Running VPN on Tethered phone or router - which is correct?

kajimike · 2021-09-11T17:37:13.671Z

Using a Spitz X750 with a tethered cell phone for internet access. If I have a VPN service (like Azire) should I run that VPN on the phone (android app) or the X750 (Wireguard Client)?

Thanks

alzhao · 2021-09-11T20:11:48.685Z

I think running on your phone should be better.

Pros

The app is developed by the vpn service provider, it should works better with their service.
Phone has better computation power than the router so should be faster.
Phone has batteries so it may not have time sync problems as the router in power outage.

Cons

In phone you do not have vpn policies
The router can handle multiple connections. So if you have a cable you can connect to the router. If the vpn is on the router you will not lose vpn. But if you run vpn on the phone you cannot use multiple Internet connection.

kajimike · 2021-09-11T20:48:53.380Z

You wrote:

In phone you do not have vpn policies
Are policies something I could set up in the phone? Any documentation because I’m not sure what policies do for me?
The router can handle multiple connections. So if you have a cable you can connect to the router. If the vpn is on the router you will not lose vpn. But if you run vpn on the phone you cannot use multiple Internet connection.

Ok, really not understanding you here. Since my phone is tethered with a USB cable to a GL-X750 isn’t anyone who connects to the 750 wifi actually going through VPN on the phone for all the data/connections? WHat am I missing?

alzhao · 2021-09-11T21:37:55.422Z

kajimike:

Since my phone is tethered with a USB cable to a GL-X750 isn’t anyone who connects to the 750 wifi actually going through VPN on the phone for all the data/connections?

You are right about this. If this all you need, you can omit my comments. I am talking about some advanced features

doczenith1 · 2021-09-14T05:37:07.544Z

Devices connected to the phone via the phone’s hotspot or a tethered device do NOT go through the phone’s VPN tunnel. If you want all the devices connected to the router to go through a VPN you need to run the VPN on the router.

kajimike · 2021-09-14T16:47:14.376Z

Devices connected to the phone via the phone’s hotspot or a tethered device do NOT go through the phone’s VPN tunnel.<<

Ok, this is not what I expected. Can you explain why this is the case? If my phone is providing the data connection to the router via tethering, and the phone has the VPN, why doesn’t the router and its connected clients send/receive their data through the VPN?

doczenith1 · 2021-09-15T03:22:04.717Z

I can’t answer why it works that way but you can easily verify it by opening the web browser on the phone and going to ipleak.net and noting your IP address. Then do the same on a device connected to the hotspot. If the IP address is not the same you are not going through the VPN tunnel.

kajimike · 2021-09-17T21:59:44.631Z

verified. thanks for that heads up. Not intuitive