Netgear R7000 Nighthawk Ac1900 Smart Wifi Router User Manual

							161
12
12.   Use VPN to Access Your Network
This chapter includes the following sections:
•Set Up a VPN Connection 
•Specify VPN Service in the Router 
•Install OpenVPN Software 
•Use a VPN Tunnel on Your Windows Computer 
•Use VPN to Access the Router’s USB Drive and Media 
•Use VPN to Access Your Internet Service at Home  
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 162
Nighthawk AC1900
 Smart  WiFi Router 
Set Up a VPN Connection
A virtual private network (VPN) lets you use the Internet to securely \
access your network 
when you aren’t home.
Secure
remote access
InternetOpen VPN Client
 
Figure 14. VPN provides a secure tunnel between your home network and a \
remote computer
This type of VPN access is called a client-to-gateway tunnel. The computer is the client, and 
the router is the gateway. To use the VPN feature, you must log in to the router and enable 
VPN, and you must install and run VPN client software on the computer. 
VPN uses DDNS or a static IP address to connect with your router.
To use a DDNS service, register for an account with a host name (sometim\
es called a  domain name). 
 You use the host name to access your network. The router supports these 
accounts: NETGEAR www.no-ip.com, www.no-ip.com, and www.DynDNS.org. 
If your Internet service provider (ISP) has assigned a static WAN IP address (such as 
50.196.x.x or 10.x.x.x) that never changes to your Internet account the\
 VPN can use that IP 
address to connect to your home network. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 
163  Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router
Specify VPN Service in the Router
You must specify the VPN service settings in the router before you can use a VPN 
connection.
To specify the VPN service:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
A login window displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password.
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home page displays.
4. Select ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service.
5. Select the Enable VPN Service check box.
By default, the VPN uses the UDP service type and uses port 12974. If you want to 
customize the service type and port, NETGEAR recommends that you change these 
settings before you install the OpenVPN software.
6. To change the service type, scroll down and select the TCP radio button.
7. To change the port, scroll down to the Service Port field, and type the port number that you 
want to use.
8. Click the Apply button.
Your changes are saved. VPN is enabled in the router, but you must install and set up 
OpenVPN software on your computer before you can use a VPN connection.
Install OpenVPN Software
You must install this software on each Windows computer, Mac computer, iOS device, or 
Android device that you plan to use for VPN connections to your router.
Install OpenVPN Software on Your Windows Computer
To install VPN client software on your Windows computer:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
A login window displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 164
Nighthawk AC1900
 Smart  WiFi Router 
The user name is  admin. The default password is password . The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home page displays.
4.  Select  ADV
 ANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service .
The VPN Service page displays.
5.  Make sure that the Enable VPN Service check box is selected.
6.  Specify any VPN service settings on the page.
For more information, see Specify VPN Service in the Router  on page
  163.
7.  Click the  For W
 indows button to download the OpenVPN configuration files.
8.  V
isit  http://openvpn.net/index.php/download/community-downloads.html to download the 
OpenVPN client utility.
9.  In the Windows Installer section of the page, double-click the  openVPN-install-xxx.exe 
link.
10.  Download and install the  openVPN-install-xxx.exe  file.
11.  Click the  Next button. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 165
 Nighthawk AC1900
 Smart WiFi Router
12. Read the License Agreement and click the  I Agree button.
13. Leave the check boxes selected as shown, and click the  Next button.
14.  T
o specify the destination folder, click the  Browse button and select a destination folder.
15. Click the  Install button.
The page displays the progress of the installation and then displays the\
 final installation  page.
16.  Click the  Finish button. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 
166 Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router 
17. Unzip the configuration files that you downloaded and copy them to the folder where the 
VPN client is installed on your computer. 
For a client device with Windows 64-bit system, the VPN client is installed at 
C:\Program files\OpenVPN\config\ by default.
18. For a client device with Windows, modify the VPN interface name to NETGEAR-VPN: 
a.In Windows, select Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections.
b. In the local area connection list, find the local area connection with the device name 
TAP-Windows Adapter.
c. Select the local area connection and change its name (not its device name) to 
NETGEAR-VPN.
If you do not change the VPN interface name, the VPN tunnel connection will fail.
For more information about using OpenVPN on your Mac computer, visit 
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/howto.html#quick.
Install OpenVPN Software on Your Mac Computer
To install VPN client software on your Mac computer:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
A login window displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password.
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home page displays.
4. Select ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service.
The VPN Service page displays.
5. Make sure that the Enable VPN Service check box is selected.
6. Specify any VPN service settings on the page.
For more information, see Specify VPN Service in the Router on page 163.
7. Click the For non-Windows button to download the OpenVPN configuration files.
8. Visit https://code.google.com/p/tunnelblick/ to download the OpenVPN client utility for Mac 
OS X.
9. Download and install the file.
10. Unzip the configuration files that you downloaded and copy them to the folder where the 
VPN client is installed on your computer. 
The client utility must be installed by a user with administrative privileges. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 
167  Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router
For more information about using OpenVPN on your Mac computer, visit 
https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/docs/admin-guides/183-how-to-connect-to-
access-server-from-a-mac.html.
Install OpenVPN Software on an iOS Device
To install VPN client software on your iOS device:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
A login window displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password.
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home page displays.
4. Select ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service.
The VPN Service page displays.
5. Make sure that the Enable VPN Service check box is selected.
6. Specify any VPN service settings on the page.
For more information, see Specify VPN Service in the Router on page 163.
7. Click the For Smart Phone button to download the OpenVPN configuration files.
8. On your iOS device, download and install the OpenVPN Connect app from the Apple App 
Store.
9. On your computer, unzip the configuration files that you downloaded and send the files to 
your iOS device.
10. Open the files on your iOS device. 
Note that when you open the .ovpn file, a list of apps displays. Select the OpenVPN 
Connect app to open the .ovpn file.
For more information about using OpenVPN on your iOS device, visit 
http://www.vpngate.net/en/howto_openvpn.aspx#ios.
Install OpenVPN Software on an Android Device
To install VPN client software on your Android device:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.
2. Enter http://www.routerlogin.net.
A login window displays.
3. Enter the router user name and password. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 
168 Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router 
The user name is admin. The default password is password. The user name and 
password are case-sensitive.
The BASIC Home page displays.
4. Select ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service.
The VPN Service page displays.
5. Make sure that the Enable VPN Service check box is selected.
6. Specify any VPN service settings on the page.
For more information, see Specify VPN Service in the Router on page 163.
7. Click the For Smart Phone button to download the OpenVPN configuration files.
8. On your Android device, download and install the OpenVPN Connect app from the Google 
Play Store.
9. On your computer, unzip the configuration files that you downloaded and send the files to 
your Android  device.
10. Open the files on your Android device. 
11. Open the .ovpn file using the OpenVPN Connect app.
For more information about using OpenVPN on your Android device, visit 
http://www.vpngate.net/en/howto_openvpn.aspx#android.
Use a VPN Tunnel on Your Windows Computer
After you set up the router to use VPN and install the OpenVPN application on your Windows 
computer, you can open a VPN tunnel from your computer to your router over the Internet.
For the VPN tunnel to work, the local LAN IP address of the remote R7000 must have a 
different LAN IP scheme than the local LAN where your VPN client computer is connected. If 
both networks use the same LAN IP scheme, when the VPN tunnel is established, you 
cannot access your home router or your home network with the OpenVPN software.
The default LAN IP address scheme for the R7000 is 192.x.x.x. The most common IP 
schemes are 192.x.x.x, 172.x.x.x, and 10.x.x.x. If you experience a conflict, change the IP 
scheme either for your home network or for the network with the client VPN computer. For 
information about changing these settings, see 
Change the LAN TCP/IP Settings on 
page 121. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 169
 Nighthawk AC1900
 Smart WiFi Router
To open a VPN tunnel on your WIndows computer:
1. Launch the OpenVPN application with administrator privileges.
The OpenVPN icon displays in the Windows taskbar.
Tip: Y
ou can create a shortcut to the VPN program, then in the settings for 
the shortcut and select the run as administrator check box. Then 
every time your launch this shortcut, OpenVPN automatically runs 
with administrator privileges.
2.  Right-click the OpenVPN icon.
A menu displays:
3.  Select  Connect.
The VPN connection is established. You can do the following:
• Launch an Internet browser and log in to your router
 .
• Use Windows File Manager to access the router
 ’s USB drive and download files. 
						

							Use VPN to Access Your Network 170
Nighthawk AC1900
 Smart  WiFi Router 
Use VPN to Access the Router’s USB Drive and Media
To access the router’s USB drive and download files from your Windows computer:
1. In Windows File Manager
 , select the Network folder.
The network resources display. The ReadySHARE icon is in the computers section and 
the remote R7000 icon is in the Media Devices section (if DLNA is enabl\
ed in the router).
2.  If the icons do not display
 , click the Refresh button to update the page.
If the local LAN and the remote LAN are using the same IP scheme, the re\
mote R7000 
icon does not display in the Media Devices and Network Infrastructure se\
ctions.
3.  T
o access the router’s USB drive, click the  ReadySHARE icon.
4.  T
o access media on the router’s network, click the  R7000 icon.
Use VPN to Access Your Internet Service at Home
When you’re away from home and you access the Internet, you usually u\
se a local Internet 
service provider. For example, at a coffee shop you might be given a code that lets you use 
the coffee shop’s Internet service account to surf the web.
Nighthawk lets you use a VPN connection to access your own Internet serv\
ice when you’re 
away from home. 

You might want to do this if you travel to a geographic location that doe\
sn’t 
support all the Internet services that you use at home. For example, you\
r Netflix account 
might work at home, but not in a different country. 
Set Up VPN Client Internet Access in the Router
By default, the router is set up to allow VPN connections only to your h\
ome network. but you 
can change the setting to allow Internet access. Accessing the Internet remotely through a 
VPN might be slower than accessing the Internet directly.
To allow VPN clients to use your home Internet service:
1.  Launch a web browser from a computer that is connected to the network.