My Router Doesn't Let VPN Connect

By froggyliver
in Smart Home, Network & Security

 Share

Recommended Posts

Rising Star

froggyliver

Posted
Posted

So I bought the router the October 2012. After the first firmware update the unit is mostly performing well. Wifi strength is OK, but do wish it was better. I have had to power cycle it every now and then.

 

The Issue:

I have had the problem before, but this last month I finally decided to drill down to find, and hopefully fix, the problem. When I try and connect to several different VPNs the connection never establishes. Two VPNs I have tested are the SonicWall Global VPN and Meraki Client VPN. I have contacted SonicWall support and Meraki and we checked the logs on the VPN router and my connection never makes it to the unit. I called my ISP and verified they do not block anything. I bypassed my router and then the VPN connections establish right away and work. I called ASUS and after being on hold forever they confirmed with "higher up support" that ASUS's firmware does not support the ESP protocol for VPN connections.

 

So I spent this money on a router that is only a little over a year old and I need to replace it or find a fix. I tried looking at a 3rd party firmware, but I don't know what sites are trustworthy and that actually support this model ASUS.

 

Can someone tell me what 3rd party firmware I can use or recommend a good replacement router? My internet speed is 77/77 so I don't want anything that can't keep up with that.

 

EDIT:  I have the ASUS RT-N65U

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1198425-my-router-doesnt-let-vpn-connect/
Share on other sites
Explorer

Kai Y

Posted
Posted

Not sure which model of ASUS router you have, but have you tried to enable the "VPN Passthrough" option on the router? A search gave me this ASUS page which says that "VPN Passthrough" is disabled by default in the firmware. Though in my ASUS router, it actually is enabled by default...

 

Oh and according to Wikipedia, ESP is part of IPSec, so you need to enable (specifically) the "IPSec Passthrough" option.

Rising Star

froggyliver

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Kai Y, I tried following the instructions, but under the DMZ page there is no other option than just enabling DMZ. And for kicks I did try enabling DMZ to my PC and that did not fix the issue.

 

My router is the ASUS RT-N65U and I guess it just doesn't support ESP at all.   :/ Very aggravating. I also confirmed I have the latest firmware from ASUS.

Rising Star

froggyliver

Posted
  • Author
Posted
riahc3, on 28 Jan 2014 - 09:42, said:

I have seen this web page before and didn't know if I should trust it or not. The Arabic looking text on the page was concerning to me.  :) Do you believe it is OK?

Grand Master

riahc3

Posted
Posted

Hello,

I have seen this web page before and didn't know if I should trust it or not. The Arabic looking text on the page was concerning to me.  :) Do you believe it is OK?

Its a Google Code page.

There are builds from 2012.

The source is available so you can look thru it.

People talking about it and tried it: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=666038 http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18504930 http://digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=155210 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/forums/showthread.php?p=76347

Basically:

Seems+legit+_77813742ca6119209213b022fd3

Grand Master

+BudMan MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

I really find that hard to believe that does not support passthru

quick google

http://www.asus.com/support/Knowledge-Detail/11/2/RTN56U/B30C729F-9FEF-4542-7C77-274F7F1899F6/

How to enable function??VPN Pass through? with PPTP/L2TP/IPSec in RT-N56U?

1. Please launch a browser and go to the setting page of router; the default website of ASUS router?s setting page is http://192.168.1.1.

2. The setting steps of enabling VPN Pass through as following.

(1) Click ?Advanced Setting?

(2) Click ?WAN?

(3) Click ?DMZ?

(4) Select ?Enabled? in item??VPN PPTP Passthrough?

(5) Click button??Apply? and wait to update setting completely

? The steps of setting L2TP and IPSec are as above description. The default of VPN Pass through with PPTP/L2TP/IPSec is ?Disabled?.

Are you saying that option is not there, what specific firmware are you running?

Firmware 1.0.1.7f supports PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec NAT passthrough for VPN. A separate configuration tab for VPN has been created. LAN transfer speeds are incredible, networking is solid, wireless stability and range is far superior to a several Dual band DLink products.

Or how about here

4. in the main screen : GO TO ADVANCE SETTING (LEFT SIDE)

5. in the WAN section click on NAT Passthrough

6. ENABLE: IPSec Passthrough

7. APPLY

These were all 2 second googles

Rising Star

froggyliver

Posted
  • Author
Posted

BudMan, correct. I simply don't have the option in my firmware build. ASUS support said the latest firmware for my model doesn't support it.  :/

 

On the DMZ screen all I have is enable or disable DMZ. if I enable DMZ and save this only adds the additional option of entering in the local IP address for the DMZ.

 

I may try the Google page firmware.... what's the worse that can happen?! lol

Grand Master

+BudMan MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

So what firmware version number are you running - exactly?? See the other info in the post, where its under a different section.

Here is what you should do if native firmware does not support ESP through NAT -- throw it away (sell it on ebay - cuz I am sure it wasn't cheap), and send a scathing email/letter to the company saying YOU SUCK!!! And nobody should use your product, and I am going to let everyone know that. And post it on every website you can - this is s simple requirement.. They seem to allow you to vpn to their product.. But you can not vpn out through their product?

I can not fathom a router maker pulling this kind of support??? So you can not work from home with this router and connect to your company VPN?? Come on?? This is not a cheap as you can get router, this is a HIGH END router!!! I show it on amazon right now for $115..

Rising Star

froggyliver

Posted
  • Author
Posted
BudMan, on 28 Jan 2014 - 19:34, said:

So what firmware version number are you running - exactly?? See the other info in the post, where its under a different section.

Here is what you should do if native firmware does not support ESP through NAT -- throw it away (sell it on ebay - cuz I am sure it wasn't cheap), and send a scathing email/letter to the company saying YOU SUCK!!! And nobody should use your product, and I am going to let everyone know that. And post it on every website you can - this is s simple requirement.. They seem to allow you to vpn to their product.. But you can not vpn out through their product?

I can not fathom a router maker pulling this kind of support??? So you can not work from home with this router and connect to your company VPN?? Come on?? This is not a cheap as you can get router, this is a HIGH END router!!! I show it on amazon right now for $115..

BudMan, I know this is why I was so frustrated when their own support (even 2nd level) told me it is simply not supported in their firmware and even told me to try a 3rd party firmware. I responded by this is a very common need and now you are telling me to download another 3rd party firmware when I paid over $100 for this?!!!!  I was so mad and that is why I came here.

 

But good news..... I just checked AGAIN and still under the DMZ page there is no option for what I need.... BUT I kept looking around and I did find it!!!!!  YAY!!!  lol It is under another page. I am very surprised their own support did not know this and wasted all my time on this.

 

So I would not have found this and bought another $100+ router if it wasn't for your guys help and getting me to recheck and recheck again.  :)  Thank you!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Win11Debloat 2026.06.14

      By Copernic · Posted

      Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 by Razvan Serea Win11Debloat is a lightweight, easy to use PowerShell script that allows you to quickly declutter and customize your Windows experience. It can remove pre-installed bloatware apps, disable telemetry, remove intrusive interface elements and much more. The script also includes many features that system administrators and power users will enjoy. Such as a powerful command-line interface, support for Windows Audit mode and the option to make changes to other Windows users. All changes made by Win11Debloat can be easily reversed, and most removed apps can be restored via the Microsoft Store. A full guide on how to undo the changes is available here. Win11Debloat features: Below is an overview of the key features and functionality offered by Win11Debloat. Please refer to the wiki for more information about the default settings preset. Remove a wide variety of preinstalled apps. Click here for more info. Disable telemetry, diagnostic data, activity history, app-launch tracking & targeted ads. Disable tips, tricks, suggestions & ads across Windows. Disable Windows location services & app location access. Disable Find My Device location tracking. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' and tips & tricks on the lock screen. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' desktop background option. Disable ads, suggestions and the MSN news feed in Microsoft Edge. Hide Microsoft 365 ads on the Settings 'Home' page, or hide the 'Home' page entirely. Disable & remove Microsoft Copilot. Disable Windows Recall. Disable Click to Do, AI text & image analysis tool. Prevent AI service (WSAIFabricSvc) from starting automatically. Disable AI Features in Edge. Disable AI Features in Paint. Disable AI Features in Notepad. Disable the Drag Tray for sharing & moving files. Restore the old Windows 10 style context menu. Turn off Enhance Pointer Precision, also known as mouse acceleration. Disable the Sticky Keys keyboard shortcut. Disable Storage Sense automatic disk cleanup. Disable fast start-up to ensure a full shutdown. ...and more. Once you’ve downloaded the Win11Debloat file (Get.ps1), just follow these quick steps: Locate the Get.ps1 script file. Right-click the file and select Run with PowerShell from the context menu. If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), select Yes to grant the script the necessary administrative permissions. Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 changes: This is a minor release that hopefully addresses the false positives in Windows Defender and Bitdefender that prevented users from downloading and/or running Win11Debloat. Refactor Get-RegFileOperations.ps1 to address false positives by @Raphire in #626 Add logging around WinGet app retrieval and increase timeout to 20s by @Raphire Download: Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 | Open Source View: Win11Debloat Home Page | Screenshots 1| 2 Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • what other retro software do yall use

      By C:Amie · Posted

      Still using Microsoft Money 2005 in 2026 here!
    • what other retro software do yall use

      By +Eternal Tempest · Posted

      I have a couple to mention, and they still run great on Windows 11 Adobe Lightroom Version 2 Alcohol 120% CLZ Book, Comic, Game, Movie, & Music Collector (PC - No longer sold / Grandfathered in - now mobile apps/online only) DVDDecrypter ISO Buster Pro version 1.9.1 (Still supports HD-DVD too) Nero Burning Rom 8 (Only the burning software, no backup, media converter, etc)   OpenAL (Runtime) - GuildWars 1 Reforged still uses it for 3d headphone audio PowerDVD 12 Ultra SPTD (SCSI Pass through Direct Driver) UltraISO Windows Media Encoder 9 WinImage You can tell I still sport an optical drive    
    • Linux 7.1 arrives with an NTFS overhaul and major hardware performance boosts

      By zikalify · Posted

      Linux 7.1 arrives with an NTFS overhaul and major hardware performance boosts by Paul Hill The founder of the Linux kernel has just announced the availability of Linux 7.1. This is a stable version of the kernel that will now be tested by various Linux distributions before it is shipped to users through update managers. Some users, like those on Debian, for example, might not get it for a long time, if at all, while Fedora users can expect it in the near future. With Linux 7.1 out on time, the merge window for Linux 7.2 is now open, giving contributors the opportunity to send in major new features that have been waiting for the last two months. Torvalds warned that he is currently travelling and will be in another timezone, so timing for the merge window may be irregular due to timezone differences and limited internet access. Torvalds said that he has already fetched early pull requests to allow him to do some offline work, but the travel could still cause disruption. Right now, he is not planning to extend the release, but did consider it. He said he might later regret not extending, though. In terms of this last week of development for Linux 7.1, Torvalds said there were no major or alarming changes. This week consisted mostly of smaller driver updates to GPU, networking, and sound, networking fixes, trace tooling fixes, and misc minor fixes. The shortlog this week lists fixes for driver bugs, memory leaks, I/O and USB fixes, networking and RDMA fixes, DRM/graphics fixes, and tooling and verification improvements. Specific fixes include USB series heap-overflow and buffer overflow fixes, and multiple use-after-free, memory-leak, and refcount corrections across subsystems such as i2c, zram, gpio, and net. There are fixes for graphics drivers, including amdgpu, i915, and virtio, as well as hypervisor and virtualization tweaks affecting mshv, vmbus, and hyperv. According to Phoronix, anyone running Linux 7.1 should look out for the new NTFS driver, Intel FRED for improved performance on Panther Lake and future CPUs, faster graphics with Intel Arc Battlemage, and improvements for older AMD Radeon GPUs. If you are running Linux on your computer and everything is fine, then you don’t need to worry about updating to Linux 7.1 as a priority; just wait for it to be pushed to you. If you have tried Linux on hardware but it didn’t work properly, trying again with a distro that uses Linux 7.1 could cause Linux to work on your machine, thanks to the new hardware support.
    • Microsoft hides these secret Windows 11 performance boost settings available on every PC

      By contevo · Posted

      you can also do this with this tool: PowerSettingsExplorer made by mbk1969 at 3dguru forum.. I found it by accident researching on modern standby and annoying quirks of it in 2022

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      507
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      197
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      139
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      81
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!