Router Make/Model Suggestions for VPN Related Usage(2023 ver.)

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello, I would like to ask for the same suggestion as the Router Make/Model Suggestions for VPN Related Usage topic, but for the current offer of hardware.

The VPN technologies we're using are Cisco AnyConnect and WireGuard, the main usage is for remote access(RDP/SSH), ~10 simultaneous network users is the normal.

Our internet access is about 300Mbps and our budget is about 160USD.

In the original thread x86 architecture systems are suggested due to its performance in VPN processing I suppose, is it still the same nowadays?

Thanks in advance!

2

Would you rather use a home router ?

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3

As long as the budget allows any class of router can do.

4

the DL-WRX36 does 250 (mbit, I'd assume) on a single core, don't know if that's good enough for you.

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5

Thanks for the suggestion, I haven't completed the necessary research on the hardware I currently have so I have no idea yet but I'll definitely check it out.

6

Oh, so i was hitting max? My isp connection speed is also 250mbit, so figured it might hit a bit more. Im getting a 400mbps connection soon, so this router cannot handle that.

7

I didn't say you maxed it out, I just linked to your statement, I haven't tried this, and never will, openwrt
isn't my router OS.

I assumed your single thread score max out one of the cores, and not the internet connection :wink:

8

Is there a way to check cpu usage during wireguard?

9

install and run htop on the router.

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10

I think it's better to have a dedicated device to be your VPN endpoint since it's going to have high CPU usage (might affect the usual routing), a cheap Celeron 5105 mini PC should serve you very well (I have the NanoPi R4S which is also very fast but haven't tested myself yet, but looking at other YouTube review it's very likely to do what you want)

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11

On modern multi-core devices (4 cores and more), running the VPN endpoint on the router shouldn't be much of a problem (as long as the CPU is generally fast enough for this usage at the subscribed WAN speed). Networking is inherently single threaded, so the plain routing/ NAT will mostly use one of your cores, with well balanced IRQs you can spread WAN/ LAN and the radios among your cores, but the bulk of 'plain routing' stuff mostly remains on 1-2 cores, leaving you plenty of headroom on the other two cores for your VPN.

From a configuration point of view, handling the VPN on the router itself is a bit easier to implement.

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