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Installing a VPN on your router can be a game-changer. It means every device that connects to that router’s internet is automatically protected by the VPN – no need to configure each one. This is perfect for consoles, smart TVs, IoT gadgets, or guests’ devices that can’t or won’t run a VPN client.
With a VPN router, your whole home network gains privacy and freedom by default. Anyone supports router setups in a couple of ways: you can either configure it on certain open-source router firmware, or use dedicated hardware (Anyone has its own hardware router product ready to go, or you can use a compatible device with our software).
If you have a router running firmware like OpenWrt, DD-WRT, or Tomato, it likely supports OpenVPN or WireGuard clients. While Anyone is multi-hop and decentralized, we may provide configuration files or an integration such that the router connects into our network as a client node. Alternatively, you might run a small Linux SBC (Single Board Computer) like a Raspberry Pi as a dedicated VPN gateway using the Linux client, and then set your main router to route through that.
There are multiple topology options: - The ideal: flash a compatible Wi-Fi router with our specialized firmware or config that runs Anyone’s client natively (we might have a package for OpenWrt, for instance). Then the router itself builds the multi-hop circuit to the Anyone network. - The plug-n-play: Anyone Router Hardware – our own device that you simply connect to your modem and it creates a protected Wi-Fi network. (This, from the mention in the site, is presumably something Anyone offers). - The DIY PC approach: use a spare mini PC or Raspberry Pi with two network interfaces as a VPN gateway – it runs Anyone and your household connects through it.
All devices get a VPN without individual setup. This is great for things like gaming consoles (Xbox/PlayStation) which can suffer DDoS in online games – through the router VPN, your console’s IP is hidden (just as described in VPN for Gaming). Smart TVs can stream geo-blocked content by essentially being on the VPN – want US Netflix on a TV that doesn’t support VPN apps? The router’s VPN does it. Additionally, a router can often handle the VPN 24/7 with no user intervention – it’s always on, so you don’t have to remember to connect each time on each gadget.
Routers vary in horsepower. VPN encryption (especially multi-hop) can be demanding. If your router’s CPU is weak, it might limit your throughput when VPN is on. That’s why high-end routers or our dedicated hardware (which presumably has acceleration or a beefy CPU) are recommended if you have a fast internet connection. But even modest OpenWrt routers can often handle a few dozen Mbps with OpenVPN; with WireGuard, even more. Anyone’s protocol might be optimized as well. In any case, consider your needs: if you have gigabit internet and you want full speed via VPN, invest in a capable router or run the VPN on a PC.
The content mentions “Anyone Router Hardware preorders” – so likely there is a device with the software preloaded. Buying that would be simplest: just plug it in, configure minimal settings, and it’s doing multi-hop privacy for your entire network (plus possibly earning tokens by participating as a relay). For many, that’s the best solution because it’s optimized and officially supported.
• Flashing/Installing: If using an existing router, you might need to flash OpenWrt or similar if it’s not already supported. Once you have a compatible firmware, install the Anyone client package or upload the .ovpn config for an exit node (depending on how Anyone provides it). Possibly, Anyone might operate as a custom protocol requiring their app – in that case, a small Linux like a Pi is needed rather than native router integration, unless the router can run our binary.
• Configuration: Set the router to start the VPN on boot. In OpenWrt, you’d configure the interface (tun0) and firewall rules to pass traffic through it. You also likely want a killswitch – i.e., if VPN goes down, no traffic out via normal WAN to avoid leaks. Many firmwares support that by policy routing (only allow LAN->VPN interface, block LAN->WAN when VPN intended).
• Connect and Test: Once the router indicates VPN is up (maybe an LED or the admin interface shows connected), test from a device behind the router. Go to an IP check website, it should show the VPN exit IP. Check that all is working (some sites to test multiple devices, etc.).
• Whole Home Privacy: Now everything in your home from your kid’s tablet to your work laptop is behind the Anyone network. They all share the VPN’s IP (NATed through router as usual). This can even add some security by obscurity because inbound unsolicited traffic is blocked by NAT and only comes through if forwarded – which likely you won’t do on a VPN router for things like servers, unless you know what you’re doing and the network supports port forwarding in some way.
One thing: When the whole network is on VPN, occasionally you might need a certain device not to use VPN (e.g., a service that blocks known VPN IPs and you can’t avoid it, or a game console where you want direct connection for lowest latency in local region). In that case, you can either turn off the router VPN temporarily or set up policy-based routing: e.g., one device’s IP on LAN goes straight to WAN, others go to VPN. Tools like vpn-policy-routing (OpenWrt package) could do that. However, that gets advanced. Alternatively, you keep two Wi-Fi networks: one normal, one VPN (some folks do this by using two routers or a router with VLAN). Then you choose per device which to connect to. The “Anyone Hardware Router” might itself be designed to be an additional network alongside your existing – possibly connecting it to existing router and creating a separate SSID for VPN.
