How to Put a VPN on Your Router (Every Device at Once)

Here's how to put a VPN on your router, so every device in the house is covered at once, including the TV and the console that can't run one. One setup, about 15 minutes, and no risky software swap.

One honest thing first: a router can quietly turn a 500 line into 20 with the wrong setting. It's one setting, and we'll show you which. One more: the box your internet provider gave you almost never qualifies, and you don't have to replace it.

Why the router at all? Because every device in the house connects to it. Run the VPN there, and everything on its Wi-Fi goes through it: phones, laptops, the smart TV, the console, the streaming stick, the thermostat — all private from your internet provider. The ones that can't run a VPN app get covered anyway, and with most providers the router counts as one device, so a 10-device limit stops mattering.

So which router? There are three kinds. First, the VPN feature is built into the router's own software: most ASUS models, GL.iNet, Synology. Second, the feature only arrives if you replace the router's software with a community version: many Linksys and Netgear models, and older ASUS. Go wrong, and the router can be dead. If that's more risk than you want, buy the first kind.

Third, ready-made: ExpressVPN's Aircove has the VPN built in, under five minutes from the box in our tests. Your internet provider's box? Almost never any of these. You don't replace it: plug a VPN-ready router into it, and join the devices you want covered to its Wi-Fi.

The setup, on the first kind. One: check the router has the option to run a VPN — not the feature that lets you reach your home network from outside. Two: in your VPN account, find the manual setup or router section and download the setup file for the location you want. Surfshark is the page's DIY pick here. Three: on the router's settings page, open the VPN section. Four: upload the file.

Five: if there's a switch to cut the internet if the VPN drops, turn it on. Six: switch it on. Status: connected. Seven: on any device on that Wi-Fi, open a check page. It should show the VPN's location, not yours. Then run a speed test.

The catch? The VPN work happens on the router's processor, far weaker than a laptop's, so your speed is capped by the router, not your plan. There are two connection types, an older one and a newer one; the exact names are on our page. Our test ASUS RT-AX86U gave 80 to 120 on the older type, and 350 plus on the newer. A cheap router on the older type can leave you at 50, or the 20 from the start.

The one setting: choose the newer type wherever your router and VPN offer it. Still slow? A closer location, a cable instead of Wi-Fi, heavy devices routed around it. Past that, you need a faster router, not more settings.

Three trade-offs. Everyone on that router shares one location. Changing it means the settings page, not a tap. And a device is all in or all out, so choose which devices go through it: on an Aircove from a simple dashboard, on ASUS with the community version, and on GL.iNet. The console that hates lag and the laptop for banking sites that block VPNs go around. The TV and the stick go through. The phone keeps its own app for leaving the house.

Make it stick. On the settings page, set the VPN to reconnect when the router restarts. After a power cut, the router comes back covered before anything in the house is back online. In our 30-day runs, the top setups stayed up 99.9% of the time and reconnected on their own, and 10 devices at once kept 90% of the speed each on the newer type.

So which VPN? Our top three for routers, in the page's order. ExpressVPN, 9.9 out of 10, top pick for this guide: the Aircove path, 105 countries, $2.79 a month, 30 days. IPVanish, 9.8: no device limit, $2.19 a month, 30 days. NordVPN, 9.7: built into newer ASUS routers, where you sign in with a code from your account; 118 countries, $3.09 a month, 30 days. Whichever you pick, you have 30 days to prove it on your own router.

Once more, in your own house: a router with the VPN feature, or one plugged into your provider's box. The setup file from your account onto the router's settings page. Switch it on, and check from any device. The newer connection type — that's the 500-into-20 fix. Reconnect on restart. The full ranking is at vpnrank.io. That's a VPN on your router: every device in the house covered at once.