The Best VPNs for Routers

ExpressVPN is the only VPN service to have developed its own WiFi VPN router with a dedicated app.

It’s extremely simple to use, requiring no technical knowledge. It’s plug-and-play, with ExpressVPN already installed on it, so you can get started in less than five minutes.

ExpressVPN’s Aircove Go router comes with its own VPN router app.

The app is controlled through your web browser on www.expressvpnrouter.com, where it functions in the exact same way as any other ExpressVPN app.

Your connections will be encrypted through the same technology all other ExpressVPN software uses, including the Lightway protocol plus AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption.

One of the most useful features of the router app is the “Device Groups” setting. This allows you to assign different IP locations to specific devices on your network.

For instance, we connected our Roku stick to a VPN server in the UK to unblock BBC iPlayer, while simultaneously connecting our Xbox to a VPN server in India to access easier lobbies.

You can even create a separate WiFi network just for your guests.

If you don’t want to buy Aircove, you can still use ExpressVPN’s configuration files with many WiFi 5, 6, and 7 router brands.

It’s certainly less user-friendly to do this, as you have to manually install a different file for each location you want to connect to.

Even if the setup process is relatively straightforward, it’s impractical if you want to quickly switch IP location.

ExpressVPN is a standout all-round VPN, with 13,360 fast and secure servers that bypass most streaming geo-blocks around the globe.

You can in fact use ExpressVPN to access 18 Netflix regions, HBO Max, Paramount+, Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube TV, and many more platforms.

Thanks to its no-logs policy, diskless servers, and speedy connections, ExpressVPN is also an excellent VPN for anonymous torrenting and file sharing.

We also love the VPN’s ‘ShuffleIP’ technology, which automatically assigns you a new IP address on every website or app visit, without affecting your online location.

If you want to keep it simple, then the best thing to do is purchase the Privacy Hero 2 NordVPN router from FlashRouters.

It’s a pre-flashed router that uses the NordLynx protocol and is a “plug-and-play” challenger to Aircove.

The Privacy Hero dashboard allows you to cover your entire network as well as individual devices, even those that don’t support VPNs natively.

The web app is fully integrated with NordVPN, providing you with access to key settings such as the VPN kill switch and split tunneling.

The app’s interface is relatively easy to use and we didn’t have any issues switching from one VPN server location to another.

We found it most useful to use NordVPN with our PlayStation, quickly changing our gaming region to access less “sweaty” lobbies on Call of Duty.

Like many top-tier VPNs, you can also install NordVPN manually on a variety of routers and firmware, with detailed setup guides available for each one.

Each setup guide is well-written and easy to follow, with plenty of screenshots and videos to simplify the process.

There are even instructions on how to use NordVPN with a Starlink router, via the hardware’s VPN passthrough feature.

In the rare instances we were unable to understand a step, NordVPN’s 24/7 live chat support was on hand to help.

As we’ve said earlier, one of NordVPN’s key selling points is its formidable internet speeds, with amazing stability even on connections stretching thousands of miles.

Across all our devices connected to our NordVPN-enabled router, the impact on our internet connection was minimal: 4% connecting locally, and 14% internationally.

We saw the impact of these phenomenal results while playing on our PS5 with the VPN on — sharp gameplay and no loss of frame rate.

Via the Privacy Hero app, we consistently evaded streaming geo-blocks too, just like the standard NordVPN apps do.

This worked across all devices on our local network, including our Apple TV and Fire TV Stick.

On IPVanish’s router setup page, you can use the embedded search engine to filter by your router model.

This tells you if your router is compatible with IPVanish, along with all the possible setup methods and accompanying guides.

We found IPVanish’s website easy to use and navigate.

This is so much better than other VPN provider websites, which are often difficult to navigate and lack the necessary setup information.

The detail in the setup guides was outstanding, with many helpful screenshots, step-by-step instructions, and troubleshooting options.

We quickly configured IPVanish’s WireGuard protocol on our Linksys WRT3200ACM router without any issues.

Once installed, IPVanish immediately encrypted our internet traffic leaving our connected devices.

Throughout our tests, our connection only dipped by 12% on nearby servers.

While this is slower than ExpressVPN and NordVPN, the margins are really narrow and most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Over longer distances, our download speed slowed down by 12%. Clearly, IPVanish lagged behind NordVPN and ExpressVPN more noticeably here.

Something that’s very apparent with IPVanish is how much effort they’ve put into fixing their historical streaming-related problems.

In the past, the service couldn’t access several popular content platforms. Now, it’s one of the most reliable at beating geo-blocks on Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and Prime Video.

Streaming access has improved noticeably outside of the US, too, especially in the UK.

Unlike most free VPNs, Proton VPN doesn’t cap your data usage. In other words, it’s the only free VPN to support router installation and unlimited data usage.

Proton VPN is also one of the few free VPNs we trust, thanks to its excellent logging policy, high security standards, and trustworthy company background.

But the VPN is hampered by significant product restrictions: you can’t torrent or unblock streaming services on any free server. These restrictions apply to any device connected to your router.

You’re also limited to servers in just 10 countries, which you can’t select manually: the VPN will simply connect you to the fastest free server available.

We can’t lie; these limitations turned out to be incredibly frustrating throughout our testing.

If you’re serious about using a VPN with your router, and for a prolonged period of time, we strongly recommend choosing a paid service.