Dual Use VPN, Access my Home Network and move outgoing location?

[KalTorak]

Hi Guys.

I have a few questions about VPNs.

I understand that I can create a VPN so that my phone / laptop will be able to reach files and my NAS on my home network.

I also know that I can use a VPN to move the apparent location of my Home Networks outgoing connection.

What I dont know, is if I can do both? Enable my phone to connect to my home network at the same time have my home network connecting out via a VPN in another country. Connecting my phone to my home network will require a router that can be run as a VPN server, correct? If so, could you recommend a good ethernet WAN router that supports this, either at stock or after a firmware update to tomato etc?

 

[bill001g]

You best bet is to run third party firmware, you are lucky to get simple vpn on a consumer router.

Your problem is even defining the problem. Once you do that you can configure the routing tables to determine which traffic goes where but the problem is more generic.

Lets say you are the router. It is easy to force all traffic going to the internet over some VPN tunnel to another country. But now I also want to talk to some internet address directly....ie not though the vpn to the other country. This IP address is for the VPN to your phone etc. But lets make it simpler say you want your traffic to tomshardware to go directly but all other traffic to go through the tunnel. That is pretty easy but now assume tomshardware is on some random IP address how are you going to do this.

A second vpn adds even another layer of complexity because now in addition to figuring out how to just get a second connection open to some random ip I now must route some traffic down one tunnel and some down the other.

Once you can clearly define the problem and how YOU would do it if you were the router then the configuration is pretty easy. Getting the solution down on paper though is going to be a massive headache. It can definitely be done but I can't even begin to tell you all the details involved in doing this.

 

[KalTorak]

Yea, its pretty much the problem that I was expecting to encounter. My phone doesnt seem to use a static IP, and I cannot set it up to do so (why isnt IPv6 the standard yet! grrr)

I think for the moment I will have to settle with either one or other.

Do you have any recommendations for Ethernet WAN routers that would be good for setting up as a VPN server?

 

[bill001g]

Its been so long since I used a consumer route that had vpn support. I generally load dd-wrt on a asus or tplink router. Still asus may support it with their standard firmware now it is getting closer and closer to dd-wrt but I have not bought a new router in a couple years now.

 

[KalTorak]

I could setup a lovely VPN if I could afford some Cisco gear, but I aint made of money 😀

Ill take a look at the DD-WRT router database and see what I can get that I can load it onto.

Thanks for the help, looks like I will have to pull back on my aspirations for the moment, I cant afford what I want to do. Lol.