Thinking about buying a PIA router

Skyghost

Been having issues where PIA would sometimes turn off when computer went into sleep mode.  Been thinking it would be better if PIA was always on no matter my computer state.  Has anyone here tried a PIA router?

I saw these are being sold and was wondering if they are worth it.  Not even sure if PIA endorses these.

https://www.flashrouters.com/linksys-e2500-tomato-router-piaprivateinternetaccess

Thoughts?

jttraverse

If it's of any help, I looked at the pre-installed routers from Flashrouters and other places before finally deciding to simply buy a router that would run DD-WRT and "rolling my own PIA router", so to speak. In my case, an Asus wireless-AC router that I got for about $80 on Amazon that I chose because of the a) antennas and b) great reviews for Asus overall. But there are plenty of less expensive ones that are very well reviewed if you don't need AC speeds, USB ports, etc. You could get one for around $50 or less.

First, check the DD-WRT site to be sure it's a compatible router, but clearly what they sell on Flashrouters would be compatible if you bought one of those. Downloading the DD-WRT configuration for my router and following online instructions for flashing it was very simple and worked the first time. Done.
 Then, the instructions on the PIA site on how to enter the PIA-specific settings is simple enough. Just read slowly, click or enter what they say...poof. Done. (Sure, it's better to do all this when you're mind is fresh, not up to 3am, but that's just a suggestion.) The instructions are very clear, and they have them for both the newer DD-WRT 'builds' and the older ones (if you get a router from a year or two ago to save the money, as I did).

The part that was a little tricky at first had nothing to do with flashing the router or putting in the PIA settings. It was connecting the router to my ISP-provided modem, which I suspect everyone is going to go thru even if you buy one from Flashrouters.
   Basically, just search online for instructions on how to connect the router to your modem, though the steps are fairly generic. Essentially,  the modem is set to give out only one IP address via DHCP--and that is given to the router (ex: 192.168.1.x). The router gets the modems IP as its gateway (ex: 192.168.1.254). That lets the router traffic get out to the Internet (WAN).
   Finally, you set the routers internal local IP range to something different than your modem's range (ex: modem=192.168.1.xxx, router=192.168.2.xxx..the '2' can be anything other than 1). That lets anything connecting to the router get a DHCP address in the routers range, and the router (with PIA VPN set) then tunnels everything out thru the modem to the PIA servers. There are a few other things to set and boxes to check...but it's been done a zillion times and there are instructions online, like the ones I followed.
  Hopefully this will help if you decide to save the $ and try it yourself.

nezzz

VPN routers are a waste of money, they're basically regular routers which have been flashed with ddwrt or other custom firmware which can be found free anywhere. So try googling around for a good router and see if it supports any of these custom firmware a because it's not worth paying an extra $100 for 3 mins of work.

Warped4

I bought from flashrouters https://www.flashrouters.com/homepage-best-sellers/netgear-r7000-ddwrt-router. I read and read more, checked reviews, multiple sites. Came to the conclusion you get what you pay for. Be smart and buy right the first time. Or you may end up buying twice. Flashrouters is very helpful for the most part plug n play but tweeking in my case is necessary. Brick a router you flash to and you will be busy for awhile if you can fix it or pay to have it corrected. These are my opinions take from it what you will.

UltraHumanite

Flashing is not as scary as it used to be. There are many guides and videos out there that most people should be able to follow without too many issues.

I would recommend that anyone who's considering buying a flashed router should read some flashing guide and watch a few video tutorials before buying so they can figure out if flashing is something they can do on their own.

Bricking a router while flashing dd-wrt is really unlikely, on most if not all new routers the process is essentially identical to flashing a router firmware update downloaded from the router's manufacturer.

Flashing example:

CDN_Tweaker

A big thank you to jttraverse, Your tip about issues connecting to cable modems and how to setup your router's DHCP range to a different set than the one the cable modem just might have solved my frustrating and inexplicable loss of speed whenever I tried to connect through my D-Link 825 which was successfully flashed to it's latest DD-WRT firmware. My Open VPN was setup was successful and I got the Open VPN:CONNECTED" confirmation. This was driving me crazy.

I'm in Ottawa Canada and connect through very fast servers in Toronto. I'm surprised that nowhere on the tech support site here or for that matter the support chats I had did anyone ever think to mention this. I'm looking forward to changing my settings and getting back behind a router. So, once again, thank you. I believe you have solved my crippling speed drops. I will come back with an update as soon as I try these changes
Regards,
CDN_Tweaker

CDN_Tweaker

Well, here is my follow up. To my dismay the DD-WRT825 firmware does not have an option to assign DHCP addresses that do not start with 198.162.8.1.x. I'm unable to use a different range as suggested, like 198.162.2.x.

So, I'll keep looking for a workaround. Maybe there's a custom script or something that might allow this. But for now, I've disconnected the D-Link model DIR-825 router, it's a decent router so I'll have to so some searching for a solution (if there is one) to this problem.
CIAO for now.

davidrose

If you are in the UK you can buy a VPN Router from 
https://vpn-router.co.uk     and they set it up for PIA for you - so thats easy and Im very pleased with it. I got the netgear r7000. Just copy and paste it in your browser if the link doesnt work