Many manufacturers now incorporate a remote access VPN server into their router’s firmware, so that users can connect to the shared resources of their home as if they were physically on the local home network. These VPN services are not always on all routers, but over time it is beginning to become popular and implemented in the main domestic routers in all price ranges. Today in RedesZone we are going to tell you which manufacturers have these VPN services, what type of VPN they support and what router models incorporate it.
ASUS
The ASUS manufacturer has done a great job with its Asuswrt firmware, which has several VPN servers available using different protocols. All routers of the mid-range or higher manufacturer incorporate these VPN servers in the manufacturer’s firmware. We currently have the PPTP VPN server available, a protocol that is currently not secure, and therefore it is not recommended to use it.
We also have the OpenVPN protocol, one of the most secure VPN protocols that makes use of the TLS protocol to secure all communications. One of the star features of ASUS routers is the possibility of configuring your OpenVPN server in a very advanced way, including the possibility of creating a Public Key Infrastructure with the certificates that we want, in addition to adding custom options in a specific field of advanced options. The firmware includes OpenVPN 2.3 ASUSWRT, therefore, it does not have AEAD with AES-GCM in the data channel, a handicap that the manufacturer will resolve very soon by updating its OpenVPN server to the latest available version. If you have a router compatible with the Asuswrt Merlin firmware, you can use AEAD as it incorporates the latest version of OpenVPN, and you can even use a PKI based on elliptical curve certificates instead of RSA. One of the aspects that we like most about the OpenVPN server incorporated in ASUS routers is the possibility of configuring OpenVPN at a basic level with user and password, and also at an advanced level, ideal to adapt perfectly to the user profile.
ASUS routers also incorporate an IPsec IKEv1 XAuth server, although in this case, it will not allow us many advanced options such as the selection of encryption, it will only allow us to create different users to connect and configure basic parameters. The Asuswrt Merlin firmware also incorporates these same configuration options, no additional options have been added in the graphical user interface.
Finally, in addition to these three VPN servers, it also allows us to configure the VPN client of PPTP, L2TP, and even OpenVPN type, with the aim of connecting two routers between them and performing a Site-To-Site architecture to connect different homes, offices of the company, etc.
As you have seen, the ASUS routers in terms of VPN are really complete, and if you install the Asuswrt firmware you will have at your disposal the latest version of OpenVPN with all the improvements. We recommend you access our dedicated page of the manufacturer ASUS where you will find manuals and analysis of your routers with VPN.
AVM FRITZ! Box
AVM FRITZ! Box routers also incorporate a VPN server, specifically, it incorporates an IKEv1 XAuth IPsec server, although in this case, it will not allow us many advanced options such as the selection of encryption, it will only allow us to create different users to connect and configure basic parameters
The operation is really good, and in addition, it is suitable for all users as it will guide us with the configuration of our smartphone.
The only negative is that it will not allow us to make advanced configurations in the IPsec, in fact, it allows us the same configurations as the ASUS.
These FRITZ! Box routers with their FRITZ! OS operating system will also allow us to configure a Site-To-Site using IPsec IKEv1, either with a FRITZ! Box router to intercommunicate two homes or company headquarters, and also allow us to communicate with any IPsec VPN server that we have, although we must adjust phase 1 and phase 2 of said protocol, since internally the FRITZ! Box does not support all the encryption protocols available.
One of the aspects that we like most about AVM and its firmware, is that it is exactly the same for all router models, so any mid-range or high-end equipment will have this functionality of remote access VPN and Site-To -If you. We recommend you access our dedicated page of the manufacturer AVM FRITZ! where you will find manuals and analysis of your routers with VPN.
