What Is The Lowest Cost VPN That Could Be Used With A Surveillance System?

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Ethan Ace
•Oct 10, 2017

Looking at low cost VPN options which are already productized, e.g., doesn't need assembly or much installation. The setup in this thread from Undisclosed using a Raspberry Pi is clever and cheap, but requires DIY / some tech skills, so curious what's out there for those who don't have that experience or desire.

So far at the $100 and under mark, I've found:

What are we missing? 

For reference, SonicWALL and Cisco devices are in the $200+ range at a minimum, but also generally handle higher throughput, 50 or 100 Mbps and up.

UE
Undisclosed End User #1
•Oct 10, 2017

Not lowest cost, but worth mentioning?:

Any Hardware that could run pFsense or OPNsense, search in Amazon

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MM
Michael Miller
•Oct 10, 2017

The USG VPN is done through the GUI.

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Ethan Ace
•Oct 10, 2017
In reply to Michael Miller

For remote users? Did they add that in firmware updates? When I first got one it was GUI for point to point and command line for remote users.

MM
Michael Miller
•Oct 10, 2017
In reply to Ethan Ace

Yup it works well you set it up from the cloud key web GUI.  It's been in every version I have used.

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Ethan Ace
•Oct 10, 2017
In reply to Michael Miller

Thanks, I'll check that out.

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JH
Jay Hobdy
•Oct 10, 2017
IPVMU Certified

I am sure Linksys has a cheap option?

JH
Jay Hobdy
•Oct 10, 2017
IPVMU Certified

When we first looked at VPN's everyone was saying go with Sonic Firewall, don't use stuff like Linksys or TP link. But at this point, I have to imagine a $70 TP link is going to be a lot better than nothing on a Dahua system.

 

The second concern is how to configure clients.

 

I have tried to get a couple local IT people to help but they have always flaked out...

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Ethan Ace
•Oct 10, 2017
In reply to Jay Hobdy

But at this point, I have to imagine a $70 TP link is going to be a lot better than nothing on a Dahua system.

That is literally the thought we were discussing internally which led to this discussion.

BS
Bob Schenck
•Oct 11, 2017
IPVMU Certified

Short answer is a WRT firmware router like the GL.iNet GL-MT300N for $19.95.

But keep in mind the question was "lowest cost" and "could be used."  There are a few things to consider with a device like this that may make spending a little more money a better option:

  • This is an OpenWRT firmware device, which is very flexible software but not professionally supported
  • VPN throughput is around 10Mb according to the seller
  • The GUI setup only can only config a VPN client, the VPN server requires dropping into the OpenWRT config files
  • Little routers like this are notorious for locking up after long periods of use.  This is not a problem when used as a travel VPN, but is not ideal for a remote client site.

I personally use the little Mikrotiks if I need a dedicated router for access.  There is a fat client gui setup program called Winbox that works fairly well and their equipment tends to keep running once it's setup.  However there is a steep learning curve to Mikrotik and the company does not offer much in the way of support.

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Wim Roelands
•Oct 17, 2017
ABR Security
In reply to Bob Schenck

Ubiquiti has a few cheap models that supports VPN tunneling.

The EdgeRouter X starts here in Europe at €50.

I've never used them so I don't know the throughput.

  

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JH
Jay Hobdy
•Oct 11, 2017
IPVMU Certified

How about ease of setup? It sounds like a lot of these options require some advanced technical skills.

 

Will any of these VPN support DynDNS? Currently we have our Dahua NVR's set for DynDNS. Could we still have have the NVR report to Dyn? I do not see why a VPN would prevent that?

 

What is the throughput on the USG? The only stat I could find said 3 Gigs per second but that seems a tad high...

 

Then on the client, like a phone, how hard is it to configure?

 

I should just buy one and try it I guess... 

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Simon Lambert
•Oct 24, 2017
IPVMU Certified

I've been pondering this subject too recently, and learning more about my MikroTik router. There is a bit of a learning curve to climb (maybe more my fault than MikroTik's!) but YouTube has much to help, e.g. the channel by TKSJa.

In my imagination the chain becomes NVRserver -> VPNserver -> FirewallRemote -> Internet -> FirewallLocal -> VPNclient -> NVRclient. If the latter two stages are on a smartphone then so be it. I'm happy to stand corrected and learn better methods.

From those who've been there and got the T-shirt, your experiences will be very interesting to read.

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