Enterprise AV Home WiFi Mobile Wifi Support Shop Deals

A virtual private network (VPN) lets you use the Internet to securely access your network remotely. You must install the OpenVPN software on each Windows computer that you plan to use for VPN connections to your router. Open VPN uses a Dynamic DNS account to connect with your router. You must enable Dynamic DNS before enabling the VPN feature. For more information about enabling Dynamic DNS, see How do I set up Dynamic DNS (DDNS) on my NETGEAR router?.

Currently, only OpenVPN version 2.7.1 or earlier work with NETGEAR routers.

To enable the VPN feature:

  1. Launch a web browser from a computer or mobile device that is connected to your router’s local network.
  2. Visit www.routerlogin.net
    A login window displays.
  3. Enter your router’s username and password.
    The default username is admin. The password is the one you created during setup. The username and password are case-sensitive.
    The BASIC Home screen displays.
  4. Select ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > VPN Service.
    The VPN Service page displays.
  5. Select the Enable VPN Service check box and click Apply.
  6. Specify your desired VPN service settings.
  7. Click For Windows to download the OpenVPN configuration files.
  8. Visit http://openvpn.net/index.php/download/community-downloads.html to download the OpenVPN client utility.
  9. In the Windows Installer section of the page, double-click the openVPN-install-xxx.exe link.
  10. To download and install the Open VPN software on your computer, click the openVPN-install-xxx.exe file.
  11. Click Next.
  12. Read the License Agreement and click I Agree.
  13. Leave the checked boxes selected and click Next.
  14. To specify the destination folder, click Browse and select the destination folder.
  15. Click Install.
    The window displays the progress of the installation and displays the final installation page.
  16. Click Finish.
  17. Unzip the configuration files that you downloaded and copy them to the folder where the VPN client is installed on your device.
    For a client device running 64-bit Windows, the default install location of the VPN client is C:\Programfiles\OpenVPN\config\
  18. For client devices with Windows, modify the VPN interface name to NETGEAR-VPN:
    1. On your computer, go to the Networks page.
    2. If you are using Windows 10, select Start > Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet.
    3. If you are using Windows 7, select Start > Control Panel > View network status and tasks.
    4. Select Change adapter settings.
    5. In the local area connection list, find the local area connection with the device name TAP-Windows Adapter.
    6. Select the local area connection and change its name (not its device name) to NETGEAR-VPN.
      If you do not change the VPN interface name, the VPN tunnel connection fails.
Last Updated:07/07/2025 | Article ID: 23854

This article applies to:

Recently Viewed Articles

    Read this article in another language:

    Read this article in another language:

    Our team is here to help!

    Phone
    Chat
    Email