Yes, and there is more than one way to do this. While some methods may require the advanced tweaking of technical parameters, even users with limited technical skills can use multiple VPNs at once. However, it may not be worth it. Although it’s possible to have multiple VPN clients on one computer, the result is usually compatibility issues and poor internet performance.
Should I Use Multiple VPNs?
Although unusual, there may be some situations when you need to connect to multiple VPN clients. For instance, if you work for a company that uses a VPN for network security and you also need to connect to a customer’s private network. There are other situations where multiple encryption can helpfully enhance security, such as when using public Wi-Fi or accessing geo-restricted content.
What Happens When You Use Two VPNs at Once?
Simply installing and connecting two VPNs at once is ineffective, as activating the second VPN likely results in a routing error. Even if that doesn’t happen, chances are that the two will battle until only one is left running – inevitable with VPNs featuring a kill switch.
This happens because turning on a VPN creates a series of routing entries in the user’s device that redirects the internet traffic out of the original gateway. When the second VPN attempts to do the same, they clash.
Trying to avoid this is the real technical challenge, especially if you do it manually. If so, you need to perform a few changes in the OpenVPN configuration files as well as run a handful of command lines via the command prompt.
How to Setup Multiple VPNs at Once?
Double VPN
Although not offered by all, some VPN providers do offer a double VPN or multihop, which lets you set up two or more sequentially connected VPNs. This is the most straightforward method for configuring multiple VPNs. For example, in a matter of seconds, NordVPN or SurfShark achieve what would otherwise take hours to do manually.
These services can route traffic to one server and then redirect it to another, encrypting it at least twice. The traffic is always the same and dealt with by the one carrier, which means that there’s no risk of conflict between tunnels.
Virtual Machine
Another way to use two VPNs at once and with only a little more effort is by installing one on your original operating system and another on a virtual machine. Simply put, you create a new virtual computer inside your primary OS and install a VPN, such as OpenVPN, on both systems. This creates two tunnels, routing your IP address from your computer and then through the virtual machine, but, unfortunately, severely impacts network performance.
VPN Router
The same principle can be applied to VPN routers that grant network-wide protection. Although not offered by most providers, routers can also be configured to allow multiple simultaneous connections and as many OpenVPN clients as you want. However, they need to be configured to obey the ‘Accept DNS Configuration=Exclusive’ setting in the router’s control panel. In addition, each client will need to use different DNS servers but doing so may violate the provider’s terms of service.
OpenVPN
By default, the OpenVPN client only supports one active VPN connection. After installing it, only one virtual TAP or TUN adapter is created. If you want multiple simultaneous VPN connections, you need to create additional adapters. This is the most laborious way to set up multiple VPN connections since it requires advanced command lines.
Always ensure there’s a good reason to use multiple VPNs, keeping in mind that two or more may significantly impact the network’s latency and speed – most likely to the point of rendering it unusable.
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