OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.

OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.

OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
2024-08-26 01:37:37
Model: Archer AXE95  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version:

Hello Everyone,

 

New to this forum and new to setting up VPN. I bought the AXE-95 specifically so I could remote into my home network using OpenVPN and access my files and tunnel through the VPN to watch local content. My daughter is in college and wants to watch the local sports teams through the Xfinity App.

 

I followed the instructions and I am successfully able to connect to the VPN from a client PC. The TV watching portion works fine. I can watch local content and channels through VPN connection, but I cannot see any of my shared folders and I can't access any of my PC's.

 

I cannot do remote desktop connection. I cannot ping any PC's on my network. I can't see any shared folders.

 

I've tried turning off the firewall on my PC (with the shared folders). I've tried adding firewall rules. None of that seems to have worked.

 

Do I need to setup port forwarding on the router or the PC for this to work? I'm not exactly sure how to setup port forwarding. The TPLink manual doesn't say that port forwarding is requred. 

 

My internal PC network is setup to the common 192.168.1.xxx addresses, but I notice that the VPN Subnet is 10.8.0.0. Do I need to change that IP to something in my network's range? Do I need to forward a port that directs the subnet to my local LAN?

 

I've Googled it a bit and I can't find anything that seems to answer my direct question, or the answers are very technical and over my head.

 

I must be overlooking something simple. I feel like the answer is in front of my face but I can't see it lol. Can someone help me get this working? 

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Re:OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
2024-08-29 20:02:52

Hey @VikenK,

 

Welcome to the community!

 

When configuring your OpenVPN settings on the router, do you recall which selection you made for the Client Access Type?

 

You would select Home Network Only if you only want the remote device(s) to access your home network or select Internet and Home Network if you also want the remote device(s) to access the Internet through the VPN Server.

 

Are there any other routers on the network? For example, a router + modem Internet gateway from your ISP?

 

Just to be sure, the steps you followed were the same as those outlined in our FAQ (and video within) here, correct?

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Re:OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
2024-08-29 22:05:12 - last edited 2024-08-30 00:28:50

  @Ryan  Thanks for replying. I did setup the Open VPN server according to the One router configuration. However, I do have more than one router in my system, but the 2nd router is really reduced to a network switch. Should I follow the two-router setup instructions? Here's my setup:

 

Xfinity Gateway (in bridge mode. No DHCP, no Routing) --> AXE95 (Wifi,DHCP Server,VPN) --> Linksys router (No DHCP, No Wifi, NO NAT).

 

Basically, the AXE95 is on my main floor and handles all the addressing. I have one cable going to the basement cascaded to the Linksys router, which is a switch point for several hard-wires computers and devices.

 

When I setup the VPN Server, I chose "Internet and Home Network". The internet portion of it works fine. I have NOT setup DDNS.

 

When I connect to the VPN from a client, I can use the internet. I can use Windows Remote Desktop to get to my PC. I can get to the router login page. However, I cannot ping any computers (despite being able to connect via remote desktop). I also can't see any shared folders.

 

Would it be better to just replace the router with a switch?

 

Thanks.

 

VikenK

 

 

 

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Re:OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
2024-09-21 14:43:19

  @VikenK

 

I have a similar issue, however I cannot connect to internet or my local resources.

 

 

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Re:OpenVPN Connects from client but I can't see my network.
2024-09-22 14:10:05

  @ss1gohan13 

 

After some additional troubleshooting, I finally resolved my issues. My OpenVPN now works as expected. It turned out to be a bit more complex than I thought. Perhaps this will help you as well. It turned out to be a problem with Windows firewall and also DNS issues.

 

If you can't get internet or local resources, make sure the router's OpenVPN is set to "Allow Internet and Network".

 

After I did some more detailed troubleshooting, it turned out that I WAS able to ping IoT devices on my network (TV, Home Theater, etc) but I wasn't able to ping any computers, escpecially the computer with my shared folders. This made me suspicious of the Windows firewall. After turning off the firewall, I was able to ping the computer successfully. After some research, I ended up creating a custom Inbound Rule in the firewall to allow access from the OpenVPN IP addresses (10.8.x.x). I tried to add a link to the instructions but I couldn't post this message with a link (not sure why), so you will have to Google "how to create a custom inbound rule for VPN". 

 

That ended up solving the issue with being ale to ping computers on the network. You would have to do this on every PC with a shared resource that you wish to access.

 

The second problem was that I could not access the shared folder that I had mapped to my PC. That turned out to be a DNS issue. It turned out that if I mapped the shared folder using the IP address ( \\IP address\share name ), I was able to access the folder. If I mapped it using the computer name, I couldn't acccess the folder (\\Computername\share name). This indicated a DNS issue. Since I don't have a custom DNS server, the resolution to this  was to edit the "Hosts" file in Windows. The hosts file works like a poor-man's DNS Server for your local network, resolving IP addresses with Computer names. I had to do this on the client PC from which I was remote accessing the network (my laptop).

 

For this to work, I had to make sure that my computer wih the shared folders always had the same IP address. I used the DHCP Reservation feature in my router to reserve an IP address for the computer. Then I edited the Hosts file to match the IP address to the computer name. This ended up resolving my issues. This was simple enough for me since I had only one computer with shared folders. You would have to add a line in the hosts file for each computer or resource with shared folders.

 

The format to use was "IP address -tab- Computer name", so for me it was:

 

192.168.1.100       Computer Name

192.168.1.101       Another computer name

 

For more information, you can google "editing the windows hosts file" and find a multitude of instructions.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Viken K.

 

 

 

 

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