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Forum Discussion
Mac OS X Yosemite VPN setup
I have a Netgear FVS336G3 VPN Firewall set up as my home internet gateway, patched to current version. While my ISP does not issue a fixed IP address, the address issued is static until the firewall is rebooted, which is rarely. I can ping to it using the Network Utility. I have followed the instructions for VPN setup on the FVS336G3. I have a pre-shared key, remote and local ID's. I'd prefer to use Mac OS X Yosemite's native VPN client service.
I could not find any Netgear help to set up this connection, and most solutions are oriented towards Windows. The firewall does offer options to set up PP2P or L2TP servers, but askes for PAP, CHAP, MSCHAP, or MSCHAPv2 authentication, which is not a part of the OS X native client setup. I am willing to purchase a PKI cert, if that will make this work.
Anyone done something like this? Or have a direction for me to follow?
Thanks and regards,
- Ken M
7 Replies
Hi morrisonkena,
For client-to-box IPSec VPN setup using MAC, let me share these links below as references:
Mac OS X VPN Client install with ProSAFE VPN Firewall/Router
http://oemden.com/ip-securitas-netgear-fvs336g-settings/
http://www.kossboss.com/netgear---mac-iphone-ipsec-vpn-client-setup
http://www.vpntracker.com/us/vendor/6/netgear-mac-vpn-client.html
Also, kindly read this forum link from Apple Support Communities below:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1351175?tstart=0
Hope it helps. Welcome to the community! :smileyhappy:
Regards,
DaneA
NETGEAR Community Team
Thanks DaneA! I'll check out the links and confirm my results.
- Ken
Thanks DaneA. I am writing to post an update, and so you-all will know I am still working toward a solution. I also believe my interest in Apple connectivity to Netgear's VPN gateway product is of general interest to other Apple users, so it would be great to nail a solution and publish it.
Over the last few days I have tried without success to connect using the instructions found from your kossboss.com link. I have tried both on my iMac (OS x Yosemite) and my iPad (iOS 9.x). In both cases I get a "server not responding" error on the client device. On my VPN log I see no connection attempt.
These are some constraints I am working with:
* My preference, and first attempts, are to use Apple's built-in VPN client, accessed from Mac through System Preferences -> Network, then selection to set up a VPN interface, and on iOS accessed using the Settings app -> General -> VPN.
>> If I continue to be unsuccessful I will try a third-party VPN client, such as vpntracker.
* Like most home users I have an ISP that only provides a NAT assigned IPv4 address, though this address stays stable unless I reboot the NetGear VPN gateway, which I rarely do.
>> My ISP does provide a "permanent" IPv6 address, so I could try to switch to IPv6 on the VPN gateway and client, but am concerned about complications (IPv6 DNS, etc.)
* I have selected to use a shared secret for client/server connection, also using an account login and password set up on the VPN gateway so my client can log in and get a DHCP assigned local LAN IP address.
I am, of course, open to any and all ideas from all of you out there in the Netgear Community!
- Ken (morrisonkena)
morrisonkena -
I recommend using vpntracker. I had initial success with the securitas software, but I could NEVER get it to work consistently. One thing that you could try is Parallel's (Windows VM). I've been able to get the Netgear VPN client to work via Parallels. Just change the network settings.
Hi BrunoCorazon,
Thanks for sharing your experience to the community! :smileyhappy:
Can you enumerate the steps as well as post screenshots on how did you make both VPNtracker and Parallels worked?
Regards,
DaneA
NETGEAR Community TeamSorry no screenshots.
For Parallels, check their Knowledge Base.
http://kb.parallels.com/en/4948
https://forum.parallels.com/threads/use-vpn-connection-in-osx.328552/
For vpntracker, just follow the instructions.
http://download.equinux.com/Manual_VPN_Tracker_8.1.4.pdf
The only time I've had issues or problems is when there's been a host-based firewall. McAfee and Norton are not a problem. AVG takes some serious tweaking because of its granularity.
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