Suggestion for Wireless Router w/ VPN - need remote PC / unRaid server acce


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I'm moving in the next couple months and so I'm in the market for some new network hardware (current hardware is staying at current residence). Something I've been wanting for a long time now is to be able access my unRaid media server as well as my home computer(s) from a remote location, and it seems that the best way to go about doing this is through a VPN.

I'm going to admit that networking is not an area of computing that I'm very familiar with, which is one reason I've found myself steered more towards buying a router with built-in VPN capabilities instead of using something like openVPN.

Any recommendations are welcome, seeing as I was already planning on spending close to $200 on a router anyway, so performance and security come before price tag as far as I'm concerned.

Preferably an N router that has a USB port (I have a printer that I need to share wirelessly). Basically, I've been using an Airport Extreme for the last year or so and I don't want to lose any of functionality it gives (N router, USB in, ability to create a guest network, etc.) but need to add the VPN ability.

Again, very new to this area so any resources to read up on would also be welcome. I've been perusing the net reading up on this stuff, but I'm sure people knowledgeable in this area might be able to give some better directions towards useful resources :laugh:

thanks all

Edit: i should note, "remotely" generally means either from another home network (like if I'm visiting family), or from work

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So, maybe I don't actually need a router with a VPN built in, especially after reading this other Neowin thread where it's pointed out that a lot of companies block the VPN protocols used by a lot of the routers that come with built in VPNs

After some more reading it seems like through OpenVPN and DD-WRT it won't be tooooo hard to set this up with a compatible router so I can remote into my home PC.

I'm less clear about accessing the unraid server through this same method (all the things I've come across have discussed config of network settings on Windows machines...I have no idea what the limitations of the unRaid software is in terms of this). Anyone know?

thanks again

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Ok, so after more reading...

Assuming everything about the VPN is set up properly, when a remote PC connects to the home network it should basically see it as if it were actually a part of the LAN, correct? Meaning, it should see all the connected computers (including the unRaid server) under "Network" (or whatever the Mac equivalent might be), and as long as all of their respective sharing options are done properly, the remote PC should be able to navigate through the files on those computers?

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