VPN firewall for gaming security Protect your online sessions with a reliable VPN firewall.
VPN firewall for gaming security Protect your online sessions with a reliable VPN firewall.
Hello, I have a few questions before making a purchase. I’m considering getting a new VPN for different reasons and wanted to clarify a bit about my current setup. Thanks for your help—I realize I’m not very familiar with this stuff. I had one year of PIA in a basic package, which worked okay until I had to turn it off every time I played games or risked getting banned or losing connection. Now I’m exploring various VPN options, but I still wonder: can I restrict only certain traffic types (like HTTP/HTTPS, torrent, VoIP, etc.) through the VPN while allowing gaming ports or specific apps like Steam to use the same ports? Should I invest in a firewall, as consumer models exist? Or is it possible to handle everything with a Raspberry Pi without issues? I’m thinking about integrating a router solution and would appreciate recommendations on a model. I’m planning to upgrade to fiber next year, so I don’t want to switch modems right away. I’m curious if there are affordable options or common choices today. This would let me browse sites like banking without restrictions, even using Wi-Fi or mobile data, so I can avoid alerts when accessing foreign content. I also want to ensure my smart devices—like Alexa and Fire Stick TV—work smoothly without extra setup. If you have any tips or considerations I should know before proceeding, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you for your time!
I rely on NordVPN and ExpressVPN. I’m holding off on switching fully to ExpressVPN until NordVPN’s expires, since I’ve noticed it performs better for bypassing location-based blocks. It’s worth mentioning that the ExpressVPN app supports choosing which applications should go through the VPN and which shouldn’t—essentially offering a toggle between full access and restrictions, which could be useful for gaming. For banking, this approach might not work unless you switch browsers and exclude certain sites. Most premium VPN plans let you route connections via your router or firewall using built-in clients like OpenVPN, turning your modem into a secure gateway. I’ve only managed this reliably with DD-WRT and Tomato-based firmware because standard updates often limit configuration options. You’ll also need a capable device with enough processing power to avoid noticeable slowdowns from the VPN connection. There are likely methods to direct specific traffic or IPs through the tunnel while blocking others, though those details are left for someone else to discuss.
Interesting! I wasn't aware of these options in the VPN clients. My old one only had a simple on/off button. OpenVPN seems to provide similar functionality, but it's unclear if it acts like a launcher or a dedicated client. It might be a separate app. I'm not sure how it works with my ISP modem—it doesn't let me change DNS manually, so I rely on DNS over SSL in Firefox instead. Manually tweaking DNS on my eth card would cause me to lose internet access.