I have been able to use an old router to do this, I installed dd-wrt on it and set it up to do vpn pptp.

 

The whole action took supriseingly little effort and I now have full access to my home network.

 

I have my iphone setup with:

 

Qouch: for sabnzb, sickbeard, couchpotato

 

Transmission remote for my torrents

 

Genie timeline app to monitor genie timeline which backups my pc at home

 

Telnet lite to telnet into unraid when I need to.

 

Airvideo and oplayer to use my media

 

Istat and ipmi light to monitor the hardware side of my server

 

Filebrowser to view my shares

 

And ofcourse the unraid webpages with simplefeatures.

 

All of this works within my home network and therefor also when I vpn into it from any location.

 

The whole router setup took me an hour to setup and start using. Dd-wrt also significantly improved my indoor wifi reception as a bonus !

 

how would you come around that the ISP changes your public IP periodically?

 

Setting up pptp on ddwrt is ridiculously easy, just do it !

 

Just did it :-)

 

1. Home network is 192.168.1.x and so is the address of the client side coming from external.  Not sure if this is a huge deal, but might need to change the home network to some other address such as 10.1.1.x.  (yuck)

 

2. Accessing the unraid server from the browser was not successful from just the name "tower", but I could access it from its ip address, and could telnet in with putty as if I was at home.

 

3. When my ISP changes my ip address, I will need to reconfigure.

 

4. Security of pptp is not good so I tested and immediately shut it back off in my dd-wrt router.  Not sure how big a deal this is though?  https://www.cloudcracker.com/blog/2012/07/29/cracking-ms-chap-v2/

 

5. Can't browse to the network shares with Windows explorer (Win 7 on all machines)

      Work around from the command prompt do a net use as follows:

 

  net  use  z:  \\192.168.1.121\disk1 

 

Assume these configuration settings are in place:

(a) the "unRaid file server" computer (Windows share or Linux Samba) has an IP address 192.168.1.121,

(b) the unRaid server has a shared folder named "disk1",

 

pptp is secure enough.. as long as you keep your keys safe and do not make them to short..

I use http://www.teamviewer.com/ to log into my computer it seams abit quicker than logmein.

 

They also have a great app for my android phone.

pptp is secure enough.. as long as you keep your keys safe and do not make them to short..

 

Also: dd-wrt supports dyndns, if you use that you can connect to the dyndns name and you will not need to reconfigure on ip change.

 

I can access shares fine over smb, that must be something else... if you give a net use command that basically is using shares, I am guessing that is a permissions issue on the windows system..

I can access shares fine over smb, that must be something else... if you give a net use command that basically is using shares, I am guessing that is a permissions issue on the windows system..

 

Its that Wins system.  I understand you can point it to a Wins server in the DD-Wrt setup, but Windows ability to see shares is frustrating at the best of times.  You are sure it should work, but can't understand why it won't, only to suddenly find out its that its been fine all the time.  I call it a Windows feature....

this discussion is great

 

a friend told me why not use RRAS that comes on Windows? it's a VPN, you create it on any windows system you have (e.g. on my domain controller which is on 24x7, and is a virtual machine on my esxi server).

 

any experience with this?

I've been using ClearOS as a firewall on a small dual NIC Atom based pc. It's a dedicated firewall OS and allows for pptp, IPSec, and OpenVPN type VPN. I've had no luck getting OpenVPN working correctly from outside the firewall but PPTP has worked great.

 

ClearOS supports its own DynDNS type service, and has many other features. My cable modem is setup to pass everything to it and that network is a sort if DMZ with only a wireless router in it. Everything else lives on other side of firewall including another wireless AP, wrt54 with Tomato in it.

 

I've had no trouble passing services to devices on the other side with forwarding and the VPN works well. I did shift my IP to not overlap with other networks but the PPTP also allows me to set the far end address to whatever I want to prevent this. Software is free, take a look at it. I'm running a version that's a rev old, not had a chance to upgrade yet but it's been running fine for at least 2 years or more.....

I've been using ClearOS as a firewall on a small dual NIC Atom based pc. It's a dedicated firewall OS and allows for pptp, IPSec, and OpenVPN type VPN. I've had no luck getting OpenVPN working correctly from outside the firewall but PPTP has worked great.

 

ClearOS supports its own DynDNS type service, and has many other features. My cable modem is setup to pass everything to it and that network is a sort if DMZ with only a wireless router in it. Everything else lives on other side of firewall including another wireless AP, wrt54 with Tomato in it.

 

I've had no trouble passing services to devices on the other side with forwarding and the VPN works well. I did shift my IP to not overlap with other networks but the PPTP also allows me to set the far end address to whatever I want to prevent this. Software is free, take a look at it. I'm running a version that's a rev old, not had a chance to upgrade yet but it's been running fine for at least 2 years or more.....

 

Just so you're aware there are some security problems with PPTP that have come to light within the last couple of months:

 

https://www.cloudcracker.com/blog/2012/07/29/cracking-ms-chap-v2/

I use http://www.teamviewer.com/ to log into my computer it seams abit quicker than logmein.

 

They also have a great app for my android phone.

 

I agree completely, I don't know why I don't hear more recommendations for this app I use it all the time, especially when helping distant relatives with computer problems

 

Just so you're aware there are some security problems with PPTP that have come to light within the last couple of months:

 

https://www.cloudcracker.com/blog/2012/07/29/cracking-ms-chap-v2/

 

Thanks, I appreciate the heads up! I was actually at DEFCON ;-) MsChap has been broken more than once, it's no surprise to me to find its not 100% secure. Honestly my worry isn't someone eavesdropping so much as it is someone breaking in and I don't think that was the issue.

 

ClearOS supports IPSec and OpenVPN too. Unfortunately I couldn't get OpenVPN to play nice from outside my firewall and my iPhone only supports IPSec and PPTP :-(

 

I may yet try this again with an appliance endpoint but I found PPTP pretty darned easy to setup!

Yes. Really easy.. And as long as you do not have it running 24/7 also pretty secure.

I'm not sure why you couldn't run it 24x7, I am. So long as passwords aren't easily guessed it shouldn't be an issue. The crypto may be weak but it's not clear text and I'm less worried about someone at my ISP decrypting the traffic than I am someone breaking in. So far it's working well to extend my network. I'd have preferred the security of OpenVPN but it wasn't setting up easily and my phone won't support it :-(

I have VirtualBox installed on unRAID and am running a Windows Virtual Machine.

In the Windows Virtual Machine I have installed both Logmein and Teamviewer. This is almost my only reason for the Virtual Machine.

 

benefits:

• I don't need to have any other PC ON at home to access my unRAID (which is always on - lowest power "PC" at home).
  
• Logmein on the Virtual Machines allows me to remotely wake up (WOL) any other PC which is on my home network and has Logmein installed (to use this feature at least one PC has to have Logmein installed and accessible from the Logmein website).
  

 

I use Logmein to access unRAID from a PC and use Teamviewer to access unRAID from my android smartphone (they have a free app).

Can you elaborate on TeamViewer a little bit? First I've heard of it but it sounds useful! They claim 100million users which seems a bit of a stretch. What does Logmein vs TeamViewer offer? I like that I could use my iPhone or iPad for remote control...

Teamviewer is very similar to Logmein.

As I wrote, the mobile app is free

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

 

I use Smoothwall Express 3.0 (www.smoothwall.org).  I run it on an old Compaq (I do mean old) desktop, and has been absolutely rock solid for over 7 years.  It does support VPN.  It is updated occasionally.  I have been seeing more and more about ClearOS and I am impressed with what I see.  Another solution is IPCop, is a fork of the Smoothwall code and is free to use.  I understand this is also very stable.  Smoothwall Express supports 3 NICS  RED (Internet) Green (your local LAN) and Purple (Wireless access).

 

OpenVPN I believe is an SSL VPN solution.  Your firewall of choice should support this.  This is the same encryption technology you use when you log into your bank website.  There are two parts to OpenVPN, one is the client, the other is the server.  I have a client who runs Smootwall Advanced (www.smoothwall.net) which is the paid version of Smoothwall Express.  The VPN is setup somewhat like this:

 

Each VPN tunnel is setup on the firewall through the web interface.  I have to set things like user name/password, name the tunnel, ensure the default settings are correct. Then OpenVPN client is installed on the local laptop, which automatically includes the certificate and other stuff needed to make the connection.  Once the client is installed, they run the client, enter their user name and password, then Open VPN starts the negotiation phase (authenticating certificates etc) and they connect to their personal VPN tunnel.  I have a strange feeling that you might be missing some of the "building blocks" for this to work properly.

 

With DDWRT remember this software is a commercial product.  Though most people might not realize that.  Yes you can download it and use it and the DDWRT police will not come get you.  My problem is that all of this code he has used was open source at one time or another.  Now he charges for it.  There was a big rau about it years ago, and I am not stiring that pot again, I just wanted to let you know that if you like what you see to support it ;-)

 

Personally, I have never used a VPN for my personal network, I use LogMeIn free, I can't transfer files, but I rarely need to.  If I do, I use skydrive, or some other cloud based storage, like my gmail account, or dropbox to move files around.  The difference between Free and paid is all the telemetry and the file transfer capability that is built in to the paid account, that you don't get with the free account.  The telemetry is all the information about the PC you are connected to like, total RAM, remaining memory, CPU utilization etc.  All of these are excellent features, but I don't need them for what I do.  The paid account can be fairly expensive.

 

The only reason you want VPN, is to physical access to your whole network outside the home network.  I can see an advantage to that, but unless your upload speed is faster than 3MB, it will be really slow getting files to your laptop when you are outside your network.  and forget streaming, especially high def video.  My upload is only 768K which makes a VPN useless.  You have to remember that a VPN tunnel also takes up some bandwidth of its own to maintain the connection.

 

I have used Hamachi, and it use to be a really good solution at one time, but it has become really crappy with high latency after it was bought by LogmeIn.  That's because they want you to buy it.

 

Putting a VPN together is the black arts of networking.  It can be really frustrating some times.  Fortunately Smootwall Advanced has made it easy for me to get it to work for my client at a reasonable price.  Cisco charges $20,000 for 20+ users.  Not cost effective for a small office.

 

If you have ATT UVerse, there are articles on the net that detail how to put your router into bridged mode so that your router of choice is used instead.  Since the ATT Uverse  router is crap, this would be the way to go.  Remember that if you place the ATT UVerse in bridged mode, that ATT will loose their ability to support you.  If you have TV service through ATT Uverse, I don't know how well your tv boxes will work.  I know that you can connect them via Ethernet and that might be a way to go.  You can avoid that problem by creating what is called a DMZ on the uVerse router, and pointing that DMZ address to your router of choice, then letting your router of choice handle everything else. 

 

As to Verizion FiOS, which I wish I had it at my apartment :-(, it entirely depends what wireless router they have provided you.  Some you can set to bridged mode, others you have to do the DMZ method.  Remember though that if you successfully setup bridged mode you might have a problem with your TV service, if you get it through FiOS.  Search the net for these solutions.  Sorry, I don't have specific articles.

 

I think that's 2 cents worth!

 

--Sideband Samurai

I'm not sure why you couldn't run it 24x7, I am. So long as passwords aren't easily guessed it shouldn't be an issue. The crypto may be weak but it's not clear text and I'm less worried about someone at my ISP decrypting the traffic than I am someone breaking in. So far it's working well to extend my network. I'd have preferred the security of OpenVPN but it wasn't setting up easily and my phone won't support it :-(

 

The security issues with PPTP are based around the fact that you could be able to evesdrop on the connection when it is up, not so much that you are able to crack the connection and illegally use it.

 

Since I only use PPTP for small amounts of time there is no real issue..

I can access shares fine over smb, that must be something else... if you give a net use command that basically is using shares, I am guessing that is a permissions issue on the windows system..

 

Its that Wins system.  I understand you can point it to a Wins server in the DD-Wrt setup, but Windows ability to see shares is frustrating at the best of times.  You are sure it should work, but can't understand why it won't, only to suddenly find out its that its been fine all the time.  I call it a Windows feature....

 

I was having problems with the shares not being visible via VPN.  Once the VPN was setup, bringing up a Windows Explorer window and typing \\tower in the top menu wouldn't work.  Actually the complete shares do propogate over the VPN over time.  Another Windows frustration, but just give it some time, and you can access your files by \\tower rather than needing to do it by \\192.168.1.121

 

I now see no difficulty in using this Easy to Use VPN set up via the following:

 

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/10724_3885061_2/Create-Your-Own-VPN-Server-with-DD-WRT.htm