NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
VPN Service Quits Working Daily
I use the VPN service to remote into my home network regularly. For months now, this service needs restarted every day to all me to remote into my network. The VPN service on my devices just says "Making TCP connection" and never connects. If I log in to the interface of the router and turn off the VPN service and then immediately turn it back on, the remote devices can connect. Rebooting the router also works. I always have the latest firmware installed and have not made any drastic changes to the VPN settings or the router in general. Has anyone else experienced this or know of a way to fix it? As it has been over 3 months since I purchased the router, Netgear refuses to help unless I buy a technical service plan, which is ridiculous. This is a 500 dollar router that is still under warranty with a feature not working through no fault of my own.
3 Replies
And that VPN is?
What firmware version do you have on the device?
A number is more useful than "the latest". (It may not be by the time people read this.) There can also be newer versions, or "hot fixes", that do not show up if you check for new firmware in the browser interface.
It might also help if you told people what the modem is in front of this router, if there is one. The model number could be useful. Is it, by any chance, also a router, with a set of LAN ports on the back?
The reason for asking is that a lot of people turn up here trying to put a router behind a modem that is also a router. That can complicate troubleshooting.It looks like Netgear is using OpenVPN for this service. There are no other options to use other VPNs, at least not any listed in the router interface. I've used the configs and instructions that the router has provided to setup my Mac, PC, and Android to connect to my home network when away.
The current firmware is 1.2.0.16. This problem existed on past firmware, though. I'm not sure if this was occurring when I bought the router in March, as I was stuck at home for 3 months, but after returning to work, I experienced the issue of needing to restart the VPN service to connect remotely. I can access the router's GUI by using Teamviewer to remotely access a server I run from home. This is how I am able to restart the VPN service and allow my remote devices to then connect. I am aware that the auto updating feature of the router does not always get the hotfixes or other updates, but I do regularly check the support downloads page for the router as I have been hoping to see a fix for this issue in the release notes of updates.
The modem is an Arris SB8200 and it does have two ethernet ports on the rear. I believe they function as a switch, not a router, as my RAX 120 is receiving the IP provided by my ISP (XFinity) on it's internet port and not a local NAT'd IP from the modem. I could be wrong on that assumption, though.
cheserpoo wrote:
It looks like Netgear is using OpenVPN for this service.
You did not say that you were using OpenVPN. A quick scan of this place will show you that people use all manner of VPNs. It always helps to have full details.
cheserpoo wrote:
The modem is an Arris SB8200 and it does have two ethernet ports on the rear. I believe they function as a switch, not a router...
You are right in the "not a router" bit, the ports are there for "link aggregation". A "switch" usually comes after a router.
cheserpoo wrote:
The current firmware is 1.2.0.16. This problem existed on past firmware, though.
Unfortunately, latest is not always greatest. Netgear has a habit of removing useful features to make room for things like Armor and Circle that it can sell to punters. I don't know if this has affected support for OpenVPN. You could try rolling back to something older.
