SoftEther (now GPL) as VPN Server via Entware or built in

[Ka Hooli]

Hi,

I'm not a software developer, but I've just noticed that SoftEther VPN Server has gone Open Source (see here) just over a week ago.

This VPN Server product allows computers and smartphones to securely connect to a VPN network without any additional software installed on them.

I've put a message on their forum and the Entware ticketing site for the idea of someone developing it into an Entware package.

While I would be happy with it being an Entware package, an idea I had is how much better would the AsusWRT router be if SoftEther was to replace the built in VPN server packages?

As I said, not a software developer, just done scripting and minor programming in the past, but I do hope someone at least makes it into a working Entware package. Also, just thought I'd put the idea up here to get the word out.

 

[RMerlin]

I see zero reason to put this directly in the firmware. OpenVPN is proven, actively developed, and widely supported, while I never even heard about this one before.

 

[Ka Hooli]

Thought it was a long shot to replace the current offering as the built-in VPN Server

The 1st link in my OP has a table on it that compares the features of SoftEther to OpenVPN.

I've been using it for years, but have fallen back to OpenVPN as that's what is built-in to the router. I still use SoftEther for other sites. But if it was available as Entware, I'd rather use that at my site.

 

[L&LD]

Those features do look impressive. I don't currently use or need VPN but this does look like something to be aware of.

Especially the potential speeds it offers (does it do that over OpenVPN too?).

Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

 

[Kris404]

Very interesting indeed. I wonder how resource intensive it is. Hopefully, it's modular enough to omit some components.

Comparison:

Client-Server support:

 

[MercuryV]

Looks very promising

 

[sinshiva]

guess i shall add my .02;

openvpn is a well-known, robust and proven solution with many years under it's belt. i know i've never heard of softether and if merlin hasn't, then it's probably safe to say very few around here have. something so new is, unfortunately, likely to be riddled with as of yet, undicovered vulnerabilities and isn't recommended for situations requiring absolute security.

i'm not saying don't use softether, however, but that software appears to have a LOT of different capabilities, any of which could in the near and far-off future, be found to be vulnerable. the chart posted shows the difference in the amount of lines of code; softether has over 3x as many.

i'm sure softether has good intentions, though. it'll be interesting to see how they progress, and they can't do it without the participation of their users. on the other hand, there's a lot of misleading information in the charts; openvpn is a highly configurable SSL vpn. it may not do some of the things softether does out of the box, but it can do a lot of them. also, the throughput listed makes no indication of ciphers used, etc; essentially, how have they configured these servers to make their comparison? was softether testing with RC4 while openvpn was using something like 3DES? there are a lot of factors that will affect throughput, etc.

anyway, stick with what you got, unless you're using pptp

[edit/] to their credit, GPL is nice

 

[Chrysalis]

I am also interested, openvpn is sadly too slow.

On a 80mbit line openvpn is maxing out at just 0.5mbit/sec.

 

[ryzhov_al]

IMHO, it's too heavy for router. You can try Tomatoware build.

 

[zyxmon]

Softether test packages for entware-ng (armv7)
http://pkg.entware.net/binaries/armv7/test/gconv-modules_2.23-6_armv7soft.ipk
&
http://pkg.entware.net/binaries/armv7/test/softethervpn_4.22-9634-1_armv7soft.ipk

root@ws880:/opt# vpncmd
vpncmd command - SoftEther VPN Command Line Management Utility
SoftEther VPN Command Line Management Utility (vpncmd command)
Version 4.22 Build 9634   (English)
Compiled 2016/11/27 14:33:59 by yagi at pc30
Copyright (c) SoftEther VPN Project. All Rights Reserved.

By using vpncmd program, the following can be achieved.

1. Management of VPN Server or VPN Bridge
2. Management of VPN Client
3. Use of VPN Tools (certificate creation and Network Traffic Speed Test Tool)

Select 1, 2 or 3: 3

VPN Tools has been launched. By inputting HELP, you can view a list of the commands that can be used.

VPN Tools>HELP
You can use the following 6 commands:
 About         - Display the version information
 Check         - Check whether SoftEther VPN Operation is Possible
 MakeCert      - Create New X.509 Certificate and Private Key (1024 bit)
 MakeCert2048  - Create New X.509 Certificate and Private Key (2048 bit)
 TrafficClient - Run Network Traffic Speed Test Tool in Client Mode
 TrafficServer - Run Network Traffic Speed Test Tool in Server Mode

To reference the usage for each command, input "command name ?" to view a help.
The command completed successfully.

VPN Tools>Check
Check command - Check whether SoftEther VPN Operation is Possible
---------------------------------------------------
SoftEther VPN Operation Environment Check Tool

Copyright (c) SoftEther VPN Project.
All Rights Reserved.

If this operation environment check tool is run on a system and that system passes, it is most likely that SoftEther VPN software can operate on that system. This check may take a while. Please wait...

Checking 'Kernel System'...
              Pass
Checking 'Memory Operation System'...
              Pass
Checking 'ANSI / Unicode string processing system'...
              Pass
Checking 'File system'...
              Pass
Checking 'Thread processing system'...
              Pass
Checking 'Network system'...
              Pass

All checks passed. It is most likely that SoftEther VPN Server / Bridge can operate normally on this system.

The command completed successfully.

VPN Tools>exit