Initially, understanding the role of a VPN router like Vilfo is important.
A VPN router enables you to configure your VPN service on a router, ensuring that all network traffic is secure. No individual device apps are needed for protection as security is implemented at the router level prior to network exit.
Many of you likely use the IPVanish VPN app on your Fire TV Stick. With a router like this, there’s no need to install VPN apps on each device anymore!
Why Use A Vilfo VPN Router?
All devices on network are protected without installing device specific applications
Choose which devices to protect and which to allow for open access (split tunneling)
Connect devices to different VPN locations/services simultaneously
Protect devices that normally don’t have VPN support such as gaming systems and smart home devices
Use a dependable kill switch to block access to Internet if VPN service goes down
Never forget to connect
Access your home network from anywhere with their built-in VPN server
I’ve shown how to install a VPN on Asus and Netgear routers previously. It’s crucial to recognize that most routers like these aren’t optimized for VPN use. Although they can function, if you’ve ever used one, you would understand the associated drawbacks.
If you’ve attempted installing a VPN on a router before, you’ve likely noticed how slow they can be during downloads, and split tunneling can be complex or nonexistent.
The Vilfo VPN Router tackles the common issues faced by individuals trying to use a VPN on a regular router.
Who Created Vilfo?
Vilfo is a VPN router developed by a Swedish team of developers who operate the OVPN VPN service. However, it’s vital to understand that Vilfo is an independent entity.
The About Us page of Vilfo provides the following background:
Vilfo is the brainchild of OVPN.com’s team, yet operates as a distinct company. Several years ago, we commenced the development of a product known as OVPNbox, which was a router based on pfSense.
The journey with OVPNbox taught us many valuable lessons. Vilfo represents the culmination of that learning.
The software for Vilfo was shared with OVPNbox owners in January 2018. Their feedback and experiences guided further enhancements until all pre-orders were shipped in May 2018.
Vilfo AB is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a team comprising Alexander Koval, Nikolay Nizruhin, Andy Tsymbal, Tamas Szabo, Maximilian Holm, Ruben Rehn, and David Wibergh.
In this Vilfo review, I will detail my experience from beginning to end.
Vilfo Setup Video
12/8/2020 Update: IPVanish VPN is now an integrated provider so you don’t need to engage in .ovpn file configuration as depicted, unless you wish to connect to a specific VPN server.
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12/8/2020 Update: IPVanish VPN is now an integrated provider
You can easily setup IPVanish VPN on the Vilfo router as they are now an integrated provider.
Go to the VPN Providers tab, choose IPVanish VPN, and input your username and password.
If you want to connect to a specific VPN server under an available location, use the custom setup tool with the respective .ovpn file as shown in the video above.
Login to your IPVanish VPN account, download the config files as demonstrated in the video.
Copy the contents of the .crt file, then open your chosen .ovpn file.
The fact that you already use a powerful Asus AC 3100 Router is great. Your Asus router not currently running a VPN gets a stronger wireless connection than the Vilfo, remaining as your Primary router connected to the cable modem. This setup allows you to connect devices to your Asus for full download speeds without VPN protection.
Consider using your current router as an access point connected to the Vilfo, reversing the tutorial’s setup. This configuration may be beneficial for directing all Ethernet traffic through the Vilfo VPN router while using the Asus router as an access point, leading to a different setup.
After attaching the WiFi antennas to the Vilfo router and powering it on, connect an Ethernet cord from the WAN port on the Vilfo to an available LAN port on the Asus AC 3100.
The Vilfo VPN router includes a Quick Start Guide for an easy setup process. Begin by connecting your computer to the Vilfo WiFi connection and accessing the router’s interface using Chrome by typing in admin.vilfo.com.
I encountered an IP address conflict issue due to connecting the router to my existing Asus router. I followed the on-screen instructions to resolve this conflict by changing the IP address to 10.220.0.1.
Throughout the setup process, occasional unresponsiveness occurred on the screen, likely due to the Wireless network disconnecting when settings were applied. Reconnecting to the Vilfo WiFi access point resolved this issue.
During setup, I was prompted to choose a VPN provider from a list of options that included various providers such as ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and Windscribe. While I personally use and recommend IPVanish VPN which wasn’t available initially, it can be easily added as a custom OpenVPN provider after setup. For now, I clicked the skip button on the VPN provider selection screen.
Once the setup was complete, a simple setup process greeted me, providing access to the configured settings.
Following the setup, I got presented with the Dashboard of Vilfo.
Immediately after seeing the dashboard, I proceeded to manually connect my IPVanish VPN account, as shown in the setup video above.
Vilfo Powerful Features
Next, I shall go through each screen within the Vilfo dashboard to elaborate on the features provided by this potent VPN router.
1 Dashboard
The Dashboard offers an overview of your Vilfo Router’s current status.
It displays graphs for Gateway latency, router utilization, number of connected devices, device manufacturers, bandwidth usage, encrypted vs. unencrypted traffic, and current VPN connection traffic for each group.
In essence, this serves as a useful screen to review for an overall summary of your router.
2 Devices
This is where the majority of the magic happens.
Here, you can manage your VPN service connections. You can connect/disconnect your VPN service(s) and even use multiple VPN services simultaneously through this interface.
When devices connect to this router, they will automatically appear on this page. You have the option to rename these devices by clicking the edit button under the Actions section.
You can also establish groups on this page and allocate your devices to specific groups.
Groups enable you to determine which devices should be safeguarded by a VPN and which ones should not. You can have some devices connected to a VPN server while others access the internet directly, known as split tunneling.
You are able to link groups to different VPN locations. For example, you can assign a Streaming Devices group to a UK VPN and a Computers group to a US VPN.
3 Extension
You can add the Vilfo browser extension to Chrome and Vivaldi, with Firefox compatibility coming soon. This extension allows you to set VPN rules for different website locations.
You have the option to bypass specific websites, meaning your VPN will be disabled for those sites. This is particularly handy for websites that block VPN services, such as banks and other financial institutions, along with various streaming services.
Clicking the Bypass button in the Vilfo browser extension will add a rule to your browser to exclude those specific websites from using the VPN.
site.
You can also Force VPN use on various sites. This will ensure that you visit every site with VPN protection.
If you visit a site that you’ve “Forced”, you’ll see the following screen with an angry bear snarling at you.
My personal use of the browser extension has been hit and miss. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. You can also use the Bypass menu item in the dashboard and manually add sites that you want to Bypass.
I’m confident that the browser extension will see improvements with future firmware updates.
4 Port forwards
This allows you to port forward network traffic like any other router.
5 Statistics
The Statistics page contains information on memory usage, CPU load, total bandwidth, and bandwidth consumed by the groups you’ve set up.
6 System
The System page provides essential tools for rebooting, backing up, powering off, sending diagnostics, checking for new firmware, factory resetting, and resetting utilization data.
In my experience, the Backup button didn’t function. Perhaps this is an enhancement we will see in the future.
This page also displays current information on the Network, System, and Hardware.
7 VPN Providers
This is where you can add your VPN services. It’s remarkably simple, as demonstrated in the setup video above. If you have multiple VPNs to use on the router, they offer the flexibility to do so, which is quite beneficial!
If you’re setting up a VPN not listed, you’ll need to merge the .ovpn and certificate into a single file, as shown in the video. 8 VPN Server
I haven’t tested this yet, but it offers the option of hosting your VPN server. This can be useful for connecting to your home network or adjusting Vilfo settings on your router while away. Refer to Vilfo’s website for more details. 9 Bypass
Bypass feature enables you to disable VPN for specific websites, IP addresses, or ports – commonly known as split tunneling. However, the challenge arises with streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime on devices such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick that block VPNs. Implementing split tunneling for these services can be tricky; I struggled to bypass streaming services on streaming devices even after trying different methods and configurations. This limitation stands out when compared to IPVanish VPN’s Fire TV and Android TV app, which offers effective split tunneling capabilities. Personally, my infrequent use of paid streaming services makes this issue bearable for me. 10 General
The General page offers settings for basics like timezone, updates, admin, password, MAC vendor lookup, Vilfo usage, and API access. To modify your Admin username and password, this section is where you can make the changes. 11 Network
The Network page allows adjustments for LAN, Subnet, WiFi, DNS, WAN, and DHCP. In my experience, tweaking Protocol and Band settings here can enhance download speeds.
Your devices. I suggest testing your download speeds by manipulating various combinations of those two settings.
You will see in my speed tests below that 802.11ac works best for my situation.
You may also want to try adjusting the Channel as well but take caution when doing this. I had to do a factory reset when I attempted this as I could no longer connect to the Vilfo WiFi hotspot.
I would like to point out that this router doesn’t currently allow for you to use both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands like most routers do. You must specifically pick which band you want to use for the Wireless connections. We all know that the 5Ghz band will provide faster speeds than 2.4Ghz but it doesn’t reach as far. I hope they can address this in a future firmware update.
12 Notifications
You can be alerted by email or Pushover when any of the following items happen on this router: new update available, automatic update occurred, new device discovered, group connection to VPN, group disconnect from VPN, system boot, system shutdown, extension access request, VPN user connected, VPN user disconnected.
Pushover is a notification service/app that will send updates to your Android or iOS devices.
This is a cool feature because you can be notified immediately when things go bad with the router.
Often times, a simple reboot will fix most problems.
13 OpenVPN
The OpenVPN page is another important one because of one huge feature which is the Killswitch and protocol preference.
The Killswitch ensures that no traffic goes through your ordinary Internet connection if the VPN tunnel goes down for any reason.
If a group that you’ve setup loses its VPN connection, traffic for devices in that group will be blocked until the VPN connection is restored. Traffic in other groups using a different VPN server or no VPN at all will still work properly.
This is an extremely powerful feature due to the fact that the kill switch doesn’t work very well on Android device or not at all. Most of our streaming systems are based on the Android operating system which means they probably aren’t protected by a kill switch.
This feature allows us to “set it and forget” it and not worry about our VPN being connected or not.
The OpenVPN protocol is set as default on UDP but I suggest doing a speed test with each of them to see which performs better on your network.
I found that changing mine to TCP provides faster speeds than UDP.
14 Parental control
I really like the simplicity of the Vilfo parental control section.
It’s extremely easy to use and it works great.
You can block access to the Internet for separate devices based on schedules.
It allows for maximum flexibility so you can block all devices on any type of schedule that you see fit.
15 Users
This is where users are added to connect to the built-in VPN Server if needed.
I personally don’t use the VPN Server feature on my Vilfo router, but documentation is available on their website for those interested.
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While conducting WiFi tests, I’m connected to the 5Ghz band on the Vilfo VPN Router using the 802.11ac protocol. This protocol allows for faster downloads on my Fire TV Stick 4K and Windows 10 PC. The Vilfo router is located in the same room as my PC and Fire TV Stick, approximately 10 feet away from the wireless router.
I’m utilizing IPVanish VPN connected to the Chicago 4 server.
I’m using the Analiti Speed test on my Fire TV Stick 4K and TROYPOINT Speed Test on Windows PC to measure download speeds.
Note: The low download speed on my PC wireless connection is due to the older WiFi chipset.
I achieve faster speeds using the Vilfo VPN Router on my Fire TV Stick 4K compared to using the IPVanish app, thanks to the powerful processor and RAM inside the router, making it faster than the Fire TV Stick 4K.
I experience similar download speeds on my Windows PC for both Wired and Wireless connections on the Vilfo VPN Router compared to using the IPVanish Windows app.
The main issue with VPN routers is often download speed. Although my experience is limited, Vilfo surpasses others I’ve used in terms of download speed.
Please be aware of the slower performance with Vilfo WiFi when the VPN is disabled. As mentioned earlier, this is why I still use my primary Asus router.
HDMI & USB 3.0 Access
You’ll find an HDMI port and two USB 3.0 ports on the Vilfo Router.
You have the option to connect a monitor to the router and access the LEDE operating system inside, a GNU/Linux distribution that lacks a graphical user interface (GUI), requiring familiarity with Linux code for proper use. Consider the Vilfo as a minicomputer.
Advanced users may make use of these ports to set up a Wireguard Server, run Pi-hole, or manually install a GUI.
If the Vilfo VPN router gains popularity among TROYPOINT followers, I commit to providing additional tutorials on utilizing these advanced features in the future.
Vilfo Price
Vilfo is undoubtedly a powerhouse and possibly the best VPN router available today.
But what about the pricing?
Currently, the Vilfo is priced at $379 with an additional $20 for shipping to the United States. To benefit from complimentary shipping for a limited time use coupon code TROYPOINT at checkout.
Admittedly, $379 is quite substantial for a router.
You simply can’t expect solid VPN performance from a budget router.
Having a robust router with a powerful processor is essential for running a VPN effectively. Without it, your download speeds will suffer due to the processing demands of running the VPN in the background.
Download speedHere is where the Vilfo really shines, as highlighted in the tests mentioned above. If you’re considering diving into the realm of VPN routers, be prepared to invest at least $200 to get started. The extra cost for the Vilfo grants you access to enhanced speed and split tunneling capabilities that are not typically found in regular routers.
Some of the pros of the Vilfo VPN router include the fastest download speeds observed with a VPN router, the ability to secure your entire network without needing device-specific VPN apps, protection for devices where VPN installations are not feasible (like gaming systems and smart home devices), the option to run multiple VPN regions and services through groups (split tunneling), a user-friendly interface, timely notifications sent to your mobile device regarding important Vilfo events, a built-in VPN server for secure connections when away from home, a straightforward setup process, compatibility with most popular VPN services, and the ability to manually add services through OpenVPN that are not integrated.
On the downside, some cons of the Vilfo router are its price point, the potential for stronger WiFi reception, the need to choose between the 5GHz or 2.4GHz WiFi band, limitations of the browser extension for bypassing and forcing VPN, the inability to split tunnel for streaming services on certain devices like the Fire TV Stick 4K or Android TV Boxes, and the current support only for OpenVPN protocol with plans to include Wireguard soon.
The specifications of the Vilfo VPN router include an Intel® Celeron® Processor 2955U, WiFi powered by MT7612E, one 1000 Mbit/s WAN port, three 1000 Mbit/s LAN ports, 2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz RAM, 8 GB SSD, 802.11ac (max 867 Mbit/s), 8 dBi antennas (2T2R), the choice between 2.4GHz or 5GHz WiFi bands, two USB 3.0 ports, and an HDMI port.
For a limited time, you can use the coupon code TROYPOINT during checkout to receive free shipping if you decide to purchase the Vilfo router. If you are intrigued by this router, I recommend reading the comprehensive review above to determine if it aligns with your needs. Overall, I am highly impressed with this router and plan on using it as my primary VPN protection for the devices on my home network. The ease of set-up and the option for split tunneling are particularly appealing features to me.
Although I currently face challenges with split tunneling for specific streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime on my streaming devices, I can temporarily bypass the VPN by accessing the Vilfo admin panel when needed. It’s worth noting that as a new router, firmware updates will be released in the future to enhance functionality and address any existing issues. I believe that the Vilfo team is paving the way for something substantial, and I look forward to witnessing their progress through future firmware updates and expansion.
In conclusion, I rate the Vilfo VPN Router 4.4 out of 5 stars.
