Best router VPN services 2024

The best router VPN will make it easier to connect your home gaming consoles through VPN servers. Unfortunately, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo consoles don’t allow you to install a VPN directly, and one way to get around this is to connect your router through a VPN so that everything in your houses is protected by it.

Not every VPN service can be used on a router, which is why we’ve made this list of the best router VPN services. We’ve picked out the six best providers whose VPNs you’ll be able to connect your router through – and, of course, they all have a selection of other benefits to offer as well.

Our overall pick is ExpressVPN, and we’ll get into our reasons for choosing it below, but before you read on, it’s important to keep in mind that a VPN that offers router support won’t necessarily work with your own router and you might want to look at our guide on the best VPN routers if you want to invest in a new router too. We also have lists on the best PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 VPNs, and the best VPN for Xbox which might be worth cross-checking.

The best router VPN services are:

1. ExpressVPN – best for routers
2. Ivacy VPN – best price
3. Private Internet Access – most servers
4. CyberGhost – best for streaming
5. Surfshark – best free trial
6. NordVPN – best speeds

1. The best router VPN

ExpressVPN is the best router VPN.

ExpressVPN overview:

Pros:

• Lightway protocol enables speedy performance
• TrustedServer provides extra privacy
• Servers available in 94 countries

Cons:

• No free trial
• Expensive if you go for the monthly payment, rather than the multi-year plan
• Doesn’t allow many simultaneous connections

The best option to go for is ExpressVPN. Of course, like every provider on this list, you can connect your router through it, but what sets it apart from the rest is the fact that it uses the Lightway protocol, which allows it to encrypt you data more quickly than others – this will be handy if you use your consoles to browse the internet, and want to keep your activities discreet.

The main drawback is the fact that it definitely one of the most expensive providers in the market, so you have to consider whether or not the benefits mentioned above are worth the higher costs. It also limits you to just five simultaneous connections which is going to problematic for anyone hoping to find a solution for their whole family.

Though on a positive note, ExpressVPN is well known for its use of the TrustedServer system. What this means is that its servers are unable to write any data about your online activities, underlining its effectiveness at keeping your data completely private. All in all, it’s a brilliant gaming VPN.

Check out the ExpressVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, to find out more about this service.

2. The best cheap router VPN

Ivacy VPN is the best cheap router VPN.

Ivacy VPN overview:

Pros:

• Exclusive low price for our readers
• Servers in loads of countries
• Military-grade 256-bit encryption

Cons:

• No free trial
• No Apple kill switch

Are you keen to avoid high VPN costs? If so, we recommend Ivacy VPN. We have partnered with this provider in order to bring our readers an exclusive deal which works out as just $1 USD per month if you go for the five year plan. That’s $60 USD in one go and then you don’t have to worry about VPN expenses again for a quarter of a decade.

If you’re worried that this will be a sub-par service just because it’s a cheap VPN, let us reassure you. Impressively, Ivacy VPN has 5,700 servers spread out across more than 100 countries (a bigger range than any other provider on this list) and its military-grade 256-bit encryption means your private will remain as private as possible. It’s a robust service and one with a price tag small enough to leave you with more money for new games.

If you’re an Mac-user who is particularly privacy conscious, then something you should know is that Ivacy VPN does not have kill switch in place for Apple devices. A kill switch servers the connection if the VPN goes down, so without one, you’re at risk of your internet service provider (ISP) momentarily being able to see what you’re doing if there’s a VPN outage. Other than that though, there’s not much to criticise.

3. The router VPN with the most servers

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the router VPN with the most servers.

Private Internet Access overview:

Pros:

• Biggest server total by far
• Low prices (with an exclusive deal for our readers)
• Decent allowance on simultaneous connections

Cons:

• One of the slower providers on this list
• No free trial

Having a lot of servers is great. If there’s a certain game or streaming service that doesn’t work so well on the specific server you’re trying to connect through, then you can just switch over to other servers until you find one that runs it smoothly. With over 35,000 servers, Private Internet Access has a bigger selection than any other major VPN provider.

As is an annoying trend among VPN providers, Private Internet Access does not provide any kind of free trial, which is a pity because you’ll probably want to see how it works with your existing router. At very least, there’s still the 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on.

Further to its credit, Private Internet Access is also another of the cheaper VPN options out there, with a low price specifically for our readers. Additionally, it allows customers to connect through up to ten simultaneous devices, so it could come in handy for protecting devices beyond your Xbox/PlayStation/Switch, or it could also be good for your whole household, if you all play different consoles at the same time and would like to have a VPN to secure the connection.

4. The best router VPN for streaming

CyberGhost is the best router VPN for streaming.

CyberGhost overview:

Pros:

• Broad streaming service compatibility
• 45-day money-back guarantee
• Lower pricing

Cons:

• Slower than some other top providers
• Free trial could be longer

For many of us, our game consoles are increasingly becoming a complete home entertainment centre, and there’s a good chance that you watch a lot of TV shows through yours. If you do enjoy a bit of streaming, then we recommend CyberGhost as the best VPN for streaming.

Not only does this VPN have a respectable server selection (7,400 of them across 91 countries), but it is also broadly compatible with all the major streaming platforms. Even if you happen to find one that’s blocking you when the VPN is on, you’ll have plenty of others to switch between until you find yourself viewing it without a hitch.

CyberGhost is also one of the few VPN providers to give a free trial, which is nice, but it only lasts for 24 hours. This will be fine for some, and is much better than other services which don’t give you any trial, but a longer trial would definitely give you a better idea of how it performs. On the flip-side of that, CyberGhost does have an extra-long money-back guarantee (45 days) so at least you have plenty of time to change your mind after you pay.

Read the CyberGhost review from our sister site, PCGamesN.

5. The best VPN free trial

Surfshark offers the best VPN free trial.

Surfshark overview:

Pros:

• Week-long free trial
• Allows unlimited simultaneous connections
• Cheaper price

Cons:

• Smaller overall server count
• Smaller range of server locations

Do you want to take a VPN for a spin to make sure it will work with your home router? If so, you should try Surfshark because it offers a seven day VPN free trial, which should give you plenty of time to determine whether or not it works okay with your router, as well as time to test it with all your favourite online services.

And that’s not all! Surfshark is one of very few VPN providers who allows you to have an unlimited number of simultaneous connections. Even if you live with loads of people, you could use this to protect the privacy of all of them online, and if you split the costs between you, the expense could be tiny.

Noticeably, Surfshark has a smaller selection of servers than a lot of other top providers, so that’s a mark against it. However, it remains a substantial selection that will serve most customers well, and its low price helps off-set that drawback.

Have a peep at the Surfshark review on PCGamesN for more info.

6. The fastest router VPN

NordVPN is the fastest VPN router.

NordVPN overview:

Pros:

• Fastest VPN service
• Broad streaming compatibility

Cons:

• No free trial
• Slightly costlier

For some VPN shoppers, nothing is more important than speed. If you want the fastest VPN service, then NordVPN is the one to go for. When tested against other major VPN providers it came out on top, with average serves download speeds of 65.79Mbit/s (on OpenVPN) – and while that will vary depending on time of day (or your device) it’s still a good stretch ahead of the other big fish in the VPN pond.

Many internet service providers (ISPs) will slow down your connection speeds if you’re using a lot of bandwidth, and not only can NordVPN mask your activities (stopping ISPs from doing this), but with its zippy download speeds, it might even make things faster overall. If you’re somebody who plays online (or, especially, someone who plays games via the cloud), the benefits of this VPN could be enormous.

Meanwhile, it also uses the WireGuard protocol in order to encrypt your data more swiftly than other providers. It’s true that NordVPN is a little more expensive than other providers, but it’s definitely a solid service that’s deserving of its glowing reputation.

Read the NordVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, for more information about this provider.

How we chose the best router VPN

We put this list together by carefully weighing up the strengths of different VPN providers that offer router support and then determining which are the most useful to console gamers who might want to connect through a router. While ExpressVPN is our top pick, we can understand that other providers on this list might be more appropriate depending on each reader’s circumstances.