How to Setup OpenVPN Client on GL.iNet router¶
OpenVPN is an open-source VPN protocol that makes use of virtual private network (VPN) techniques to establish safe site-to-site or point-to-point connections.
GL.iNet routers have pre-installed OpenVPN Client and Server.
We recommend WireGuard over OpenVPN because it is much faster. For setup a WireGuard Client, please check out here.
If you have already bought OpenVPN service from a provider, but don't know how to get the configuration file, please refer to get configuration files from OpenVPN service providers or ask its support.
We can setup OpenVPN Client via web Admin Panel and mobile app. For the mobile app, it has already integrated NordVPN.
Setup OpenVPN Client¶
There is a video tutorial as ExpressVPN as example, please check out here.
OpenVPN client requires OpenVPN configuration file (.ovpn) to create the OpenVPN connection.
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Access to web Admin Panel, on the left side -> VPN -> OpenVPN Client
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Click Add a New OpenVPN Configuration.
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Upload your OpenVPN configuration file
Simply drag and drop your file to the pop up windows. It can be a single .ovpn file or a zip/tar.gz file which contains multiple .ovpn files.
Be careful that some .ovpn files use separated ca, cert, crl files. These files must be zipped together with the .ovpn file before upload.
You may encouter some problems, like not enough space, invalid file, authorization failed, all other VPN services must be stopped first, please check out here.
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Enter a description for your OpenVPN configuration file and then click Submit to finish the upload process. In some cases, it will ask you to enter the username and password. If you don't know the username and password, please contact the OpenVPN service provider.
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You can now click Connect to start the OpenVPN connection.
If your configureation file is an archive file, like .zip, you can switch server at the cog icon.
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Once connected, you should find your IP address, data received/sent.
Note: It can't running VPN Client and Server at the same time, and also can't running OpenVPN Client and WireGuard Client at the same time.
Manage configuration files¶
Click Management to check the list of configuration files. You can modify the Description, User Name and Password of each configuration file. You can also add, delete a configuration file or even purge all your uploaded configuration files.
Setup OpenVPN server on GL.iNet router¶
You can get a GL.iNet router to set as OpenVPN server, and get another GL.iNet router to set as OpenVPN client. For setup OpenVPN server, please check out here.
Get configuration files from OpenVPN service providers¶
We have tested different VPN service providers. Therefore, if you don't know how to get the configuration file, you can follow the instruction below. However, you have to contact your service provider for the configuration file if they are not listed below.
If you have any problem in the setup of OpenVPN, please contact support@glinet.biz or report in this forum post.
Recommended:
NordVPN
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Find your login details
NordVPN service credentials are different from your NordVPN account credentials, namely your email address and your password. You'll need NordVPN service credentials to connect to the VPN using the manual OpenVPN configuration method in the router.
Login the Official Website, go to the Nord Account dashboard, where you will find the service credentials.
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Choose a NordVPN server
Go to NordVPN recommended server utility here. It will recommend a server base on your network, click Show available protocols to download the UDP or TCP config. Click here to see the difference.
You can download all servers configs here.
Tips: if the zip file is too big to upload, you can delete some .ovpn in .zip file or upload single .ovpn file.
You can also use mobile app to setup NordVPN.
Surfshark
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Find your login details
Surfshark service credentials are different from your Surfshark account credentials, namely your email address and your password. You'll need Surfshark service credentials to connect to the VPN using the manual OpenVPN configuration method in the router.
Login the Official Website, go to this page, where you will find all of the details required for a manual connection.
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Choose a Surfshark server
Select the Locations tab, where you will see all of the Surfshark servers.
It will ask to choose TCP or UDP. Click here to see the difference.
You can download all configs here directly.
TorGuard
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If you are using TorGuard, you need to login the control panel and find Config Generator from the Tools menu. Choose the VPN Server and some other options. Then click Generate Config a config file will be downloaded automatically.
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The username and password for OpenVPN connection is different from your control panel login. You can find the VPN username and VPN password below.
Proton VPN
Proton VPN has WireGuard service, we recommend to use WireGuard, checkout here.
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Login your Proton VPN account.
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Click Download in the left-hand side.
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Choose Router platform, protocol etc, find your target country to download configuration file.
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The credential for connect OpenVPN is not the one that login Proton website's dashboard. You can find the crdential at Account -> OpenVPN/IKEv2 username
ExpressVPN
Information quoted from Expressvpn official instruction
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Go to ExpressVPN website, and log in with your ExpressVPN credentials.
Enter the verification code that is sent to your email.
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On the right, with OpenVPN already selected for you, you will see your username, password, and a list of OpenVPN configuration files.
Click the location(s) you want in order to download the .ovpn file(s).
Keep this browser window open. You will need this information for the setup later.
Others:
AirVPN
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Login your AirVPN acoount
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Choose Config Generator on the left and then choose Linux as your operating system. Next, choose your preferred server.
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You will be able to see the download page of the configuration file.
Astrill
Information quoted from Astrill official instruction
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Generate and Download Astrill Openvpn configuration ZIP
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Type a Description like OPENVPN_GUI.
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Click on ADD to my certificates button.
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Once OpenVPN certificate is added, click on Download button.
bolehvpn
Login in Dashboard, download your configuration files and select the Linux_iOS inline format. Extract the zip files after completing the download.
CyberGhost
Information quoted from CyberGhost official instruction
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Login your CyberGhost VPN online account.
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Click on My Devices > click Other > choose Configure new device.
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At the new screen, in the Server configuration tab, the desired parameters can be configured. For the purpose of setting OpenVPN for your DD-WRT Router, choose 'OpenVPN' from the Protocol drop down menu. Your desired country and server group, as described below, need to be defined too:
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Protocol: For Router configurations, please choose OpenVPN
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Country: Since native protocol connections may only be used with exactly one server you now have to choose the country you want to surf from; the server to be used in this country will be chosen by CyberGhost automatically.
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Server group: Choose the server group and the OpenVPN protocol (UDP or TCP) you want to use:
UDP allows higher speed than the TCP version, but can result in broken downloads in some cases. This is the default setting.
TCP allows more stable connections than the UDP version, but is a bit slower. Choose this version, if you have recurrent connection issues such as sudden disconnections.
After setting up your preferred settings, save them with Save and download configuration.
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FastestVPN
Download FastestVPN Config Files zip folder for OpenVPN TCP and UDP from here
FinchVPN
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Login your FinchVPN account.
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Go to the Download page and click Download under FinchVPN OpenVPN Config.
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Choose Linux
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Choose the protocol based on your preference. Generally, you can choose the first one Port 8484 over UDP
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Remember to tick the box to include your username and password before download the file.
HideIPVPN
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Login your HideIPVPN account.
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Go to Package on the left side, click the your package, make sure it is active.
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On the VPN tab, there is VPN Login Details of username and password, this is for login when OpenVPN connection
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Scroll down to download OpenVPN config files.
Hide.me VPN
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Login your Hide.me account, find the Server Locations on the left side.
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Download the OpenVPN Configuration for Windows.
IPVANISH
You can download all of the config files for all of the servers from here, then should upload this config.zip on the OpenVPN Client of web Admin Panel. Before uploading, please remove the servers in the .zip file that you will not use to reduce the file size.
You can also download individual server configuration files here, but you will need to download ca.ipvanish.com.crt as well. Before uploading to the router, you need to compress the ca.ipvanish.com.crt and .ovpn configuration files into a .zip archive and upload them.
IVPN
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Download the OpenVPN config files.
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Find the Account ID on IVPN Client Area.
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When drag the config file to Add a New OpenVPN Configuration, you will be asked to enter User Name and Password. The User Name is your Account ID that begins with letters ivpn. The password can be anything, like ivpn
OVPN
Just login, then you can easy get the OpenVPN configurations file by click the menu below.
Choose the server and download.
The username and password are the same you login OVPN.
StarVPN
StarVPN has WireGuard service, we recommend to use WireGuard, checkout here.
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Register an account with StarVPN
Head on over to their pricing plan options and choose a VPN plan that suits your needs. You can register on checkout or directly here
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VPN Login Information
Log into the StarVPN member area dashboard. You can find your VPN username and password for each slot in the Manage Slots Section or dashboard area.
For multiple slots, the VPN configuration settings and credentials can be located in the “Manage Slots” section.
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Download OpenVPN Configuration File
The next step, you must download the VPN server configuration files necessary so that the OpenVPN Software knows where to connect to. Download the configuration file in the members area dashboard.
Some GL.iNet routers do not support IPv6 or DNS Leak Protection, as a result you may experience an IP or connection error. Edit the ovpn configuration file and disable IPv6 by performing these simple tasks.
StrongVPN
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Login with your StrongVPN account and then you will be able to see VPN Accounts Summary. Click Account Setup Instructions”.
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Find the Manual setup section, follow the steps to get configuration.
VPNGate
The OpenVPN configuration files are listed on the VPN Gate website according to the server location.
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Click OpenVPN Config file under the column OpenVPN.
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You will see the download page.
VPN Unlimited(KeepSolid)
Information quoted from VPN unlimited official instruction
Start out by logging in to your User Office, press Manage for the VPN Unlimited service, and follow a few simple steps:
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Select a device
Pick a device from the list or create a new one. If you are out of free slots, delete an old device or buy extra slots.
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Choose the desired server location
VPN Unlimited offers a large variety of servers, namely 400+ in 70+ locations. In this case, let it be Germany.
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Select the VPN protocol
selece OpenVPN protocol.
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Create a configuration
Press Generate and you will get all the data required to set up a VPN connection.
VyprVPN
VyprVPN offers the OpenVPN files here: Where can I find the OpenVPN files? – VyprVPN Support
The provided zip file contains two folders with the .ovpn files. One called OpenVPN160 one OpenVPN256. Just delete the OpenVPN160 folder from the zip file then upload it to GL.iNet router as usual.
Wevpn
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Access the Members Area to make a custom config using the Config Generator.
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Choose the Protocal to UDP or TCP, the OpenVPN version, and the location. Then to download the configuration.
ZoogVPN
Sign in its official website, then access the OpenVPN configuration files page, you will find all the servers here. Download the configuration file in the TCP column or UDP column.
Then follow the guide to setup OpenVPN Client on GL.iNet router, the username and password are the same as the ones used to log into ZoogVPN website.
Video tutorial¶
These video tutorial as ExpressVPN as example to setup OpenVPN Client.
4 Common Problems and Solution When Configuring OpenVPN