Should I run a vpn on my router or use apps on devices for security?

[Zoey61]

I’ve been looking into setting up a VPN on my home router to cover all our devices, but I’m not sure if that’s actually leaving me more exposed than just using the app on individual phones and laptops. I keep reading that a misconfigured router can open up the whole network, and I’m worried my setup might have a flaw I haven’t caught.

[LoganRJ]

I tried a router wide VPN last year. The idea sounded great for coverage, but throughput dropped and the house felt choppier. Speed tests fell from about 900 Mbps down to 550–600, and latency ticked up enough to notice during video calls. I double checked firewall rules, turned off remote admin, and verified DNS wasn’t leaking. In the end I turned it off on the router and relied on per device VPN apps. Safer on paper, less practical in real life.

[ThomasJ]

I did get it running and realized I hadn’t enabled a proper kill switch. When the tunnel hiccuped, a few apps briefly used the regular connection and my real IP showed up in DNS lookups. It was unsettling for a moment, even though it didn’t last long. I tried to tighten rules, then decided the setup wasn’t worth the constant tuning.

[Charles_A]

Have you considered that the real issue might be the devices or the router firmware itself rather than the setup? Old hardware, flaky NAT, or outdated crypto can leak exposure even with a tunnel in place, and that stuff is easy to overlook.

[JonathanJ]

I started with the router plan and then got pulled into making a guest network for visitors and oddly found myself chasing border cases. After that detour I updated firmware on everything and enabled auto updates, which felt like a basic win even if it didn’t fix the bigger question.