What's OpenVPN ?

[zy_zhao]

Hey,

I'm new to this Openvpn..

I want to know what it does ?

Does this hide my IP Address ?

Do they charge any fee ??

How to setup it on ASUS AC68u, I'm on Merlin 3.0.0.4.374.43_2 .

 

[hggomes]

You can read this:

http://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source.html

 

[Builder71]

Of course you can Google that, but I'll give you a hint.

For example, you can use it to create a secure connection from the office to your home network.
You will get a local IP address valid on your home network.
So all local resources will be available, like if you are at home.
For example your NAS.

 

[zy_zhao]

Of course you can Google that, but I'll give you a hint.

For example, you can use it to create a secure connection from the office to your home network.
You will get a local IP address valid on your home network.
So all local resources will be available, like if you are at home.
For example your NAS.

thank you.. i get the idea now ...
how to set it uo on merlin firmware..
i cant find any tutorial for merlin..
all of them is tomato and ddwrt ..

 

[richto]

It's an obscure Open Source VPN format that is of little use for anything other than remote client access. Unfortunately more useful point to point VPN options like IPSEC and SSL are not currently offered.

Personally I would donate $50 if IPSEC support was added so that I could extend my home network into Azure.

 

[RMerlin]

It's an obscure Open Source VPN format that is of little use for anything other than remote client access. Unfortunately more useful point to point VPN options like IPSEC and SSL are not currently offered.

Personally I would donate $50 if IPSEC support was added so that I could extend my home network into Azure.

When you read "SSL VPN" on a device's spec sheet, most of the time it means OpenVPN... I've seen corporate products use OpenVPN in their 800$+ firewall/VPN appliances. For example, Astaro uses OpenVPN, they simply brand it as "SSL VPN".

So no, OpenVPN is hardly obscure, as it's effectively the same thing as what you consider "a more useful VPN option" - SSL VPN.

 

[RMerlin]

As for IPSec support, it's already supported. The kernel modules are there, just install StrongSwan over Entware or Optware. Note however that IPSec support will have to be removed in the future for the RT-AC56 and RT-AC68, because it's incompatible with new functionalities that Asus will be adding in the near future.

 

[RMerlin]

thank you.. i get the idea now ...
how to set it uo on merlin firmware..
i cant find any tutorial for merlin..
all of them is tomato and ddwrt ..

Tomato is almost identical to Asuswrt-Merlin. I tried to reproduce the option layouts to match Tomato's, so most of the tutorials for Tomato are easily applied to Asuswrt-Merlin as well.

 

[richto]

When you read "SSL VPN" on a device's spec sheet, most of the time it means OpenVPN... I've seen corporate products use OpenVPN in their 800$+ firewall/VPN appliances. For example, Astaro uses OpenVPN, they simply brand it as "SSL VPN".

So no, OpenVPN is hardly obscure, as it's effectively the same thing as what you consider "a more useful VPN option" - SSL VPN.

A quick check shows that apparently neither Juniper, Checkpoint, Microsoft or Cisco VPNs support Open VPN - and they are the market leaders. So from that point of view Open VPN is very obscure.

 

[RMerlin]

A quick check shows that apparently neither Juniper, Checkpoint, Microsoft or Cisco VPNs support Open VPN - and they are the market leaders. So from that point of view Open VPN is very obscure.

You must have a very different definition of "obscure" than I do then. I see OpenVPN available in a lot of products myself, and myself I use it to access 90+ servers in a datacenter.

IPSEC support in a *home* product is rare - so by your own definition, we could consider IPSEC to be obscure, since there are much more home products sold on the market than enterprise products.

 

[zy_zhao]

Tomato is almost identical to Asuswrt-Merlin. I tried to reproduce the option layouts to match Tomato's, so most of the tutorials for Tomato are easily applied to Asuswrt-Merlin as well.

still cant get my openvpn setup...
so confuesed ...

 

[richto]

I define it as obscure in that very few commercial VPN products seem to use Open VPN. The vast majority of it's small market share is apparently custom hacked firmware and manual home installs.

VPN support in a 'home' product is rare fullstop.

You might be able to use Open VPN for a described small and presumably non business critical environment, but some of us work for enterprises, where having the only support option as post and pray to a forum or mailing list isn't an acceptable risk, and where features like automatic failover across multiple gateways that are relatively easily provided by IPSEC but less so SSL based VPNs are required.

 

[Junky321]

LOL - Damn Geeks

Can you tell the OP is NOOB (just like me)? Can you help him with some direct answers? Rather than spilling out technical terms such as Obscure, IPSEC, Kennel Module, etc. Is there a section in this forum/article "OpenVPN for Dummies"? I come here EVERYDAY trying to learn something new about my router and most of the stuff you guys talk about is WAY over my head. hahahah

DO I HAVE TO BUY A VPN service in order to use OpenVPN? All I want to do is access my router/server from WAN.

THANKS A BILLION!

 

[sinshiva]

LOL - Damn Geeks

Can you tell the OP is NOOB (just like me)? Can you help him with some direct answers? Rather than spilling out technical terms such as Obscure, IPSEC, Kennel Module, etc. Is there a section in this forum/article "OpenVPN for Dummies"? I come here EVERYDAY trying to learn something new about my router and most of the stuff you guys talk about is WAY over my head. hahahah

DO I HAVE TO BUY A VPN service in order to use OpenVPN? All I want to do is access my router/server from WAN.

THANKS A BILLION!

heya, if you just switch on an openvpn server, it should generate the minimum required certs and config to get things working. you will want to setup DDNS first. from there, you'll have a basic user/pass based setup. with that, there's a button that will allow you to export the corresponding client configuration which needs to be imported in your client of choice. i prefer 'openvpn for android' by arne schwabe for android devices.

some tips; use TUN, it's the most compatible tunnelling mechanism. in the custom config area you can specify some additional options, i'd suggest adding the following to start with;

tun-mtu 1400
fragment 1400
mssfix 1360

my preferred cipher is aes-192-cbc.

i recommend googling 'openvpn howto' for an extensive manual regarding the many options available with openvpn; there are many

 

[RMerlin]

I recommend starting with this site:

http://www.howtogeek.com/60774/connect-to-your-home-network-from-anywhere-with-openvpn-and-tomato/

This is the guide I first read myself when I first started playing with OpenVPN a few years ago. It will explain some basic things, and show a concrete example on how to configure a router so you can remotely connect back to it while outside of home.

As noted however, Asus has made the whole process very simple for anyone wishing to use their router to connect back home using OpenVPN, as it will automatically do everything for you, including generating keys, certificates, and provide you with a config file to use with your OpenVPN client.

 

[Junky321]

Excellente! Now I feel like a brave man...xD

Thanks sinshiva & RMerlin. I was confused when I read some guides from PIA/Hidemyass websites and it stated that we have to load some sort of file. I always thought that I had to buy some sort of service to make it work.

Anyway I will stop crying like a little boy and get to it.

 

[zy_zhao]

Thanks a lot ..

Really appreciated your work for the Asus router ..

 

[huotg01]

still cant get my openvpn setup...
so confuesed ...

That's ok and understandable.

You can see a few notes from Merlin at this URL: https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Configuring-OpenVPN

One of the Merlin's notes points out the following site for a "howto": http://www.howtogeek.com/60774/connect-to-your-home-network-from-anywhere-with-openvpn-and-tomato/

That's a good start.

Please come back if you have more precise questions in the setup process.

GH

 

[zy_zhao]

Tomato is almost identical to Asuswrt-Merlin. I tried to reproduce the option layouts to match Tomato's, so most of the tutorials for Tomato are easily applied to Asuswrt-Merlin as well.

i cant get it work with my router ??

 

[zy_zhao]

That's ok and understandable.

You can see a few notes from Merlin at this URL: https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Configuring-OpenVPN

One of the Merlin's notes points out the following site for a "howto": http://www.howtogeek.com/60774/connect-to-your-home-network-from-anywhere-with-openvpn-and-tomato/

That's a good start.

Please come back if you have more precise questions in the setup process.

GH

I dont know how to build Ca