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Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

austoonz
Guide

Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

I recently purchased an Orbi kit and having OpenVPN on the router is handy (this was on my old router too, so keeping it on there makes it simpler), however...

 

I have own custom Dynamic DNS configuration setup with my personal domain, and therefore I have no need to enable the Dynamic DNS services on the Orbi.  If I don't enable the Dynamic DNS on the Orbi, I'm unable to enable OpenVPN.

 

I understand this might be the recommended setting, but I have no need and don't want to use public Dynamic DNS services. 

 

Can this be modified so OpenVPN can be enabled without requiring Dynamic DNS?

 

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 1 of 12
DarrenM
Sr. NETGEAR Moderator

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Hello austoonz

 

Here is the article with the recommended way to use Open vpn.

 

http://kb.netgear.com/23854/How-do-I-use-the-VPN-service-on-my-Nighthawk-router-with-my-Windows-clie...

 

DarrenM

Message 2 of 12
austoonz
Guide

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Hi Darren,

I think you've completely missed the point of my question.

1. I have the Orbi kit, not the Nighthawk router

2. I know how DNS works, and how having a dynamic IP address makes it hard to access my home network. This is not an issue for me - I have my own solution on place with my personal domain. In other words, I already have a DNS name to access my current home IP Address.

3. My issue is with the latest Orbi firmware - to enable the OpenVPN server on the Orbi, I must either configure a static IP Address on the WAN link, or enable the Dynamic DNS services on the Orbi.

The OpenVPN service is "greyed" out and cannot be enabled without one of those two options configured.

5. This request is to remove that limitation so I (and others) can enable the OpenVPN service *without* a static WAN address and *without* having to enable the in-built Dynamic DNS service on the Orbi.

-austoonz
Message 3 of 12
AndUrbi
Guide

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Exact same problem here.  I already have an account with Dyn.com, and the updater is running on one of my computers already.  (And the updater for Dyn.com isn't working, as somebody else has already noted in this forum.)

 

The wording of the popup dialog when enabling OpenVPN makes it sound like it's just a reminder ("please make sure you will do this"), but apparently that's just a poorly phrased error message.

 

Can the firmware be fixed, or do we need to just replace this with some wwdrt variant when it comes out if we want openvpn support?

 

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 4 of 12
markaustin
Guide

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Hey there!  I wrote that original post about Dyn.com registration being broken.  Thank you for the reference.  I'm going to take the opportunity to bump this since it's really annoying to not have the dyn updater working!

Message 5 of 12
DarrenM
Sr. NETGEAR Moderator

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

This is a know issue which we have fixed in the next official release which we plan to release soon

 

DarrenM

Message 6 of 12
AndUrbi
Guide

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS


@DarrenM wrote:

This is a know issue which we have fixed in the next official release which we plan to release soon

 


That's great to hear!  A clarification:

 

Are you talking about (1) the Dyn.com updater not working, or (2) the OpenVPN not being able to be enabled without also using one of the (excessively-feature-restricted) builtin DNS updaters, or (3) both?

 

Really, fixing (2) would be the most awesome thing, but (1) would at least help in the cases where only a single domain requires management.

 

In any case, thank you for keeping us in the loop!

Message 7 of 12
burtwilson
Initiate

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Is there an update for the fix of this VPN issue?  It's been almost 3 months and users still cannot activate the VPN server on Orbi unless they are going to use one of Orbi's predefined DDNS services.  This product was advertised as having VPN services, but no where in the product literature did it mention that it was restricted only to users with either a static IP or just one of three particular DDNS services.  Please provide a date for when the product will be able to perform to the advertised specifications.

Model: Orbi High-Performance AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi System (RBK50)
Message 8 of 12
OrbiMan
Luminary

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

I activate the service, but I found that there is some major downfall, I would say not worth it.  The main issue is security concern, there is no way to revoke the certificate or deactivate a user, if anyone have the config file, then that is it, they are free to roam.  This is like a single user type of VPN, also I don't know how they generate the key for the VPN or the cert either.  I feel that this is a big security risk.  The least they could do is include a user name and password for the VPN service.

Message 9 of 12
AndUrbi
Guide

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

Even with the latest firmware, nothing in the builtin Dyn.com updater will work.  I've finally giving up on Netgear fixing this or talking to us about it, and have moved my crucial stuff to a different, more professional-grade device.  Ah well.

 

Message 10 of 12
HerbCSO
Star

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

I'd love to know how the key is generated/revoked as well...

Message 11 of 12
HerbCSO
Star

Re: Orbi, OpenVPN and DynamicDNS

I've gotten the built-in Dyn updater to work in the 1.11.0.20 FW release.

Message 12 of 12
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