Which VPN Strategy and Why?

VPN
1

This may have been asked and if so, please point me in the right direction. Otherwise, any information, especially contemporary would be appreciated.

Assume I want to access my NAS externally. Assume as well all standard security steps have already been taken through the Security Advisor.

Would a VPN improve security? If so, which strategy would be best?

  1. Installing the VPN server by Synology?
  2. Going with a paid VPN (i.e. ExpressVPN) and connecting through the Synology Network Interface?
  3. Going with a paid VPN and installing on a router?

With #3 I may not be able to do this yet unless I upgrade to a newer router. Aside from these 3, are there any other options?

If you could please tell me the pros and cons as well I will appreciate it.

Thanks.

2

Tailscale.

Simple, free, relatively effortless, and secure.

3
  1. and 3) have nothing to do with 1). If you want to do what you describe, 2) and 3) won’t help you.

You need 1). Now it depends on your equipment, and your willingness to learn and set it up yourself.

If you want it quick and secure, use Tailscale.

If your router has a build in VPN server, it is done simple and fast as well.

If you need to setup a server on your network yourself, you need to learn how to install it safely, and you need to admin it constantly. But you will learn the most from doing it yourself.

4

I use PiVPN/Wireguard on the same Pi that runs PiHole on my home network. It works perfectly, totally free and open source, and everything runs in-house so I’m 100% certain my data stays private.

5

1 does something completely different than 2 and 3. What do you want to do with a VPN?

6

TailScale is the way to go. I’ve set up Synology VPN with router NAT for myself and similar setups for clients in the past. But if it’s mostly just you connecting then nothing beats it’s simplicity and ability to connect from anywhere without any router, NAT, or firewall configs.