The Netgear Nighthawk R7800 is a stylish VPN router with a decent spec list. It has a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with 512MB RAM, four powerful antennas, and five Gigabit Ethernet ports. There are also two USB 3.0 ports, which double up as eSATA ports.

It also features Netgear's Dynamic Quality of Service to help boost throughput to your gaming and other media types, as well as Quad-Stream technology, which enables faster and more consistent Wi-Fi connections to more devices simultaneously.

The Nighthawk R7800 has another bonus feature, too: it supports OpenVPN out of the box. That means you can use your regular VPN account with the router (provided it supports OpenVPN) rather than having to flash a custom firmware to the router. If you prefer to flash custom router firmware for the extra functionality it brings, the R7800 supports DD-WRT.

Overall, the R7800 is a powerful router with enough features for any user, with the added bonus of requiring less tinkering than other VPN router options.

Synology is a name more closely associated with network-attached storage devices, but the Synology RT2600ac is a great shout for a VPN router. It comes with a 1.7GHz dual-core processor and 512MB RAM, along with four powerful antennas. In fact, it looks similar to the stylish Netgear Nighthawk R7800, which is a definite plus point on the aesthetics.

Also, similar to the Netgear model is the out-of-box VPN support. The Synology RT2600ac supports a wide range of VPN protocols without requiring custom firmware, including Synology SSL VPN, PPTP, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPSec.

Another thing you should note is the Synology router management page. Once installed on your computer, you have access to a comprehensive router management tool that appears closer to an operating system than the regular router management app you might encounter. That said, it isn't difficult to use and allows you to manage your VPN connections, install different extension packages to the router, update the router firmware easily, and more.

So, while the Synology name isn't generally associated with VPN routers, you should absolutely consider this option.

The Asus RT-AC86U is a powerful dual-band VPN router featuring 512MB RAM and a 1.8GHz dual-core processor. It comes with three high-power antennas that broadcast over a vast area, as well as packing in NitroQAM technology to boost your data transmission rates by utilizing extra wireless band capacity.

The RT-AC86U features four Gigabit Ethernet ports, a USB 3.0 port, and a USB 2.0 port. You can use Asus's AiPlayer and AiDisk as a media server and file server in conjunction with an external hard-drive, doubling up as a NAS of sorts.

But best of all, the Asus RT-AC86U is easy to set up with your own custom VPN router firmware, with support for Asuswrt-Merlin (a customized version of Asus's existing firmware), Tomato, and DD-WRT variants. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a retail option with a pre-installed VPN provider and custom firmware. However, there are several tutorials online that will guide you through.

The Asus RT-AC5300 is a visually impressive router that will make your friends wonder about their inferior router choices. It has eight antennas and can blast wireless signals across 5,000 square feet, making it perfect for anyone with a large home or office.

The RT-AC5300 is a tri-band router that uses Asus's Smart Connect feature to level out demand. This means the router switches between 5GHz bands to make sure there is no network congestion.

In addition, the router packs a decent 1.4GHz dual-core CPU with a similarly decent 512MB RAM, has eight Gigabit Ethernet ports for cable connections, and uses MU-MIMO for better speeds with multiple devices. Another bonus is the USB 3.0 port for external storage devices and a USB 2.0 port.

This VPN router is an excellent choice for network intensive environments or even just large, bandwidth-hungry families, albeit at a high cost. The RT-AC5300 supports the DD-WRT custom firmware, but not Tomato (another custom firmware).

The Linksys WRT3200ACM consistently features in roundups of the best VPN routers, and for a good reason. Like the RT-AC86U, it features a powerful 1.8GHz dual-core processor with 512MB RAM.

As well as this, the WRT3200ACM uses MU-MIMO to keep those speeds high. In addition to MU-MIMO, it utilizes the Linksys Tri-Stream 160 technology to boost Wi-Fi speeds across wireless bands (somewhat similar to NitroQAM). The WRT3200ACM broadcasts using four antennas with an extensive range. You'll also find a USB 3.0 port, along with a combined USB 2.0/eSATA port for plugging in peripherals.

Finally, the router supports OpenWrt and DD-WRT custom firmware, allowing you to customize your VPN router as you see fit. Pre-installed WRT3200ACM VPN routers are available, with the ExpressVPN/OpenWrt combination one of the easiest to use. This VPN router really does have a considerable amount of support, allowing you to fine-tune your setup.

The D-Link AC5300 DIR-895L/R comes with a 1.4GHz dual-core processor with 256MB RAM, broadcasting using eight antennas. The router is tri-band, using MU-MIMO to provide consistently high speeds to every device in your household or office, with a total theoretical combined throughput of 5,332Mbps (1,000 Mbps in 2.4GHz, plus 2,166 Mbps in 5GHz and 2,166 Mbps in 5GHz).

The DIR-985L/R also comes with four gigabit Ethernet ports, along with a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port. Like most of the other listed routers, the DIR-985L/R will function as a simple-but-effective NAS if you attach an external hard drive of sufficient size.

The AC5300 DIR-895L/R has extensive support for DD-WRT, with some support for other OpenWrt projects such as LEDE. This is a well-rounded VPN router that provides ample power for a large household with multiple devices (up to 20) or even a small office.

The difficulty with upgrading from your ISP router to anything else is the cost. Purchasing a VPN router can seem like a large outlay. However, the excellent GL.iNet GL-B1300 router could change your mind.

The GL.iNet GL-B1300 stands out for a couple of reasons. First, it is small, especially compared to some of the massive VPN routers on this list. Its small footprint means it will fit into any house or office without taking up space.

The GL-B1300 isn't as powerful as the other VPN routers on this list. You'll find a quad-core 717MHz ARM CPU with 256MB RAM, providing dual-band Wi-Fi coverage under the hood. There are three Gigabit Ethernet ports and a single USB 3.0 port.

The GL-B1300 is reasonably well equipped in terms of extras, with MU-MIMO and support for mesh networking. It also comes with the custom OpenWRT router firmware preinstalled, with support for OpenVPN and Wireguard out of the box. In that, it is a good option if you don't want to mess around with flashing custom firmware.