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I will soon switch to work from home office. At home I will have fast internet and a Fritz!Box DSL router. I will have a private PC and a company PC and a company network phone at home (and maybe additional work related devices). The company runs Linux server.

The private PC is connected to my other private devices etc. using a private local network and it is connected to the internet via Fritz!Box.

Now I want to transparently and permanently include my company PC and company phone into the company network. There should be no link between privat network and company network.

I think some persistent SSH tunnel or maybe a persistent VPN connection could be the way to go. I would like to avoid using software on the company PC for tunneling since I want to be able to simply plug in additional devices to the company network without having to power-on the company PC.

Is there some kind of dedicated device that I can plug into my DSL router that provides a persistent (!) and stable (!) SSH/VPN tunnel to the company network? Maybe some router that remote-extends the company network by SSH/VPN?

Reliability is most important. Of course I would like to avoid spending too much money.

(I tried to search for that in the web but all I found were routers that work as a SSH/VPN server - however I need a SSH/VPN client)

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  • In windows in the control panel > Network and sharing center you can Set up a new connection or network. This is a VPN. The option is called connect to a workplace not sure if you mean something like this.
    – rrobben
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:02
  • Not exactly. I would like to use a dedicated device so I can use the company network without powering-on the PC. Apart from that I will need to use a linux desktop.
    – Silicomancer
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:06
  • Oh okay so if I understand right you want to have a pc turned on at your work and connect to it using an application like Remote Desktop or Teamviewer?
    – rrobben
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:07

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If you have any old PC (with CPU 500Mhz and RAM 256Mb or better. Or you can get some certified devices here) then you can setup pfSense firewall/router(and bunch of other stuff) as VPN client to your workplace. You would need two network cards, one for WAN and another one for LAN that will be dedicated to work PC and phone. Use step-by-step documentation in section "Client Settings" from official documentation how to setup site-to-site OpenVPN channel. The only thing if you need broadcast support between your home and office then use tap instead of tun interface, it more chatty, but if you have reliable high speed internet then it wouldn't be an issue.

You didn't tell what exact VPN type supported on your office. Is it OpenVPN, IPsec, PPTP, L2TP...?

If you still prefer VPN solution in "ready to go" box from big guys, you may take a look at Cisco products. One of very common solution Cisco rv215w.
(Or check list of most SOHO Cisco's solutions here ) This box support IPsec tunnel, L2TP, PPTP(I strongly discourage you to use this last one) IPsec will require you to have static IP on both sides tho

As about SSH tunnel, it usually managed on a client PC, not on a router.

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  • I will check out those devices. The PC solution seems to require too much ressources. I wonder why there aren't a lot of more routers with integrated VPN clients or SSH tunnels. Shouldn't all remote workers need something like that?!
    – Silicomancer
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 13:19
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    @Silicomancer I don't think PC solution will require a lot of resources, you can get off ebay any Pentium 3-4 for 25-30 bucks, but with pfSense you will get much more than any "ready" solution, plus it well supported and applying venerability patches much faster than any other router's makers . It has nice Web interface, the same as consumer's "friendly" boxes.
    – Alex
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 18:24
  • VPN not decided yet. May depende from the client and maybe what the linux company servers support best. Surely not PPTP since it must be safe.
    – Silicomancer
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 18:39
  • So there are no SSH tunneling routers for that purpose? What a pitty. My boss would have been excited :-)
    – Silicomancer
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 18:44
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    @Silicomancer SSH tunneling isn't industry standard because it very flexible solutions that wouldn't fit everyone's needs and require good networking background from clients. I suggest you to use OpenVPN, secure and reliable solution proofed by time
    – Alex
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 18:52

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