Best VPN for Remote Camera Access: Reach Your Home Cameras Safely From Anywhere

Reading time: 6 minutes

Most people who want to check their security cameras while they’re away are told the same thing: open a port on your router and point it at the camera. It’s convenient — and it also increases your exposure to the internet, because that camera is now reachable by anyone, including the automated scanners that hunt for exposed cameras every day.

There’s a better way, and it doesn’t require exposing anything. This guide is about reaching your home cameras from anywhere through an encrypted tunnel instead of an open port — and which VPN makes that easiest. If you want the fundamentals first, start with what a VPN actually does.

Which VPN should you choose?

The short version, if you just want a recommendation before the details:

The three ways to view your cameras remotely

There are really only three ways to see a home camera when you’re away, and they are not equally safe.

1. The manufacturer’s cloud app. The easiest option: the camera uploads its feed to the maker’s servers and you watch through their app. Convenient, but your video leaves your home and sits on a third party’s cloud — more surface area for interception, outages, and subscription fees.

2. Port forwarding. This opens a hole in your firewall that points the public internet straight at your camera. It’s a well-known way for strangers to end up watching someone’s home, and it’s the approach we’d steer you away from. Our guide on viewing your cameras remotely explains why.

3. A VPN — an encrypted tunnel into your own network. Instead of exposing anything, you connect into your home network from outside and reach your cameras as if you were on the couch. Nothing is published to the internet, and the whole connection is encrypted. This is the safe option, and it’s what the rest of this guide is about.

The fix: secure remote access without opening ports

The feature that solves this cleanly is device-to-network access — a private, encrypted link that connects your phone or laptop back to the devices on your home network, so you can reach a camera’s local address from anywhere without opening a single port.

NordVPN implements this as Meshnet, and it’s the reason it leads this comparison. Meshnet links your devices into a private network so your phone can talk to the IP cameras on your home LAN directly — no port forwarding, nothing exposed — over an encrypted NordLynx tunnel. Notably, Meshnet is free: you need a NordVPN account and the app, but not a paid subscription, to use it. It simply solves this specific problem better than anything else right now.

Meshnet isn’t the only secure way to reach your cameras remotely, but it’s one of the simplest and most homeowner-friendly approaches available today.

Why we recommend NordVPN for camera access

Beyond Meshnet, NordVPN backs it up where it counts for a live camera feed: the NordLynx protocol posts the fastest speeds in independent testing, so remote video stays smooth instead of stuttering. It runs RAM-only servers, holds an independently audited no-logs policy, and is based in Panama, outside restrictive data-retention jurisdictions. For reaching a connected home safely from anywhere, it’s the most capable option.

Surfshark — a different approach that’s still excellent value

Surfshark takes a different route. If your goal is securing your entire home network through your router, it’s an excellent value — you install it once on the router, cover an unlimited number of devices, and get the same independently audited no-logs standards. If your specific goal is reaching IP cameras without port forwarding, NordVPN currently has a meaningful advantage thanks to Meshnet. Both are strong; they just solve the problem differently.

How remote camera access works with Meshnet, step by step

The plain-English version, no port forwarding required:

• Install the NordVPN app on a device that stays home (a PC, or a spare phone) and on the phone you travel with.
• Turn on Meshnet in both apps and link them to your account — this is the free part.
• On the home device, allow local network access so Meshnet can reach the rest of your gear.
• From anywhere, open your camera’s local address or app through that encrypted link — you’re effectively on your home network, with nothing exposed publicly.

Do you even need a VPN for this?

Not always. If your cameras only offer secure remote viewing through a reputable manufacturer app and that’s all you need, you may be fine without one.

A VPN becomes the better answer when you want to keep your video off third-party clouds, reach a NAS or self-hosted recorder, view several cameras or an NVR at once, or access gear that was never designed for cloud viewing.

Our recommendation

For most people who want to reach their home cameras safely from anywhere, NordVPN is the service we recommend — free Meshnet makes device-to-camera access genuinely simple, with no port forwarding and the fastest speeds for live video. Choose Surfshark if you’d rather run the VPN on your router to cover every device at home at the lowest price.

Choosing the right VPN is only half the equation. The next step is configuring it correctly on your home router so your cameras stay secure and easy to reach — which we cover in our upcoming guide on setting up a VPN on your home router.

Frequently asked questions

Is port forwarding safe for security cameras?
No. Port forwarding exposes your camera directly to the public internet, where automated scanners routinely find and probe open cameras. A VPN or Meshnet tunnel lets you reach the same camera without exposing anything.

Is NordVPN’s Meshnet really free?
Yes. You need a (free) NordVPN account and the app, but Meshnet itself works without a paid subscription.

Will a VPN slow down my camera feed?
Slightly, as any encryption does — but a fast protocol like NordLynx keeps live feeds smooth enough that you won’t notice it in normal use.

Can I use Surfshark for remote camera access?
Yes. Surfshark doesn’t have Meshnet, so you install it on your home router and connect back to your whole network — which also covers every device at home.

Do I still need a VPN if my camera has a cloud app?
Not necessarily — but a VPN keeps your video off third-party servers and is the better choice for a NAS, an NVR, or multiple cameras at once.

Disclosure

Products are recommended based on real-world performance, long-term reliability, and whether we’d confidently use them in our own homes.