How to set up VPN on your router
As you will learn shortly, the VPN is also very effective for streaming geo-blocked content from outside the UK.
Maybe it’s important to point out that you can actually set up VPN on your computer very easily by downloading and installing a VPN client.
However, there are several advantages of installing VPN on your router.
- You can access iPlayer and other services directly from your Smart TV as is you were accessing the internet from within the UK.
- You don’t need to turn on your computer or connect it to the TV
- You won’t need to connect and disconnect the VPN client every time you want to stream content.
- You can connect multiple devices to the router without the need for separate software
Remember to choose your routers wisely. The best routers are those which come with a VPN client as part of the firmware. The 3 most popular routers for VPN are the Asus RT-N16, the Netgear Nighthawk R700, and the TomatoUSB Asus RT-N66U.
There are several ways of setting up VPN on your router but we will go with the simplest of them.
- Login to your router’s interface from your browser. The default username/password is admin/admin and the default IP is 192.168.1.1.
- Once logged in, go to “WAN > WAN Connection Type > PPTP.” (PPTP is one of the many VPN protocols).
- Continue the set up by completing the following steps; Enable WAN: YES, Enable UPnP: YES, Enable NAT: YES, Connect to DNS Automatically: NO, Get WAN IP Automatically: YES.
- Then set the DNS servers to; DNS 1: 208.67.220.222, and DNS 2: 208.67.222.222. (The two are freely available DNS servers from OpenDNS.)
- Further down on the same form, fill in your VPN account settings and the IP address of the server you’re connecting to. You can easily get the IP from your VPN provider.
- Go to the VPN control panel and select, “Download and Setup > PPTP&L2TP > Instructions.” This should take you to the setup page with all your personalized login details.
- You’ll see a lot of servers to choose from. Scroll down until you see UK servers and select one. A quick tip is to choose the fastest server available.
- Go back to the Router WAN setup and enter the PPTP username and password as required.
- Finally, enter the IP address of the VPN server
- Click “Apply” to confirm the changes.
That’s it! You just set up your VPN router. You may want to check your IP location by going to whatsmyipaddress.com.