RBR850 Can't get VPN to work

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NG_LostMyAcct wrote:

What do I need to do to have my Orbi act as the gateway to the internet for my VPN connection from my phone?

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Perhaps I misunderstand, but there appear to be two distinct issues:

• Enabling OpenVPN Host on the RBR850 router.
• Using the RBR850 as an internet gateway for a cell phone connection.

Each specific DDNS provider has a unique method of keeping their DDNS entries synchronized with changes in the public IP address of the host system. Netgear has programmed the Orbi to be compatible with only three DDNS providers:

• Their own service (NETGEAR)
• www.NoIP-com
• www.Dyn.com

These are the only DDNS providers that will remain synchronized.  The comment about xyz.ddns.net appears inconsistent with this basic situation.  (Perhaps I misunderstand.)

Yes, the only method to verify that OpenVPN is working is to connect to the Orbi through the internet.  My practice appears to be similar to yours:

• Disconnect my cell phone from the Orbi WiFi network and use LTE data.
• Enable OpenVPN on the cell phone (mine is Android) and verify that the connection opens correctly.  Open a web browser and verify that the Orbi router web interface opens at 192.168.1.1.  Use some other network tools to verify that the 192.168.1.x network is available.
• On the Orbi web interface, verify that the cell phone appears as a "VPN" connection type (rather than wired or WiFi).
• Shut off the cell phone OpenVPN.
• Create a WiFi Hot Spot on the cell phone.
• Connect the laptop to the Hot Spot.
• Enable OpenVPN on the laptop and verify that it connects and functions correctly.

Netgear includes OpenVPN Host in routers to enable customers to access their home network when not at home.  Yes, there is an option to allow devices connected via VPN to "access the internet" and some customers make use of this feature. (Often to present the appearance of connecting to internet resources from their home location when they are not at that location.)  Although the VPN connection between cell phone (or laptop) and the Orbi is encrypted, the connection between Orbi and the internet is "whatever it is".  i.e., if you access a plain http web site, it is not encrypted.

Of course, every transmission has to go through a torturous pathway:

• Laptop or cell phone through the internet to the Orbi.
• Orbi out to the internet.
• Internet back to the Orbi.
• Orbi back through the internet to the cell phone or laptop.

I would prefer to get rid of all that and go directly that whatever internet resource I need.  If encryption is desired, install a commercial VPN on the cell phone or laptop and be done with it.

(That said, what I would do it not relevant.)

What it sounds like is:

• You got OpenVPN working on the Orbi, and
• Performance through the Verizon 5G Home Internet sucks when everything has go pass through four times.