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    How to create an OpenVPN client to StrongVPN

    OpenVPN
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    • 2
      2CaP
      last edited by

      This guide is great. Easy to follow. everything you want in a guide.

      However I cant get the connection to establish properly. I have this config in place on a 2.0 RC2 box.

      I have worked with IPSec in the past but, an relatively new to open VPN.

      MY reason to implement this is to circumvent geo tagging / the anonymity they provide. I have tested Private Internet Access (User/Pass Auth) access via my PC's & it works great at that level. I haven't tried to implement it on the 2.0 RC2 box.

      I decided to go with Strong VPN on the 2.0 RC2 box due to the great detail in the guide & the great feedback it has recieved.

      BTW - This is a fresh install with no additional packages, firewall rules or other vpns running.

      Here is my log…

      Jun 14 08:13:55 openvpn[42636]: Restart pause, 2 second(s)
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled. See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: NOTE: the current –script-security setting may allow this configuration to call user-defined scripts
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Re-using SSL/TLS context
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Control Channel MTU parms [ L:1545 D:166 EF:66 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Socket Buffers: R=[42080->65536] S=[57344->65536]
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1545 D:1450 EF:45 EB:4 ET:0 EL:0 ]
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Fragmentation MTU parms [ L:1545 D:1300 EF:45 EB:4 ET:0 EL:0 ]
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Local Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1545,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,mtu-dynamic,keydir 1,cipher BF-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 128,tls-auth,key-method 2,tls-client'
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Expected Remote Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1545,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,mtu-dynamic,keydir 0,cipher BF-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 128,tls-auth,key-method 2,tls-server'
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Local Options hash (VER=V4): '885414e3'
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: Expected Remote Options hash (VER=V4): '8bcc3b84'
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: UDPv4 link local (bound): [AF_INET]myip:50211
      Jun 14 08:13:57 openvpn[42636]: UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]strongvpnip:4672
      Jun 14 08:14:57 openvpn[42636]: [UNDEF] Inactivity timeout (–ping-restart), restarting
      Jun 14 08:14:57 openvpn[42636]: TCP/UDP: Closing socke

      Thanks in advance for your Replies…

      2CaP

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      • E
        ericab
        last edited by

        hi 2CaP;

        2 things:

        what is the build date of your 2.0 RC2

        also, will you paste your "Advanced Configuration" options here ? (the very bottom of the OpenVPN Client page).

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • 2
          2CaP
          last edited by

          ;D

          Update on my previous post–--

          I couldnt get that build of pfsense to work as expected. Checked everything I could think of DNS, NAT etc nothing would work.

          I rebuild the box on to the latest stable release & got everything to work great for about 24hours (until appox 4:30 EST) when the speeds dropped from 5-6 Mbps to 100 - 200 kbits on the server that I was on. I tested my connection via my default gateway & all was fine 5-6Mbps.

          On the suggestion of the StrongVPN folks I swapped servers - no change. they then suggested it was the firewall of my ISP throttling the speeds. I use a VPN connection everyday & haven't experience any kind of speed throttling to that extent.

          I decided that I would try to rebuild the pfsense box to the most current snap shot using the guide provided to the letter. I changed the server as well in an effort to start completely from scratch. I have successfully as of a few minutes ago confirmed that everything is working.

          The wierdness has started again however. The speed has dropped to about 400 kbits as of approx 4:30pm while streaming from hulu & to add to it when I try to login to netfl*x It says that it isnt available in my country. I am logging in via the US.

          I have saved my configs & will continue to work on it but, any suggestions are welcome.

          Thanks Again for the guide...

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          • 2
            2CaP
            last edited by

            I have tried disabling the OpnVPN connection via & going with a Local connection OpnVPN on my PC with the same speed results.

            Should I try other UDP port i.e: 1194 etc? or switch to a TCP config as StrongVPN suggests.

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            • 2
              2CaP
              last edited by

              Just another update…. I have done some research and found that the ISP is throttling speeds for vpn connections that are outside the ports 1701-1723.

              I changed my port to within that range & the speed came right back.

              Now I have to figure out this issue with Netflix...

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              • 2
                2CaP
                last edited by

                ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

                Issue Solved!

                I swapped from US Based Server to one another US Based server & that has fixed the Netflix Issue.

                thanks again for the guide!

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                • Y
                  yu130960
                  last edited by

                  I have had netflix operating through StrongVPN for a few months.  Netflix works great on my laptops, however through my WDTV Live Plus I often get the messages that "movie not available at this time please try a different one or try again later"

                  Sometimes it will start playing if I try 3 times, sometimes it never does.  Some movies play on the first try.

                  It is quite frustrating and was just wondering if there is a setting in pfsense that would help with this sensitivity on this particular embedded device.  I think I recall reading somewhere about a setting for HTTP resume, but have no idea.

                  Any similar experience would be appreciated

                  Edit:  I never did get a solution to this until I switch providers from Rogers to Teksavvy (a third party ISP that leases Rogers lines) and now Netflix works perfectly.  Go figure, I wondering what they are doing to make it difficult for the embedded device.  In any event, it works perfect now and I haven't changed anything else.

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                  • S
                    singerie
                    last edited by

                    I have an issue with this how to. i'm not sure if it's a bug in pfsense…

                    i get this error when i try to enable the strongvpn interface :

                    The following input errors were detected:

                    The DHCP Server is active on this interface and it can be used only with a static IP configuration. Please disable the DHCP Server service on this interface first, then change the interface configuration.

                    I have nothing configured in the dhcp server for this interface....

                    Any idea ?

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                    • C
                      cmb
                      last edited by

                      @singerie:

                      I have an issue with this how to. i'm not sure if it's a bug in pfsense…

                      i get this error when i try to enable the strongvpn interface :

                      The following input errors were detected:

                      The DHCP Server is active on this interface and it can be used only with a static IP configuration. Please disable the DHCP Server service on this interface first, then change the interface configuration.

                      I have nothing configured in the dhcp server for this interface....

                      You did at one point and probably deleted the interface without disabling that is my suspicion. Backup your config, manually edit it out, and restore.

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                      • S
                        singerie
                        last edited by

                        @cmb:

                        You did at one point and probably deleted the interface without disabling that is my suspicion. Backup your config, manually edit it out, and restore.

                        Glad i didn't factory default ! that was the case. I deleted the entry for this interface, now everything is working.

                        Should i fill a bug ?

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                        • D
                          DWAyotte
                          last edited by

                          Does this configuration guard against DNS leaking?

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                          • B
                            Bergling
                            last edited by

                            Hope someone can help me with my issue.

                            I'm trying to make one of my clients (Logitech Revue) to use a StrongVPN connection, but seem to fail. I have used the guide to configure the VPN connection successfully, but I'm guessing I fail somewhere in setting up the routing.

                            I have created a firewall rule for the client, that under advanced settings uses the VPN gateway defined as per the guide. Still, if I check with a site like whatsmyip.org, I still have my regular IP showing.

                            I have setup AON according to a post in this thread, but it doesn't seem to help.

                            Do I have to use virtual IP's or is there something else I can check on? Any help is appreciated.

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                            • E
                              ericab
                              last edited by

                              Bergling;
                              snap a photo of the settings you've set for that client.

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                              • B
                                Bergling
                                last edited by

                                Hi,

                                These are the settings for firewall on LAN:

                                I'm trying it out on my phone first, hence the setting for Nexus being the one with the VPN GW.

                                Here are my gateways settings:

                                and Outbound NAT routing:

                                When setting the outbound NAT rules, there is another selectable interface, OpenVPN, should this be set instead of the VPN interface? Or both maybe?

                                Any more settings I should check?

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                                • E
                                  ericab
                                  last edited by

                                  everything there looks fine to me from what  see there….instead of using an alias, try the devices IP.
                                  the other openvpn interface is for the vpn server.

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                                  • B
                                    Bergling
                                    last edited by

                                    I tried using the IP, but no luck.

                                    Any other suggestions? Could it be DNS settings that need to be configured?

                                    Do I need to set up any rules for the VPN interface in the firewall? To allow incoming traffic on the VPN interface?

                                    Any help is appreciated.

                                    edit: If I try with one of my PC:s or my entire network, are there any diagnostics tools I can try to get more info?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • E
                                      ericab
                                      last edited by

                                      @Bergling:

                                      edit: If I try with one of my PC:s or my entire network, are there any diagnostics tools I can try to get more info?

                                      not really because we already know where the problem is.
                                      the OpenVPN 'interface' you see on the firewalls rule screen is for the server portion of openvpn. that wont have any effect on this issue.
                                      im not completely sure what the issue is, maybe someone else will jump in here.

                                      btw, what build are you running ? whats it dated ?

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                                      • B
                                        Bergling
                                        last edited by

                                        The build is 2.0-RC3 (i386)
                                        built on Tue Jun 21 16:50:25 EDT 2011

                                        I don't know if it will help, but here are the route table:

                                        The 148.160.. range is my WAN ip/gateway

                                        Can I do something from my pfsense box if I SSH into it? Like pinging or perform dns lookups to try to resolve it?

                                        edit: Just tried to do a traceroute in the pfsense shell by using SSH. But I'm unable to find any route!
                                        On a client PC connected to the pfsense box, traceroute works perfectly. Seems strange…

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                                        • B
                                          Bergling
                                          last edited by

                                          More updates (forgive me if I seem desperate, just want go get it working):

                                          I'm just a newbie when it comes to unix-like systems, but I've been searching the net for different suggestions, and just wanted to share some findings, so that maybe we can get closer to a solution.

                                          I tried using tcpdump on my vpn interface, and saw dns traffic. Maybe not that strange, but since i tried adding a dns server on the VPN gateway, this means that some traffic gets routed out my vpn connection. Just not the traffic I want:

                                          tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
                                          listening on ovpnc1, link-type NULL (BSD loopback), capture size 96 bytes
                                          22:17:29.877110 IP 10.8.0.86.16951 > 8.8.8.8.53: 39536+ A? www.fritidsresor.se. (37)
                                          22:17:29.877304 IP 10.8.0.86.16951 > 98.158.112.6.53: 39536+ A? www.fritidsresor.se. (37)
                                          22:17:30.325436 IP 10.8.0.86.34056 > 8.8.8.8.53: 25217+[|domain]
                                          22:17:30.325540 IP 10.8.0.86.34056 > 98.158.112.6.53: 25217+[|domain]
                                          22:17:33.439298 IP 10.8.0.86.13739 > 8.8.8.8.53: 58026+ A? p4web.freebsd.org. (35)
                                          22:17:33.439465 IP 10.8.0.86.13739 > 98.158.112.6.53: 58026+ A? p4web.freebsd.org. (35)
                                          22:17:33.440737 IP 10.8.0.86.48344 > 8.8.8.8.53: 30409+ A? forums.freebsd.org. (36)
                                          22:17:33.441609 IP 10.8.0.86.48344 > 98.158.112.6.53: 30409+ A? forums.freebsd.org. (36)
                                          22:17:33.442590 IP 10.8.0.86.59308 > 8.8.8.8.53: 39845+ A? cvsweb.freebsd.org. (36)
                                          22:17:33.442809 IP 10.8.0.86.59308 > 98.158.112.6.53: 39845+ A? cvsweb.freebsd.org. (36)
                                          22:17:33.489111 IP 10.8.0.86.32009 > 8.8.8.8.53: 52364+ A? security.freebsd.org. (38)
                                          22:17:33.489530 IP 10.8.0.86.32009 > 98.158.112.6.53: 52364+ A? security.freebsd.org. (38)
                                          22:17:33.491161 IP 10.8.0.86.46316 > 8.8.8.8.53: 29314+ A? svn.freebsd.org. (33)
                                          22:17:33.491205 IP 10.8.0.86.46316 > 98.158.112.6.53: 29314+ A? svn.freebsd.org. (33)
                                          22:17:33.524131 IP 10.8.0.86.45570 > 8.8.8.8.53: 6443+ A? wiki.freebsd.org. (34)

                                          By this I draw the conclusion that this must be some sort of routing problem. Does anyone agree?

                                          The question is just exactly what is wrong?

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                                          • B
                                            Bergling
                                            last edited by

                                            Even more updates.

                                            I solved the ping issue by disabling the OpenVPN client, and then the new default route (0.0.0.0/1 10.8.0.85) was removed and I could ping freeley using my ISP gateway.

                                            From my perspective it all seems like I don't get any incoming packets in return from the VPN connection, but I still need to verify this with StrongVPN, but I seem to be able to route packets out on the VPN interface.

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