If you prefer not to pay for an infomercial VPN, you can create your own at home using a router, home computer, or Virtualization Service. Our article explains the most basic methods for accomplishing this.
If you desire a free VPN, you don’t need to use a potentially dangerous service. You can establish a VPN server at your house. All you need is some knowledge and some leisure time.
You can set up your VPN personal server to gain secure access to your home router while you’re away. However, it does necessitate some technical expertise to set up.
EXPERT TIP: Setting up your VPN home network server can be challenging. You must keep up with security updates or risk jeopardizing your private information and internet security.
Unless you’re new to VPNs, we recommend starting with a reputable third-party VPN service that offers native apps for most devices.
There are many excellent free and top-rated VPNs for only a few dollars each month. You can even try the best VPN, Express VPN, risk-free for 30 days.
DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name Server):
There are three major methods for setting up your VPN server at home, but before selecting the best one, you should determine whether your ISP has delegated your home network a dynamic or static public IP address.
Static IP addresses remain constant, whereas dynamic IP addresses change regularly.
If you own a dynamic IP address, you should set up DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System). DDNS is a server that assigns IP addresses to web domain names.
Simply put, it assigns a fixed and memorable domain name to your ever-changing IP address.
Method 1: Purchase a VPN Router:
The simplest and safest way to set up your VPN at home is to purchase a router with constructed VPN server capabilities.
These routers can be pricey, sometimes reaching $100 (standard routers can be as low as $25).
This is approximately the same as yearly (and multi-year) membership plans for a few of the best VPNs available.
Before purchasing a router, ensure that it endorses your favored VPN protocol. We recommend the OpenVPN protocol because of its balance of privacy and performance. Unlike many third-party VPNs, a router does not allow you to switch between VPN protocols easily.
To configure your home router as a VPN server, follow these steps:
- Launch your preferred web browser.
- In the search bar, type in your router’s LAN (internal) IP address. Routers are typically assigned one of two IP addresses: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. If neither is your router’s IP address, try to emulate these steps to find out what it is.
- Enter the username and password for the router. If you haven’t changed it, both parts will likely be ‘admin.’
- Navigate to Settings > VPN Service (or Advanced Settings).
- Turn on the VPN Service.
- Ensure VPN clients can access all internet and home networking websites.
- Select ‘Apply‘ to confirm these settings.
Set up your VPN client, the device you will use to link to the VPN.
- From the router’s control panel, download the configuration files for your VPN clients (devices such as Windows, macOS, and smartphones).
- Unzip the files and copy them (wirelessly or via USB cable) to the VPN client folder on the device to which you want to connect to the VPN.
- Connect to the VPN (while disconnected from your home network) and check for leaks.
- Troubleshoot any VPN issues, which could be server or client-related.
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