Open VPN- struggling to "get it".....

injunear

injunear

Getting the hang of it
Jun 12, 2017
110
15
Yes, I read at least 3/4 of the VPN primer and watched more than a dozen videos of youtube but am still struggling to "get" the big picture, so to speak. I've just upgraded from BI4, which I've had for a few years, to BI5 and just finished installing DDNS via .iptctddns.com...........

So help me out here: the open VPN is used primarily between a phone app(viewer) and the server (standalone PC running BI in my case) so that one doesn't need to port forward, correct?

How does this affect the DDNS I just installed into my phone app?

Under what other circumstances would I need to, or want to, use the same VPN interface and if not too much trouble, how would I use it (examples please)?

As always,
Thanks

Bob T.
 
Sometimes this type of VPN is described as a "tunnel". A secure encrypted pathway between two points. In this case, your phone and your home network. It allows you to securely connect to your home network and appear to be within the lan. So you could access anything on the lan, like your pc or a nas. Companies do this all the time so employees can work from home or other emote locations while still having a secure connection.

It won't have any effect on the ddns and that is necessary so your phone can find your home network ip address.

Hope that helps.
 
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NoloC said:
Sometimes this type of VPN is described as a "tunnel". A secure encrypted pathway between two points. In this case, your phone and your home network. It allows you to securely connect to your home network and appear to be within the lan. So you could access anything on the lan, like your pc or a nas. Companies do this all the time so employees can work from home or other emote locations while still having a secure connection.

It won't have any effect on the ddns and that is necessary so your phone can find your home network ip address.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

So the VPN access is via the phone? So, after installing this wiz-bang service on my phone by a yet to be found provider, I would initiate it how?
Is it always activated or only for a predefined session including a 'connect' and then a 'disconnect' ?

Sorry for all the questions....BTW, I used a direct access app on my company laptop when travelling that was installed by our IT people years ago (retired now). I used a FOB that was linked to a satellite that provided a random numbered 'key', that expired in 5 minutes, to access our network drives. I could only access the network internal to my corporation and nothing outside of it. Is that what we're dealing with here?

Bob T.
 
TL1096r said:
How are you setting up openvpn on home network? On windows 10, router?
Click to expand...

I have a linksys router so I think it will need to be on WIN 10.....
 
injunear said:
So the VPN access is via the phone? So, after installing this wiz-bang service on my phone by a yet to be found provider, I would initiate it how?
Is it always activated or only for a predefined session including a 'connect' and then a 'disconnect' ?

Sorry for all the questions....BTW, I used a direct access app on my company laptop when travelling that was installed by our IT people years ago (retired now). I used a FOB that was linked to a satellite that provided a random numbered 'key', that expired in 5 minutes, to access our network drives. I could only access the network internal to my corporation and nothing outside of it. Is that what we're dealing with here?

Bob T.
Click to expand...

OK, you need to run the OpenVPN program on a server within your home network. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is with an ASUS router that has an OpenVPN server built in. Other routers may as well, but my experience is only with ASUS. And you would run the OpenVPN app on your phone. The "provider" is OpenVPN and it is a free open source program. You could run the server on a pc on your home network but it is a bit more complicated. There are a few threads on here discussing this already. Sorry I don't have a link off hand but you might try using the "search" function. It's really easy to set up if you buy an ASUS router like the 68 and the help file walks you through it. https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-Ai...1315496&s=gateway&sprefix=asus,aps,161&sr=8-3
 
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NoloC said:
OK, you need to run the OpenVPN program on a server within your home network. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is with an ASUS router that has an OpenVPN server built in. Other routers may as well, but my experience is only with ASUS. And you would run the OpenVPN app on your phone. The "provider" is OpenVPN and it is a free open source program. You could run the server on a pc on your home network but it is a bit more complicated. There are a few threads on here discussing this already. Sorry I don't have a link off hand but you might try using the "search" function. It's really easy to set up if you buy an ASUS router like the 68 and the help file walks you through it. https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AiMesh-Router-AC1900-System/dp/B00FB45SI4/ref=sr_1_3?creativeASIN=B00FB45SI4&linkCode=w61&imprToken=onlUeEY3oZD6M.gpJJEPPw&slotNum=0&tag=ipctk-20&crid=2N14LXX8M1PGU&keywords=asus+router&qid=1561315496&s=gateway&sprefix=asus,aps,161&sr=8-3
Click to expand...

My router is literally 2 days old so buying a new router isn't in the cards...Wish I knew about the VPN resident on the ASUS though. Probably would've bought it.
 
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Thanks for the video. I'll see if I can get'r going on Win 10. I was just confused as to the big picture but now I have a good idea of what I'm dealing with. Viewer (Clients) need an openVPN app running to connect to a vpn server running on Win 10 pc via a router. My router has options to "pass through" VPN in a few different modes and they all look to be enabled by default. That should help.
 
injunear said:
Thanks for the video. I'll see if I can get'r going on Win 10. I was just confused as to the big picture but now I have a good idea of what I'm dealing with. Viewer (Clients) need an openVPN app running to connect to a vpn server running on Win 10 pc via a router. My router has options to "pass through" VPN in a few different modes and they all look to be enabled by default. That should help.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Keep us updated on what you find. Maybe someone with more experience can help further but it would be all I know on this subject. I feel the consensus is to go with asus/openvpn though.
 
Many talk about ASUS and VPN ease of setup. The same could be said for NetGear. I bought a brand new Netgear Nighthawk X10 Smart Wifi Router (R9000). It comes with OpenVPN and took me a whole 4 minutes to setup successfully.
 
As an aside, does setting up a VPN tunnel using an ASUS router have any effect on regular internet traffic outgoing/incoming from the home LAN? Reason I ask is that I'm using MagicJack VOIP and I'm wondering if I setup an VPN tunnel if there will be any issues.
 
Thanks. I might do the Raspberry Pi thing given I happen to have a spare laying around that I'm not using....
 
pinecone said:
As an aside, does setting up a VPN tunnel using an ASUS router have any effect on regular internet traffic outgoing/incoming from the home LAN? Reason I ask is that I'm using MagicJack VOIP and I'm wondering if I setup an VPN tunnel if there will be any issues.
Click to expand...

Looks like you'd need to open other ports.

What Network Ports Does magicJack Use?

magicJack uses ports 5060 and 5070 UDP. You may need to manually open these ports to allow for full functionality.
Click to expand...
 
injunear said:
Thanks. I might do the Raspberry Pi thing given I happen to have a spare laying around that I'm not using....
Click to expand...
Netwalker said:
The best option would have been to never buy a router that doesn't support 3rd party firmware like dd-wrt or tomato, but you know that now :)

Next best is to setup the vpn server on your BI machine

https://www.howtogeek.com/135996/ho...ows-computer-without-installing-any-software/

Or put it on a raspberry pi.

Raspberry Pi VPN Server Tutorial
Click to expand...

I thought you did not need to port forward with VPN. Both links suggest port forwarding?
 
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