer C2300) when I was out looking for a router. It looks OK on paper. Does anyone have any experience with the TP-Link Archer?

@Greenside

It seems to have pretty good VPN support too

[muratremix]

30/10 is too low, why don't you upgrade it to AIS fiber? New packages are cheap and faster.

if you use openvpn on your pc, you'll have no speed problems related to cpu power.

[tweedledee2]

It's probably not a problem with your internet service or router, but your VPN.  I live in a rural area NNE of Surin and have 3BB fiber now, but for 2 years I had 3BB 30/10 VDSL and had no problems streaming US TV, BBC I-Player, Netflix US, AUS 7-Plus and other content with multiple devices in use. I used my laptop and a Proxy to stream and it also includes a separate VPN. My 2-year subscription cost me less than $25.

[worgeordie]

I use Browsec VPN,not with any special router,it's just

an add on in the browser,very easy to use,works with

BBC,ITV, US sites,has many different countries to choose

from, I have the paid version,but they also have a free

version which you can try,if streaming it's always best

to use RJ45 cable from PC to router,WiFi does not always

work so well,you will find Browsec in Google play store.

regards worgeordie

[Greenside]

Thanks for the replies, but maybe I wasn't clear:

• I'm using AIS Fibre and their 30/10 package fed into a wired network streams everything I need just fine.
• PIA and Express work without a hitch on my PC or my browser and even my phone, but I want to install a VPN on our gateway router so individual devices don't need to be switched on and off and maintained.
• The router is definitely the problem and so finding a better one (and possibly VPN provider if someone suggests a proven combination) is what I'm after.

[muratremix]

Get an expensive router but it will be an overkill for your 30/10 line.

my router can do over 100 mbps on openvpn but why pay 200 usd if you'll nowhere near 100 mbit speed?

 

Look for asus models that support openvpn with dual core setup and atleast 800 mhz broadcom cpu, it'll saturate your 30 mbps easily. My old asus ac56u does for example, but it is not sold anymore(?)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Some of the ASUS routers have an internal VPN client in their firmware that you can use to set up OpenVPN, L2TP or PPTP VPN connections just by using your VPN provider account's user ID and password, along with the desired VPN server address.

 

That way, you don't need to find a router where you can install the VPN provider's own OpenVPN app. It also gives you the option to use L2TP instead of OpenVPN, which is less demanding on older/less powerful routers while still providing good throughput speeds.

 

On my ASUS router, the router VPN client looks like this in the firmware:

 

 

 

 

 

[Greenside]

Muratremix: I agree about avoiding overkill by buying a very high end router and am busily researching what will do the trick.  I'll take your suggestions on board and check the specs carefully.

 

TallGuy:  My DSL-N55U has exactly the facility you illustrate and it's not working as it should.  PIA openvpn doesn't work at all (as in there is no connection, even though the .ovpn file is reported as properly loaded) and the Express connection works except (a) you can't tell if it's functioning, and (b) there's no reliable way to turn it off!  I have loaded 2 L2TP profiles and although they work, the speed I got was impossibly slow on four well seeded sample torrents (less than 700Kbps total download which went up to 3.8 Mbps when I pulled the VPN plug).  As you can see from the attached video the GUI never settles down to show the connection as active.  Also on the video, after the L2TP demo, you can see that activating the Express open VPN apparently does nothing although the system log and an IP lookup confirm that I now live in London and although the speed seems to support streaming HD video from the UK, Speedtest.net is reporting 5.8/3.4 so I'm surprised it worked at all.  I'm going to have to do a restore from backup now in order to turn it off.

 

Believe it or not, even with a video and half a dozen screenshots, Asus and PIA just kept directing me to the same setup instructions I'd been using to get thus far.

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Greenside

[Greenside]

Incidentally, I was very surprised by the dismal L2TP speeds.  As you mentioned, I understood that they had decent speed at the expense of encryption which for my usage would have been OK.

Edited November 6, 2018 by Greenside

[muratremix]

If you have money to spare, new high end routers are more capable, not just at vpn speeds or wireless coverage, but built in adblocker (ab-solution for example)

 

I use asus ac86u and its pretty good (bought for 194 usd from gearbest, no tax)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 hours ago, Greenside said:

 

TallGuy:  My DSL-N55U has exactly the facility you illustrate and it's not working as it should.  PIA openvpn doesn't work at all (as in there is no connection, even though the .ovpn file is reported as properly loaded) and the Express connection works except (a) you can't tell if it's functioning, and (b) there's no reliable way to turn it off!

 

fyi, I have the AC58U, and the built-in VPN client has worked flawlessly for me, and I've used it with PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN connections at various points in time. On my router, though, I seem to get much better speeds using either the PPTP or the L2TP connections vs the OpenVPN ones, even when using the same VPN provider and same server city connections.

 

You do have to be conscious of what VPN service you're using, though. Mine allows me to manually configure all their servers using any of the three protocols I mentioned above. But I've test trialed other VPN providers where they'll only let you connect thru their apps, or they only support manual connections with OpenVPN but not PPTP, etc etc. So you need to be clear just what your VPN provider allows in a manual configuration mode, and for which specific server addresses.

 

BTW, in the ASUS built-in VPN client, the far left column shows you the connection status for any particular profile. If it's connected, you'll see a blue check mark in a circle. If it's failed to connect, you'll get a blue X mark. And if there's nothing in the connection status column, it means those particular profiles aren't in current use at the time.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Greenside]

"If it's connected, you'll see a blue check mark in a circle. If it's failed to connect, you'll get a blue X mark. And if there's nothing in the connection status column, it means those particular profiles aren't in current use at the time."

Except in my case it doesn't!

 

I think I've spent as much time as I can spare on trying to sort this one out so I'll have to pony up for RT-AC68U or maybe a Netgear R7000 and put the N55 into service as (yet another) access point.  Thanks for taking the time to post.