How to share a custom-coded VPN connection?

Question

I am going to ask many related issues at once in this post, so I appreciate very much your effort and time to read, understand and answering.

I currently connect my laptop to the internet through a VPN. Now I want to share this connection with 10 computers.

In order to connect I have to run a client software, and use custom coded config files (the .ovpn's)

PART 1:

Now I am torn. I am not a technical person. So I asked around and heard there are two ways to share a connection. Either via a Router, or using a computer that's been installed with a special router software and a Wi-Fi USB Adapter.

The option of using a computer with Wi-Fi adapter sounds simple. Because on the computer I can connect to my VPN easily. But I would like to know how effective would a computer be in terms of speed. In other words can a computer handle 10 clients without slowing them down significantly? What minimum RAM or other specifications would such a computer need? What else would be important to consider.

So far I have heard of these guys http://virtualrouterplus.com/ (for router software) and the Panda Wi-Fi adapter they recommend which is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00762YNMG/

Unfortunately the Wi-Fi adapter above has no "Wi-Fi Certified logo", so I also need your opinion on that. Is the logo a must, or are un-certified Wi-Fi products also OK?

PART 2:

The other option I found was using a router. However I am told normal routers and VPN routers normally come with their own client software. That it's not possible, or they are not designed to be installed with a customer's client software and configuration files.

Any ideas on this? Are there any routers out there that I can run my client and config files? I want to the VPN servers my connection to appear like one computer, but internally I will be sharing the connection with 10 computers.

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to your advice.

Answer 1

You don't mention what operating system, you're using - but going under the assumption that the VPN software you refer to is OpenVPN I'd suggest you simply:

1. Purchase/acquire 2nd hand/cheapo PC; install Wifi & OpenVPN exactly as you do now.
2. Configure OS to share your your VPN connection, in Windows that's pretty much right click vpn & enable connection sharing. In linux you need to enable IP forwarding.

If you're determined to purchase a dedicated router, googling for "router OpenVPN" yields many potential products.