Heyya gang,
I had a question about the viability of adding a VPN router to my home network. I want to start running my own servers, including website hosting for my own business, from my home base. I use a VPN normally, however I would want to have my server connections to go through a VPN as well.
I looked around and I couldn’t find anything regarding the viability of plugging my server/nas/ business PC into a VPN flashed router which would then be connected via a switch to router or directly Into internet providing router.
Apologies if this is a noob question, I am a noob to all this but find it really fascinating <3
Much love
There are inbound VPNs for remotely accessing your home securely. Then there are outbound VPNs for connecting to a VPN provider. Which of these two are trying to accomplish by connecting your server/NAS/business PC into a VPN router? And why?
It seems to me that you may be using a VPN to solve the wrong problem. I’m guessing that you want to isolate your business devices from your home devices. If that’s correct, then what you probably want are VLANs, not a VPN.
What NAS do you have? I have NAS (Synology) with a public website hosted. I have a docker container for Wordpress, I use Cloudflare tunnel, Zero Trust tunnel. I route traffic from Cloudflare using CloudflareD container to a specific port of the wordpress container and my website is proxied by Cloudflare so my IP isn’t visible to the public. My NAS is connected to a router which has VLANS, the two Ethernet ports on my NAS each is connected to a VLAN managed by the router.
I think the vlan route makes the most sense. My rational is just as much security as possible for my devices and data I’m storing/working on.
My theoretical mind says that by having a vpn enabled router that connects to the normal router I achieve a isolated portion of tech that sits behind the VPN. However vlan would essentially achieve the same thing.
My theoretical mind says that by having a vpn enabled router that connects to the normal router I achieve a isolated portion of tech that sits behind the VPN.
You would have to ensure that the VPN router blocks all access to the main network. Otherwise, you won’t get any isolation at all.
A VLAN would be more straightforward to set up. You may want to isolate other devices in your network, like untrustworthy IoT devices. Most consumer grade routers do not fully support VLANs, so you may need to replace it. You may also need a managed switch.
Using a VPN can provide you with some anonymity. Your home public IP address can be hidden.
Thanks for your help with this :)
looked at some vlan switches and thay would probably be the best!!
I want to emphasize that you need a VLAN-capable router at a minimum. A managed switch is only needed if there aren’t enough ports on the router, or the router doesn’t have a built-in managed switch. Yes, some higher-end multi-port routers don’t have switches.
Amazing, thanks for the heads up :)
looked at some vlan switches and thay would probably be the best!!