VPN software or router?

[hostricity]

I live in an older highrise in downtown Dallas, Texas. The ONLY internet service available in the building is AT&T and their fastest offering is12.5mbps down / 1mbps up.

I'd like to use a VPN because I don't want AT&T collecting my history and selling it.

I've been using a VPN on my android phone for safe public wi-fi use, so I'm familiar with how VPN/s work.

Here are my issues:

My Internet service is lousy, so I'm concerned about slowing down an already slow connection.

I assume that any decent VPN is going to have satisfactory security.

I really don't care about the user interface. I'm primarily interested in speed and latency from my location.

If I use a software VPN, I would only use it on my two computers and my android phone.

A VPN Router would be great because of the convenience of not having to run software on my stuff, but I've heard that ALL VPN routers slow-down the connection more than using software VPN.

So that's my FIRST QUESTION: Are ALL VPN routers slower than using software VPN on individual devices?

If VPN Routers are not slower, I haven't seen much information about the FASTEST VPN router.

Either way, I still need a VPN service. I've seen claims that PureVPN actually improves download speeds, but I'm not sure I like the idea of a company based in China.

So, my SECOND QUESTION is: How do I find the fastest VPN for my location? There was a website for testing VPN servers at your location, but it is shut down.

FINAL QUESTION: Do any of the VPN services dynamically select the fastest VPN server automatically during use? I haven't seen this feature listed anywhere.

 

[Hamperking68]

That sounds like you're using ADSL so the max is generally Mbps down and 1 up.

Try tunnel-bear, it's free for 500mb a month which should be plenty of data to test some different server location speeds.

VPN Routers are generally quicker, at least in my experiences.

No, they don't select dynamically.

 

[hostricity]

That sounds like you're using ADSL so the max is generally Mbps down and 1 up.
Try tunnel-bear, it's free for 500mb a month which should be plenty of data to test some different server location speeds.
VPN Routers are generally quicker, at least in my experiences.
No, they don't select dynamically.

Would you like to suggest some vpn router models?

 

[bill001g]

All vpn is going to slow you down somewhat. Every packet has new headers added and the packet is then encrypted. The encryption process used to cause some delays but routers have very fast cpu now days. The main thing that makes it slower is that you now are transferring about 10% more data all the time. This will increase the time it takes to download files.

The other delay you get is based on the location of the vpn data center. Your traffic must go all the way to VPN data center and then to the server location. Lets say you are accessing a server that is in Chicago. Your traffic now goes more or less directly. Lets say you found a completely free VPN service but they only had a single data center and it was located in japan. Your traffic would go via VPN all the way to japan, become encrypted and then go all the way back to Chicago.

In your particular case there are a couple of vpn data providers that have one of there data centers in dallas. PIA is one example, from what I have been told this data center is in one of the multistory buildings in downtown dallas that is used by most the large ISP for their interconnection.

I would always use a VPN router if it is a option. First you only have to set it up 1 time rather than on each device. Next some traffic can bypass the VPN on client machines if you are not really careful. Win10 update and their spydata tends to bypass some vpn clients also. When it is on the router it is harder to bypass.....this may be a issue since some sites block you from access them via any form of vpn. Putting exceptions into the router tends to be messy.

I suspect your problem is going to be finding a VPN router. Since you have dsl this limits your selection. You can run your current router as a DSL modem and then run pppoe on a router that uses ethernet wan ports and has vpn ability. What you might consider is buying a asus dsl router and then load asuswrt onto it. Be sure it is on the supported list. This is asus partial implementation of third party firmware dd-wrt. Since they did it they can implement the DSL drivers. Since DSL drivers are not open source you will not find support for dsl in any of the third party firmware.

The ASUSWRT does not have as many features as full third party image like dd-wrt but it does have vpn. Be careful there is a version called asuswrt-merlin that has many more features. This is not put out by asus, although they approve it, so does not contain DSL support.

 

[hostricity]

All vpn is going to slow you down somewhat. Every packet has new headers added and the packet is then encrypted. The encryption process used to cause some delays but routers have very fast cpu now days. The main thing that makes it slower is that you now are transferring about 10% more data all the time. This will increase the time it takes to download files.

The other delay you get is based on the location of the vpn data center. Your traffic must go all the way to VPN data center and then to the server location. Lets say you are accessing a server that is in Chicago. Your traffic now goes more or less directly. Lets say you found a completely free VPN service but they only had a single data center and it was located in japan. Your traffic would go via VPN all the way to japan, become encrypted and then go all the way back to Chicago.

In your particular case there are a couple of vpn data providers that have one of there data centers in dallas. PIA is one example, from what I have been told this data center is in one of the multistory buildings in downtown dallas that is used by most the large ISP for their interconnection.

I would always use a VPN router if it is a option. First you only have to set it up 1 time rather than on each device. Next some traffic can bypass the VPN on client machines if you are not really careful. Win10 update and their spydata tends to bypass some vpn clients also. When it is on the router it is harder to bypass.....this may be a issue since some sites block you from access them via any form of vpn. Putting exceptions into the router tends to be messy.

I suspect your problem is going to be finding a VPN router. Since you have dsl this limits your selection. You can run your current router as a DSL modem and then run pppoe on a router that uses ethernet wan ports and has vpn ability. What you might consider is buying a asus dsl router and then load asuswrt onto it. Be sure it is on the supported list. This is asus partial implementation of third party firmware dd-wrt. Since they did it they can implement the DSL drivers. Since DSL drivers are not open source you will not find support for dsl in any of the third party firmware.

The ASUSWRT does not have as many features as full third party image like dd-wrt but it does have vpn. Be careful there is a version called asuswrt-merlin that has many more features. This is not put out by asus, although they approve it, so does not contain DSL support.

Thank you.

What are the other VPN's with servers in Dallas? You mentioned PIA and two more you didn't name?

I imagined I would switch from a router modem to a modem with an ethernet port and connect the VPN modem to that.

 

[bill001g]

At least this time I did not typo that...I did not say 3. Dallas is one of the major interconnect location for ISP because of how the internet was developed. Almost every ISP has equipment in the 2323 bryan building. I think almost all the floors are data centers. Not real sure it has been years since I have been in that building. The infomart is also now a major hosting and ISP interconnect site in dallas.

The only other one I know for sure that has a dallas data center is expressvpn. There are likely many more just because it is important for a good vpn provider to have direct connection with as many ISP as possible.

The number of direct connections to ISP is extremely important and is one of the ways you can actually get better performance using a vpn than a direct connection. This greatly depends exactly where you are going since it depends on the remote servers ISP. This is massively hard to figure out but you can if you work at it. This is the best site I have found to dig around and figure out how ISP and companies are connected. http://bgp.he.net/

 

[Best_VPN]

I would go for a VPN like http://bit.ly/2jsOFXi which keeps no logs, easy to use and a reasonable price

 

[maitrex]

hey
You should choose a VPN software cause this way you will configure a VPN on your router and use it on your desktop as a client as well.

 

[rosemary5]

There are many technical skills required for Routers to config but with Software, you can easily use speedy service at anywhere.