OpenVPN - I can't get it to work...

[Bamsefar]

So I have no experience of OpenVPN. And I am trying anyway.

Tried a few different guides on the web, have read what I can, even so I can not get my AC87 to answer any connection attempts. It's like it is blocked or not responding...

What I am trying to do: Connect with OpenVPN from my Android device (Sony Z3, with Lollipop 5.1) with latest (today) app installed. What I have done on the router, which is running RMerlin Firmware: 378:54_1 is just to enable OpenVPN server 1, and export the config file, which of course is loaded on my Android device without any problems. However connection to my router is not happening, I just get timeouts. Reading the log on my AC87 does not give any clues for me, since there are no lines when I try to connect...

Any ideas or any tips on a guide on the web that could help me and get this to work - it can't be this hard?

 

[Bamsefar]

Btw. If I am using the "PPTP VPN Server" everything just works directly... So connecting seems to work, just not OpenVPN.

 

[Tom_Hall]

Here's how I set mine up (I have an AC87U and an android too)

Click on Open VPN Server 1 & turn it on
Add a user/password & Apply
Change from General to Advanced
I changed the VPN Subnet from 10.8.x.x to 192.168.10.x (seemed a good idea, as I use 192.168.x.x on my network)
I also enabled Username/Password authentication
Apply again
Export the config file to your phone
Import the config file into OpenVPN Connect, then click on Connect

You didn't say where you are - "at home", or "out & about"

If you're out & about and trying to connect over 3g or someone else's wifi - it should connect ok
If you're at home, and trying to connect over your wifi - it will time-out - it's a feature that it won't connect over your own wifi - (can't remember where I read that),
If you're at home, and still want to vpn, turn off your phone's wifi - it should then connect ok over 3g

I did notice that my Galaxy S4 started to get quite hot when I was connected via vpn so I haven't really used vpn often

 

[Bamsefar]

Hi and thanks for your help - however, no difference - it will not connect, I just get timeouts.

I'm at home, running my phone over 3G (WiFi turned OFF!), and have so been doing in all my tests.

 

[Bamsefar]

Hmmm just did a ps, and found TWO processes like:
/etc/openvpn/vpnserver2 --cd /etc/openvpn/server2 --config config.ovpn

Why is there TWO of this process? And yes I tried to use VPN Server 2 for my latest testing like Tom Hall suggests. And I did use VPN Server 1 earlier this day.

Oh and now I can not even start VPN Server 1 - it just hangs ad shows a message in the box where Export button is supposed to be.

Strange I say...

 

[Tom_Hall]

Very odd - I've just walked through the steps I suggested and it works for me
(at home, wifi off, and connecting via 3g)
Having said that, I forgot to mention that I have ddns setup on my router, and the ddns name got automatically hard-coded in the config file
Might be useful to check the config file - it's just a text file

 

[martinr]

I don't know if you have any experience of setting up a vpn using, say, DD-WRT. If so, forget all about that and forget anything you read on the Internet about such things as generating keys etc. With Asuswrt-Merlin it's child's play, and what I was going to suggest before your Post #5 is to do as Tom suggested: try it from another wifi network ie prove the problem is not specific to 3g. Howver, especially given Post #5, I'd start afresh and do a factory default restore. (I did one the other day to fix an untidiness I'd created with the keys and certs.) Yes, it's time-consuming but it could save a lot of time faffing around scratching your head over config files. And if you think your DDNS might be the problem, why not set up a temporary one using Asus' DDNS incorporated into the GUI (assuming you're using a different provider)? I'm confident a fresh setup will fix it.

 

[Bamsefar]

I have fixed IP so no need for DDNS. However I am thinking about latest FW update, and then factory reset and all that - might take a week before I find that kind of time. I will have to use "PPTP VPN Server" until I get this fixed - not sure how bad that is though....

 

[martinr]

?..... I will have to use "PPTP VPN Server" until I get this fixed - not sure how bad that is though....

If you mean how secure it is, then a quick Google check shows that it is crackable by hackers. If you are using the vpn to browse securely from a non-trusted network (vpn to your home router and then back out, unencrypted, onto the Internet), you might want to consider signing up, maybe on a free trial, to a vpn provider on your smartphone. On my Apple device, before I bought my Asus router, I ran Cloak, for about $2 a month. But then you have to question how secure that is given you know nothing about them. Balance that against running PPTP vpn from an untrusted network with the possibilty of a hacker with the relevant equipment. Without insight into that nefarious part of society, one has no idea how big the risk is or how to balance that risk with any risk associated with using something like Cloak for a week.