RT-AX86U Pro VPN

[TSS]

Hi there,
Is anyone could point me to DETAILED tutorial from scratch how to configure VPN (any vpn, OpenVPN or Wireguard or anything) on this RT-AX86U Pro (or similar) router but configure it so that there is access to the local network. I've been reading the internet for a few hours now and I didn't find a working tutorial. however, many people have problems with accessing the local network after VPN but without solution.
I can setup Wireguard or OpenVPN BUT only to have internet from my local ISP but no access to local shares, local devices, even 192.168.0.1 not working to have access to router config. Only ping works. Nothing more. I would be grateful for point-by-point instructions because I'm at a loss. I think it would help many people.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Only ping works. Nothing more.

This suggests that the VPN is working fine and the problem lies elsewhere. Depending on what exactly you're trying to access the problem is often the firewall on those devices. Typically firewalls by default will not allow access from outside of the local subnet (e.g. from a VPN address). You can test whether this is the problem by temporarily disabling the firewall on the target device. The other common issue is that DNS doesn't work for local devices. So always test using IP addresses to eliminate that as a potential problem.

 

[TSS]

I'm using IP's instead of hostnames. BUT when I connect VPN (android phone or Win laptop) I can ping my asus router at 192.168.0.1 but I cannot enter to this address in browser to log in. Can't reach this page. Router configuration is as simple as possible, no frills. Tried to disable firewall on router, it nothing changes.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm using IP's instead of hostnames. BUT when I connect VPN (android phone or Win laptop) I can ping my asus router at 192.168.0.1 but I cannot enter to this address in browser to log in. Can't reach this page. Router configuration is as simple as possible, no frills. Tried to disable firewall on router, it nothing changes.

Don't try accessing the router, try accessing other things on your LAN.

 

[TSS]

Don't try accessing the router, try accessing other things on your LAN.

Just tried to access my printer web gui. Can ping but no luck to connect on browser to gui. That's why I asked for step by step tutorial made by someone who make it work. Because I tried many changes before I wrote on this forum.

 

[bennor]

More information would be helpful including readable posting screenshots your VPN configuration, redacting sensitive information, and what firmware you are running.
For example, are you setting up a VPN Server? Or are you setting up a VPN Client on the router?
Are you running any add-on scripts or have you enabled features like AiProtection?

Using either Wireguard or OpenVPN, I do not have a problem with an Android cellphone running VPN client software accessing a NAS on the local network that is behind the VPN Server setup on a RT-AX86U Pro router running stock Asus 3.0.0.6.102_34336 firmware. Also didn't have an issue running the VPN Server feature on Asus-Merlin 3004.388.8_4 either.

Make sure you have Access Intranet enabled when using VPN Server if you want to access your local LAN.

 

[bbunge]

Might be a good idea to set your router back to the default IP address of 192.168.50.1. Sure, this will be a pain if you have any static IP addresses set but I've learned that when things don't work, go back to defaults.
Asus Instant Guard should work out of the box. Set to Internet and local network recommended.
I, too, have not had any issues connecting to clients on my LAN when using VPN (Wireguard or OpenVPN) on Android, iOS, Windows laptop or Chromebook. I use the default configuration file, or with Wireguard the QR code load, and everything just works.
Make sure your DDNS works. No-IP.com works well for me.

 

[TSS]

Back to default is not a concern in this case, router is new, I connected it three weeks ago, configured and just works. Of course it has newest official firmware. Today I started playing with vpn and I can't deal with it. No need to ddns because I have static IP from my ISP.
Further tests showed (on OpenVPN) that I can be able to connect to router on browser web gui. Also can access my NAS share but not other PC share. On Wireguard can only access router gui but not NAS. One thing that works is PING for all devices on LAN. I was sure the setup would be simple, but here was such a surprise. I'm giving up for now because I don't have time for this anymore. A few hours and nothing works. I've found a lot of posts from people who have the same problem as me, but unfortunately no effective solution.

 

[TSS]

I, too, have not had any issues connecting to clients on my LAN when using VPN (Wireguard or OpenVPN) on Android, iOS, Windows laptop or Chromebook. I use the default configuration file, or with Wireguard the QR code load, and everything just works.

Did you set any routing on your router?
My routing table are empty.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Further tests showed (on OpenVPN) that I can be able to connect to router on browser web gui. Also can access my NAS share but not other PC share.

If you're running Windows on your PC, as I said above this will be a Windows firewall issue. Windows by default will block SMB access from non-local addresses. If you can confirm this is your problem then there are a couple of different ways to deal with it.

Did you set any routing on your router?

No special routing is necessary.

 

[bennor]

Also can access my NAS share but not other PC share.

If you are using Windows on that PC, it is likely a Windows problem. Check the Windows to ensure File/Printer sharing is enabled and check the Windows Firewall or what ever third party security/firewall software you are using.

 

[bbunge]

Did you set any routing on your router?
My routing table are empty.
View attachment 64178

Enable Staric Routes - NO!!!

AS I said, your router LAN IP address of 192.168.0.1 is not default! It should not make a difference but when having problems going back to defaults is a great idea. Default LAN address is: 192.168.50.1