TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN

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TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN

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Re:TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN
2023-02-11 14:04:27 - last edited 2023-02-11 14:09:25

 I have the TL-ER7206 v1.0 with OS 1.2.3 (latest)

to make things work in my scenario, I set up an openvpn client with NORDVPN.

I used the NORDVPN recommended server for the country I want, download the UDP config file (udp seems more stable than TCP)

get the remote server IP from the config file to use in the TPLINK openvpn set up, select certificate+account so you can use that very long username/pass from NORDVPN.


As many folks might have different reasons for using a vpn, i use it to route traffic from certain devices to certain VPN tunnels, in my case, I set up a separate SSID with different subnet and different VLAN than the rest of my network, then as local LAN, I tied it to the VPN so now when I log on to that SSID, all traffic goes only over that VPN.

this was all set up in the Omada portal (i have the OC200)

I have this now running for perhaps 3 weeks and when I used the tcp servers, I had to reconfigure to use a different NORDVPN server every few days as routing just stopped... not sure why but for sure annoying... now it has been stable using the UDP profiles...

 

@kablammy 

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#12
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Re:TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN
2023-02-11 15:49:03

 Ok - I take back the comment on the UDP being more stable...

seems that when it's not used for a certain amount of time, routing just stops.

Tunnel stays up but nothing goes through...

I just deleted the tunnel and re-entered it with the same server; still no routing.

picked the next recommended server and back in business;  I wonder if the issue is at Nordvpn's end or the TPLINK router

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#13
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Re:TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN
2023-02-13 02:03:50 - last edited 2023-02-13 02:05:13

  @BLROTAN 

I got my ER605 V2 - and wow - I had a miserable time getting it to replace my ER605 V1 .
If you don't follow every single exact step to doing it right - it won't work .
What a pain !

I finally got it to work as the new gateway and then it got a firmware update to 2.11 .
After that, I tried the VPN to NordVPN and IT WORKS ! ! !

What a disappointment though - the throughput is atrociously slow  !

 

Without VPN i get about 880 Mbps down and 240 Mbps upload .

Using a Windows generic OpenVPN application - my speed test is 332 download and 215 upload .  ( That is to a dedicated IP server - If I connect to a closer general server, I get about 600 download speed )

NOW using Omada OpenVPN connection to the same dedicated server location ->

12.23 Mbps download and 13.07 Mbps upload

That makes it pretty much unusable .  I am sorry I wasted my time trying to get it to work now .



A weird caveat though ->

https://www.tp-link.com/us/
I can connect fine with the VPN off .

When I have the VPN active - I cannot connect to tp-link.com .  I get this message :  ( I guess they have that IP address blacklisted and just don't want to say it out loud )

 

403 ERROR

The request could not be satisfied.

Request blocked. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner.
If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation.

Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront)
Request ID: mtXZp6yeHaRZq8bjKlsDmIvNCvjdFHC8VqVpUzS0CNQ7KN2oI2Wm4w==

 

 

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#14
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Re:TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN
2023-08-04 00:31:24

  @kablammy 

I figured I post a quick update here...

My TL-ER7206 has now had a stable NORDVPN VPN connection for the past 2 months.

I had some issues before and had to change vpn servers regularly but since NORDVPN changed their logins, I have not had any further issues at all.

its working quite well for me... I have 2 LAN's created, one for the VPN connection and one for plain no-VPN internet.

I also created 2 SSID's - 1 sending traffic locally and the other everything over the tunnel.

'this allows me to use my wifi devices on either as needed...

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#15
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Re:TP-Link routers with OpenVPN connecting to NordVPN
2023-08-04 01:05:24

  @PeterAl 

Do you have any details on how you set this up? I would really appreciate it if you had pictures and a step by step. I have tried to get PIA to work but no JOY!!

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#16
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