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About VPN connections
A virtual private network (VPN) lets you use the Internet to securely access your network
when you aren't home.
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 do the following:
• Log in to the router to enable and configure OpenVPN (see Enable OpenVPN service
in the router on page 142).
• Install OpenVPN client software and configuration files on your device from which
you want to use VPN (see Install OpenVPN software on a VPN client on page 143).
• Run the OpenVPN client software on your device when you want to use a VPN
connection.
Enabling OpenVPN on your router allows VPN connections between the router and a
client, for example your laptop when you are away from home. The router provides the
VPN service and the laptop is the VPN client. Traffic between the router and the laptop
is encrypted.
NOTE: The router itself does not function as a VPN client to an external VPN
service provider, so it does not encrypt traffic passing between your home
network and the Internet.
VPN can use either Dynamic DNS (DDNS) or a static IP address to connect with your
router:
• To use a DDNS service, register for a DDNS account with a host name. You use the
host name to access your network. The router supports these DDNS accounts:
NETGEAR, No-IP, and Dyn. For more information, see Manage Dynamic DNS on
page 80.
• If your Internet service provider (ISP) assigned a static WAN IP address that never
changes, the VPN can use that IP address to connect to your home network.
LAN IP addressing in VPN networks
For the VPN connection to work, your computer or device (the VPN client) must be
connected to a network that uses a different LAN IP address scheme than your router.
Use OpenVPN to Access Your
Network
Whole Home Quad-Band Mesh WiFi 7 System
141
User Manual
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