Working remotely overseas is becoming normal, whether someone is taking a month in Spain, wintering in Thailand, or simply testing out the digital nomad lifestyle. But one challenge stops people in their tracks fast — getting work tools to function properly through a VPN while outside their home country.
Streaming and browsing are easy. Logging into company resources through a VPN while abroad is where things get tricky. Some VPNs route through commercial servers that don’t play nicely with company portals, SSO logins, or internal work applications. The experience can range from slow and glitchy to completely blocked.
So the real question isn’t which VPN brand is best, but which VPN setup maintains compatibility with corporate systems?
How Corporate VPNs Expect You To Connect
Most companies route employees through private gateways to access internal resources. From the security team's perspective, the ideal environment is straightforward: familiar devices signing in from expected IP behavior, ideally residential rather than commercial datacenter traffic.
When you travel internationally and connect through a traditional VPN, multiple things change at once — IP address, routing path, network type, even time zone metadata. None of this is inherently “wrong,” it just introduces friction. Apps can behave strangely. Login portals may refresh endlessly. SSO may sign you out mid-session. File servers might refuse to load.
In short, compatibility — not secrecy — is the challenge.
Traditional VPN Apps vs. a Home-Based VPN Tunnel
Most commercial VPN apps (NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, etc.) run traffic through shared datacenter servers. These are fine for privacy, streaming, or securing public Wi-Fi, but they often struggle with business environments. Internal systems sometimes throttle them, productivity tools become unstable, and latency makes calls feel laggy.
A more reliable approach for remote workers is a home-anchored VPN tunnel. Instead of routing through a random server farm, your connection passes through your own home router. Your traffic exits the internet exactly the same way it would if you were physically at home.
Your corporate VPN sees a familiar environment.
Applications respond normally.
Compatibility improves dramatically.
Nothing unusual — just your home network, but accessed from another country.
So What VPN Should You Use?
If the goal is simple browsing or privacy, commercial VPN apps work well. But if you plan to work from abroad and need smooth compatibility with your company’s VPN, the most dependable choice is a residential-IP VPN tunnel — specifically a two-router setup.
One router stays at home and acts as the anchor point.
The second travels with you and securely tunnels back.
Your work device behaves like it’s connected to your living room Wi-Fi.
No complicated configuration. No risky installs on your work laptop.
Just plug in, connect, and work as normal — from anywhere.
Who Does This Benefit Most?
Remote workers who need to maintain reliable access to corporate VPN portals.
Digital nomads who want U.S. connectivity for work tools abroad.
Anyone tired of slow or blocked access when using commercial VPN apps overseas.
People who want their work setup to feel exactly the same everywhere they go.
If your job depends on stable connections, this setup matters.
The Solution Built With This Use-Case In Mind
HomeLink was created specifically for people working abroad who need a seamless, home-based internet identity. Instead of software, you simply connect your device to the travel router and the tunnel links automatically back home. Your corporate VPN sees a familiar residential origin, increasing compatibility and reducing connection issues.
In short:
Standard VPN apps = privacy and streaming convenience.
Home-anchored VPN (like HomeLink) = work reliability and compatibility.
Before You Travel
If you want to understand how to prepare your remote setup, we put together a simple guide covering what affects compatibility when working overseas:
Download: "3 Signals That Impact Remote Work Connectivity Abroad"
Helpful if you want your connection to feel like home — even when you're not.