The main reason of an IP address from somewhere else helps to hide where you are. But either way it’s encrypted so your ISP cannot log where you browse, right?
Both are the same. Ones ran on the router the other just thr one device running tgr client software. The router is for when you need several devices behind the VPN yet it counts as just one device on your vpn limit.
Thank you for your response!
So why wouldn’t most people make their own router vpn server instead of paying a service? (I get that only high end routers have that option)
To setup a VPN on a router you still need to have access to a VPN server not using your ISP to prevent your ISP knowing which websites you are connecting to. No matter how high end your router it cannot magically block your ISP seeing your browsing without securely connecting to an external server.
This is the crucial piece of information I have been trying to get after searching and searching! Thank you.
Can you please super clarify this so it sinks in for me. What’s the point of my router becoming a VPN server then? All of the VPN clients I create will be decrypted before getting to my ISP.
I guess there is a scenario that I could take my laptop to a coffee shop and connect to my home router vpn server and the coffee shop’s WiFi is prevented from reading my browser. But most day to day use from home still would be irrelevant?
From what I understand, it looks like this…
Scenario #1 - commercial VPN
Data → VPN Servers/Encryption → My Router → My PC
Scenario #2 - my own VPN
Data → My Router → My VPN/Encryption → My PC
In scenario #1, anyone outside my network looking in cannot see what the data is before it gets to my PC because it’s encrypted.
In scenario #2, anyone outside my network looking in can see what data is going to my router, and therefore my house/PC.
Super appreciated. Just having this as a starting off point to continue researching is helpful.
But I still have a long way to go.
Real quick, in your scenario 2 above, let’s say you are opening a local word document on your home network which is now going through your vpn server to the client computer in the coffee shop, is your ISP seeing the packets from the Word document? I’m trying to think of something that has nothing to do with the internet being sent over a network now suddenly exposed to my ISP.
Assuming the data on home network goes to your VPN and is encrypted before being sent over internet, yeah, ISP won’t be able to tell what it is. (That is an assumption on my part, though. It makes sense that it would, but there’s so much tech that’s beyond me…)
If the file is over a couple GBs, though, they can probably guess it’s an A/V file of some sort, just not exactly what. Or if it’s only a couple KBs, it’s probably a text document. etc…