November 15, 2011

Best Home VPN Router - Making Information Secure Yet Accessible

When you are working from home, congratulations! You are one of the few people who has succeeded in breaking the pattern of "working for the man". You have become your own boss. You feel empowered as you are determining the direction in which you want your business to go.

What does a VPN router, or a virtual private network router, have to do with working from home? Well, a lot, possibly. We'll explore two reasons why a home office needs a VPN router, which is making your business and home information more secure, and second, making your information accessible. But first, let us define a VPN router!

Netgear Wireless N Router

netgear wireless n router

What is a VPN router?

If you have more than one computer in your home office or home then you likely have a home network set up. And the first thing that attaches to your cable modem or DSL modem is a wired or wireless router. The router's main purpose is to allow all the computers attached to your home office network to access the internet independently, so the internet connection can be shared. The second most important function of the router is that it actually creates the home network, that is, it makes home network computers accessible from each others. A more advanced concept would be to attach a home network storage to the router, and have shared disk space available to everyone.

So why would you need a small office VPN router or a VPN wireless router? A VPN, Virtual Private Network, router is a router that allows not only computers on the home network to share the internet connection, but also allows authenticated users on the internet (think yourself at the Starbucks with a laptop or iPhone) access your home network through a secure connection over the shared, public internet. It is like building a secret tunnel directly from your home network to your browser on your laptop outside home. All you need is internet access, your VPN password and a small piece of VPN software for your laptop. Then, you can access your home network from anywhere securely and no one else will know about that.

VPN through router makes your private information more accessible

By allowing authenticated, strong password protected incoming connections to your home VPN router and your home network, you suddenly have access to your home network from anywhere you are. Document files, your videos, music mp3 files, even the programs that you normally run at home, are suddenly available to you seamlessly. Be it at the local Starbucks, at the client's office, at a friend's house, you will have a connection and access to your data any time, as long as you provide a secure password.

VPN router makes your information more secure

Sure, you say, but I use a laptop anyways for my business, and I can take it anywhere with me. True. But, consider the downside. All your software, all your data, is there with you, in public places, in the car. These are all the places where your laptop and your valuable information can easily be stolen if you leave them unattended even just for a minute. So you either need to exercise an extreme level of caution when roaming outside your home, or... get a secure VPN router and leave ALL the important information securely stored in house, and access it securely from wherever you are.

Best Home VPN Router - Making Information Secure Yet Accessible

netgear wireless n router

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