Two active OpenVPN clients / different VPN provider

[Emanuel Paul]

Hello together

I've set up two openVPN clients (StrongVPN/PureVPN). Both work simultaneously. StrongVPN I use for my SmartTV and the NAS, PureVPN for one Computer. All other devices bypass any VPN. I managed this by setting up policy rules for the IP's of the devices what should use a VPN connection.

The problem is, that I often loose the public IP from PureVPN. Then I have to restart the service until next time.

I contacted PureVPN support. They told me, that it is not possible to have two active OpenVPN clients at the same time.

But I'm nearly sure, that I've read that it should be possible. But I only found a thread where one wanted to use several client setting to different server locations with one VPN provider. In my case it are two different provider.

Can anybody tell me, if the configuration I have set up should work?

 

[daviworld]

Hello together

I've set up two openVPN clients (StrongVPN/PureVPN). Both work simultaneously. StrongVPN I use for my SmartTV and the NAS, PureVPN for one Computer. All other devices bypass any VPN. I managed this by setting up policy rules for the IP's of the devices what should use a VPN connection.

The problem is, that I often loose the public IP from PureVPN. Then I have to restart the service until next time.

I contacted PureVPN support. They told me, that it is not possible to have two active OpenVPN clients at the same time.

But I'm nearly sure, that I've read that it should be possible. But I only found a thread where one wanted to use several client setting to different server locations with one VPN provider. In my case it are two different provider.

Can anybody tell me, if the configuration I have set up should work?

Hi Emanuel,

It is Indeed possible to run two active OpenVPN connection's. I typically run 2 OpenVPN connection's 24/7, and sometime's 3. Provided by ProtonVPN, TorGaurd, and VPNArea

I have my streaming and entertainment device's routed through policy rule's provided through TorGuard for their dedicated IP, and if the tunnel goes down; block the client's

For my smartphone and PC's, I route all my traffic through ProtonVPN(setting All)

The two above VPN's are always active, however I found that TorGuard sometime's soft resets and in rare cases sometimes it is Proton that soft resets. All automatically and in within second's. I also have the above two, set to start with the WAN.


My 3rd VPN is used for research and download's since VPNArea give's me my own server and has pretty good p2p speed's


I usually route over a pc or smartphone, or replace Proton with VPNArea for the time being during download's or research.

 

[st3v3n]

We run two concurrent OpenVPN tunnels with different providers with no issues. Perhaps Pure was confused or meant it wasn't possible to run two tunnels over their system, due to conflicts with their protocols. Some providers are a bit more persnickety that others. I once had a device routed to both tunnels at the same time, which caused it to fail until I dropped it from one, but the tunnels kept on running. Sometimes the providers have failures; unless you're logged into their site or they send you a notification, it might appear that your tunnel is acting up. A reboot usually sets things right; if not, check the provider, or try loading a different tunnel. Cheers.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Hello together

I've set up two openVPN clients (StrongVPN/PureVPN). Both work simultaneously. StrongVPN I use for my SmartTV and the NAS, PureVPN for one Computer. All other devices bypass any VPN. I managed this by setting up policy rules for the IP's of the devices what should use a VPN connection.

The problem is, that I often loose the public IP from PureVPN. Then I have to restart the service until next time.

I contacted PureVPN support. They told me, that it is not possible to have two active OpenVPN clients at the same time.

But I'm nearly sure, that I've read that it should be possible. But I only found a thread where one wanted to use several client setting to different server locations with one VPN provider. In my case it are two different provider.

Can anybody tell me, if the configuration I have set up should work?

It should work as long as each of the VPN clients use different ports. I am currently running a VPN client from Astrill, a client from StrongVPN and a client from PIA on an ASUS 1900P running Merlin's firmware. I check on the client's regularly but every two or three weeks I find that one of the clients, most frequently the PIA client will have stopped.

Different devices using a static IP are assigned to each of the clients. The default on my setup is to use the WAN if the VPN isn't specified. I also do not block Internet access if one or any of the clients fail.

 

[st3v3n]

Emmanuel, VSMember CaptainSTX is correct. The answer to your question is yes; two active OpenVPN clients from different VPN providers is possible, as long as there are no configuration conflicts, IP, rules, ports, etc, on your end or with the provider's service.

Some VPN providers are relaxed regarding how many IP addresses you can rent from them (many aren't). A few will rent 1, 2, or even 3 addresses to you, as long as the VPN provider has the capacity available, especially with demand made for private TV/IP viewing. If your router/firmware/bandwidth is up to it, why would Pure tell you otherwise? If Pure can't/won't answer specifically why they're saying it's not possible, it may not be possible, but only on their network. Didn't they have issues when they kept their warrant canary from triggering a few months ago?.

Since Captain mentioned it, it's a preference again, but why go to the trouble/expense of having VPN service, if one doesn't mind devices or traffic dropping to WAN, when a tunnel or provider fails?. When data security is an issue, having the device/traffic drop/disconnect immediately, to know that there is a problem (whether it's due to the VPN or a local issue with the router), so you can load an L2TP or another OpenVPN tunnel/config would be preferable to allowing traffic to drop to the unprotected WAN/ISP. No disrespect intended, hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[CaptainSTX]

The router that I run three VPN clients on is used primarily for my IoT devices. While I run many of them connecting through a VPN client for the additional security it provides and to isolate them from from my primary network. It is more important to me that they be able to connect 24/7 to the WWW.

If I am traveling and my AC fails it is more important that I know that even if my thermostat has to connect and notify me using a possibly less secure WAN connection.

My IoT devices also connect using guest network SSIDs and different subnets from my primary more secure network so even without the VPN I am protected.

 

[st3v3n]

Captain, hope you have an authorized admin to regain the reigns if/when you're gone and HAL gets loose. My executive assistant would object if I had a preference forThingys to her crisis management style and skillset but I understand. A friend and I have discussed his IoT addition which is extreme. He installed a separate service drop from a different ISP to keep his data net physically apart from his IoT net, with WAN fallback for both. Expense was no object but he didn't have a stay behind human.

I told him he should've hired me. He'd been out of country for several days when the net alerted him in a meeting that the power failed but the propane/electric generator fallback automatically kicked on and ran until it failed and then he was down to batteries, without a wife/assistant locally empowered to take care of the pet auto-feeders, much less the rest. He worried himself to a frazzle until he caught a flight back. When his version of HAL 9000 ran amuck I truly felt for him as it was costly even without airfare. We're in a temperate zone, but if critters, kids, fish or plants were at stake, no IoT can overcome the lack of a human standby. With all seriousness, wonder why Emmanuel's provider is saying nada? Cheers.