Using VPN inside my home LAN?

antares said:

I agree on that too, problem is that not all websites are "https", i.e., non encrypted, and that's when you need a solution like VPN. Also, even if you visit an https, if you have no VPN, someone might find out that you visited that website. With VPN all your traffic, including websites visited are encrypted, so your privacy is complete (as long as the VPN server deletes your history)

So, let's say you get your plan working and you set up a VPN inside your local LAN at your house. The VPN stops at your router and then the traffic goes through a regular internet connection to your ISP, where it gets sent via regular internet to the destination website. The only thing you have done is add one more layer of encryption to the very tiny part of the entire flow of data that is the most secure part of it already because you should be behind the NAT translation firewall built into your router and a hacker would have to be camped out within range of your WiFi (in your driveway or front yard) to intercept that signal.

Now, if you feel like you need to protect yourself when using public WiFi - that is entirely different. A lot of routers, such as my Netgear R7000 in the Nighthawk series, have built in VPN servers. On public WiFi I can VPN to my home router which then connects me to the internet. However, the built in VPN server on the router (and as far as I know all routers) is only for connections originating outside the LAN.

NavyLCDR said:

So, let's say you get your plan working and you set up a VPN inside your local LAN at your house. ...server on the router (and as far as I know all routers) is only for connections originating outside the LAN.

Agree with everything you said

bro67 said:

As far as Packet sniffing, to start off with, your email is sent in the clear over the Internet, unless you encrypt it.

True if you're using email clients such as Outlook, but if you use webmail provided by Google, Yahoo, etc, I understand that email is encrypted over https.

Maybe I think that because whenever I use Gmail or Yahoo webmail I see that the connection is encrypted (there's a lock with https during all the session) from the time you sign in until sign out, so it works like a point to point encryption similar to that used in Whatsapp messages. In the past the encryption was only applied to the password/username exchange.

antares said:

Maybe I think that because whenever I use Gmail or Yahoo webmail I see that the connection is encrypted (there's a lock with https during all the session) from the time you sign in until sign out, so it works like a point to point encryption similar to that used in Whatsapp messages. In the past the encryption was only applied to the password/username exchange.

The data transmission of the email is secure/encrypted. The storage of that email on Gmail servers...not as much.

Is Gmail Safe For Work? -Kaspersky Daily |

bro67 said:

Regardless of that little lock you see. Your email is still sent in the clear, same as your loging information.

There is no encryption when you connect to a https website that uses or does not use SSL.

Unless you use a VPN to connect directly to an email server. Everything you do online, can be seen by anyone that may be looking at ways to get around security protocols on a website.

So, then, I guess all my banking information is sent in the clear too, because it goes by https:// with a lock symbol too. I would suggest you do a bit more reading to familiarize yourself with what https:// and the lock symbol means.

How does HTTPS actually work? | Robert Heaton

Mixed content blocking in Firefox | Firefox Help

When you visit a page fully transmitted over HTTPS, like your bank, you'll see a green padlock icon in the address bar (see How do I tell if my connection to a website is secure? for details). This means that your connection is authenticated and encrypted, hence safeguarded from eavesdroppers and man-in-the-middle attacks.

I guess Firefox must by lying about gmail.