-
Hi.
I recently switched to Pfsense and run a default setup (no particular firewall rules of any kind).
I have tried to connect to several different NordVPN servers from my laptop (running Debian) over OpenVPN (the OpenVPN connections are initiated on the computer and not in Pfsense)
Before switching to Pfsense I had no problems connecting to NordVPN from my laptop. Is there anyone who have experienced the same problems and know how to fix this?
-
@tuxip-0 The logs will tell you what's going on -- what's in the logs?
Status->System Logs
-
R rcoleman-netgate moved this topic from Firewalling on
-
That's the thing. I see no trace of the connect attempt in the logs you would expect. I have checked in Syslog->System, in Syslog->Firewall, no trace. Or, I see the connection attempt in Syslog->DHCP, but there I can only see that my NAT address tries to connect to a IPv6 address which is the NordVPN server, but the DHCP log does not log whether the connection attempt was successful or what the reason is for the failed connection.
But it has to be something with Pfsense in some form or another, since the same computer, with the same setup connected perfectly fine with my old router. When I Google the issue I can see that others also have this problem, but no one seems to have a working solution. -
@tuxip-0 What's in the OpenVPN log?
The others won't be of much help.
-
I just realized you said at the beginning you're originating the connections on your COMPUTER not on the pfSense. I apologize.
Check the DNS resolution of your DNS server(s) -- if you're using the pf make sure it can resolve the IPs from Diagnostics->DNS Lookup.
-
There is no resolving needed. The OpenVPN connection profiles contain the IP addresses of the servers.
-
Found the problem, sort of, and it's not with pfSense (never really thought it was to be honest).
In the GUI version of NetworkManager it shows the VPN connection as down every time I connect, but if I connect manually in the terminal with the exact same credentials the connection is up, and I think I know the reason why.
I use an external dongle to get ethernet on my utrabook. NetworkManager does not see the card, not in the GUI or in "nmtui". Still it has a driver and is working obviously. So because the Ethernet interface is not present in NetworkManager, then it seems it cannot use that interface to establish the connection, which seem logical.
Before I set up pfSense I always used the Wireless interface to connect to NordVPN, and that is present both in the GUI and in nmtui.
The strange thing is that it is NetworkManager that manages my network connections, and when NetworkManager stars in boot up and the dongle is connected the interface works and gets a name if you look it up in the terminal with "ip a", yet the interface does not show up in "nmtui" or the GUI version of NetworkManager. Oh well, as long as it works.
Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.