Firewalla VPN Client is a service running on your Firewalla box that enables you to direct any home device to a VPN connection; VPN clients provide a secure and encrypted connection between the user and the internet, making it difficult for outsiders to access sensitive information.
What is Firewalla VPN Client?
With a Firewalla VPN client, you can send any device (even if they can't install VPN software) or any type of traffic to a VPN Server/Service. You can create three types of VPN connections:
- Site to Site VPN
- Remote Access VPN
- 3rd-Party VPN (Verified 3rd-Party VPN services)
| Site to Site VPN** | Remote Access VPN | 3rd-Party VPN | |
| Network Access | Bi-directional | One way | One way |
| Certificate-only Setup | Yes | Yes | No |
| Box Requirement | 2 Firewalla Boxes | 2 Firewalla Boxes | 1 Firewalla Box |
| VPN Protocol |
OpenVPN |
OpenVPN Wireguard1 |
OpenVPN |
Notes:
1 Wireguard is not supported on Firewalla Red and Blue.
2 Firewalla AnyConnect VPN client supports SSL, not IKEv2.
3 Firewalla IPsec VPN client can only be configured via Firewalla MSP. For more info, see here.
**Please refer to this document for more information about Site to Site VPN.
Firewalla VPN Client is not available for boxes in Transparent Bridge Mode.
3rd-Party VPN Server
Scenario:
You have many devices at home, all connected to a router that provides access to the Internet. You worry that your ISP can see your internet traffic and log your browsing history. Or, you're in a location where some websites you want to use are inaccessible.
Problem:
You paid for a 3rd party VPN Service to protect your online traffic from snooping, interference, and censorship. But you have to install VPN Clients on all your devices to get them connected to the 3rd party VPN Service, and you have to manage them (all your laptops, smartphones, tablets, and gaming consoles) with apps on different platforms. Some of your devices may not even be able to install a VPN client app. Or, you want to watch Netflix on Apple TV, but it's not supported in your location.
Solution:
Firewalla VPN Client enables you to connect your network to a 3rd party VPN Server. You don't need to install individual VPN apps on all your devices– just enable the VPN Client on the Firewalla app and select which device you want to connect to the 3rd party VPN Server.
Due to how each 3rd party VPN Server operates, Firewalla cannot guarantee performance. The speed of your VPN connection depends on how the server allocates bandwidth.
Remote Access VPN
Scenario:
When working from home, you must access your company network to see files and printers or connect to a computer.
Problem:
You want to have an easy way to access company resources remotely while you are at home. Your company wants to provide a secure way to access its network.
Solution:
Remote access VPNs enable you to connect to your office network from anywhere securely. This is an encrypted channel that is only visible one way. This setup requires 2 Firewalla boxes– one as the VPN server, the other as the VPN client. Read more in our article about Firewalla's VPN Server.
Site to Site VPN
Scenario:
Your company has offices at two different sites. The headquarters and the subsidiary office have separate networks with computers and servers connected.
Problem:
Someone sitting at a computer in headquarters is not able to access the server at the subsidiary office, and vice versa.
Solution:
Site-to-site VPNs allow you to connect two separate networks. Devices in one network can reach devices in the other network under strong encryption. You can read more in our article about Firewalla Site to Site VPNs.
How do I use Firewalla VPN Client?
Step 1: Create a VPN connection
- Tap on the VPN Client button on your box's main page.
- Tap on + Create VPN Connection to create a new profile/connection. You can create up to 9 VPN connections in total.
- Select what type of VPN connection you'd like to create: Site to Site VPN, Remote Access VPN, or 3rd-Party VPN. If you have multiple VPN profiles, you can also create a VPN Group.
- If you select 3rd-Party VPN, you'll need to choose a protocol:
- OpenVPN: You can create an OpenVPN connection by importing or manually filling in your VPN server profile information. Follow your VPN server's manual for the credentials (username and password) or profile required for the VPN connection. Here is a detailed guide on several verified OpenVPN providers.
- WireGuard: If your WireGuard service has provided a VPN profile or a QR code containing VPN configurations, you can import the profile or scan the QR code to create the connection. You can also copy and paste the configuration text to the app to create the connection from scratch.
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AnyConnect (supported on Gold and Purple in router mode): With AnyConnect, you can connect any of your devices (or your entire network) to a VPN server with one tap.
- If your VPN service provider requires Multi-Factor Authentication, enable the option, and the app will ask for a one-time password (OTP) when connecting to the VPN.
- To have Firewalla auto-fill your OTP, tap One-Time Password, select Auto-Fill, then fill in the secret or tap the "[-]" icon on the right to scan the QR code provided by your VPN service provider. Please note that this only works if your VPN service provider allows you to generate your OTPs using a Secret or a QR code.
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IPsec (Firewalla MSP only): For Gold series boxes managed by Firewalla MSP, you can configure IPsec as the VPN protocol for 3rd-party VPNs. Due to its complexity, IPsec can only be configured via the MSP interface. Learn more about Firewalla MSP's VPN Client here.
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For some examples on setting up IPsec, please consult these guides:
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Step 2: Select Devices
After the connection is set up, you can selectively send your devices' network traffic through the VPN. Devices must be part of the Firewalla overlay network or in router mode to use the VPN.
- If you use DHCP mode, all your monitored devices are already in the Firewalla overlay network.
- If you use Simple mode, you must manually join your devices to the Firewalla overlay network. This is done by assigning a static IP address to the device. Here is a tutorial on how to join the overlay network in Simple mode.
- If you use Router mode, there is no need to do anything extra.
Step 3: Connect to VPN
There are two ways to connect:
- From the VPN Client page, tap on the connection you want to establish. Switch the VPN on, and the status will become "Connected."
- Tap the VPN button on the detail page of the device, network, or group you want to connect to, then select a VPN.
Firewalla supports up to 5 active VPN connections.
VPN Profile Configurations
After a VPN profile is set up, there are some options you can set.
-
Outbound Policy (Site to Site or Remote Access VPN Only):
- Server site subnets: The app will list all the subnets on the server site in this section. The outbound policy of all the subnets will be set to VPN, which means when VPN-enabled devices access those subnets from your local network, Firewalla will send the traffic via VPN.
-
Internet: Choose how VPN-enabled devices access the Internet.
- VPN means VPN-enabled devices will use their gateway on the VPN server site for Internet access.
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Direct means VPN-enabled devices will use their default gateway for Internet access. Please note that Routes directing traffic to the VPN will also follow the Internet Outbound Policy. This means that if the policy is set to "Direct," any traffic sent to the VPN will still exit through the WAN, even if it's routed to the VPN.
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Force DNS over VPN: Force VPN-enabled devices to use DNS over VPN or not.
- When it is on, DNS requests will be forwarded to the VPN server. Unbound, DNS over HTTPS, and Family Protect (3rd-party Mode) will not work on devices connected to VPN Client. While these DNS protocols won't take effect, other functions will still work, e.g., Blocking Rules, Ad Block, Safe Search, and Custom DNS Rules.
- When it is off, DNS requests will work as if there were no VPN connection, but traffic to the requested destinations will go over VPN. This means all your DNS traffic will be intercepted and protected by Firewalla. More detail can be found here: Firewalla DNS Services Introduction.
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Internet Kill Switch: Automatically disconnect a device if the VPN is down. This option is ONLY available when the Internet option is set to VPN. When it is on, Firewalla will be able to:
- Detect and generate an alarm if VPN Connection encounters any error
- Auto disconnect the device's internet access if the VPN is down
- Detect and generate an alarm if the VPN Connection restores
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Policy-Based Routes: Firewalla policy-based routing can direct traffic locally or over a VPN. For more detail, see our article on Firewalla Policy-Based Routing.
- Delete This Profile: Delete a VPN profile permanently. All related rules will be removed from the box.
VPN Group for Failover
For boxes running in Router Mode, Firewalla supports creating VPN groups, allowing you to connect to a group of multiple VPN clients for improved availability.
To create one, tap Create VPN Connection > VPN Group. Create a group name, choose the profiles you'd like to include, and save. You can also tap Edit in the top right corner of the VPN Group page to change the order of the VPN profiles.
Firewalla will connect to all VPN clients in the group at the same time. When the primary VPN profile fails, it will forward the traffic to the next available profile in the list.
Note: Port forwarding and Unbound over VPN are not currently supported with VPN groups; you may need to continue using individual VPN profiles for these features.
Common Issues and Fixes
- Firewalla VPN client does NOT support IPv6. IPv6 traffic will be blocked by Firewalla when the VPN is connected.
- Devices (i.e., laptop/phone/pad, etc.) should not use local DNS servers.
- Devices must be part of the Firewalla overlay network or in router mode to use VPN.(Does not apply to Router mode. See above for Simple and DHCP modes.)
- On a Firewalla box, both the Firewalla VPN server and the Firewalla VPN client can run simultaneously.
- Firewalla VPN Client only supports one remote address. If the .ovpn file from your VPN service provider has multiple "remote xxxx..." addresses, please delete all but one of them.
Verified 3rd-party VPN services
These are verified by our test team and contributed by customers. Although we try to keep this updated, sometimes we can't catch up with service changes. If you do have issues, please post them to our forums.
ExpressVPN
Fully compatible.
Follow the steps below to set up ExpressVPN on Firewalla:
- Log into your account on the ExpressVPN website.
- Copy the Username & Password under Manual Configuration -> OpenVPN (https://www.expressvpn.com/setup#manual), and paste it into the Firewalla app -> VPN Client -> Profile -> Create 3rd Party VPN.
- Download the OpenVPN file and import the profile to the Configuration section. Or, you can open the file and copy and paste the content in the text field.
- Save the profile, and you are ready to connect.
Note: For the username and password, please use the separate credentials dedicated to VPN connections from their setup website. Do not use your ExpressVPN app account username and password.
Surfshark
Fully compatible.
Follow the steps below to set up Surfshark on Firewalla:
- Log into the Surfshark manual setup. Find your Surfshark service credentials. Pick a server (location) and download the configuration file.
- Open the Firewalla App -> VPN Client -> Profile -> Create 3rd Party VPN. Enter your Surfshark account credentials.
- Import the config file you downloaded previously. Or, you can open the file and copy and paste the content in the text field.
- Save the profile, and you are ready to connect.
NordVPN
Fully compatible.
Follow the steps below to set up NordVPN on Firewalla:
- Go to the server picker on the NordVPN website. Tap on the Show available protocols button. Download the configuration file for the connection protocol you want to use.
- Open the Firewalla App -> VPN Client -> Profile -> Create 3rd Party VPN. Enter your NordVPN service credentials. Note, these are not the same as your NordVPN username and password. You can find your NordVPN service credentials (username and password) in the Nord Account dashboard. Copy the credentials using the "Copy" buttons on the right.
- Import the config file you downloaded previously from the NordVPN website. Or, you can open the file and copy and paste the content in the text field.
- Save the profile, and you are ready to connect.
Smart DNS Proxy
Fully compatible.
IPVanish VPN (Requires additional configuration)
WireGuard via IPVanish:
- IPVanish supports WireGuard configuration profiles. For more information and a user-submitted tutorial video, please check this Reddit post.
Per IPVanish support, new IPVanish profiles will have CA cert content embedded.
The steps below should no longer be necessary, but they are here in case of problems.
- Find the two profiles below: "ipvanish-XX-XX-XXX-XXX.ovpn" and "ca.ipvanish.com.crt".
- Open the file 'ca.ipvanish.com.crt' using a text editor and copy all the content.
- Open file 'ipvanish-XX-XX-XXX-XXX.ovpn' using a text editor and find the line "caca.ipvanish.com.crt".
- Replace the line with the following content:
<ca>
[Paste the content of ca.ipvanish.com.crt here]
</ca> - Save it and import the new file into your Firewalla VPN Client.
PureVPN (Requires additional configuration)
Before importing your PureVPN profile to Firewalla, open the profile in a text editor and remove these two entries:
route-delay 2
route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
You'll also need to find your username and password on PureVPN. Here's how to easily find your existing VPN password.
ProtonVPN
Fully compatible.
Follow the steps below to set up ProtonVPN on Firewalla:
- Log into the web-based dashboard at account.protonvpn.com using your account credentials (the ones you set up during account creation).
- Select Downloads in the left navigation bar on the ProtonVPN dashboard. Find the OpenVPN configuration files section and choose (standard server configs; platform: Router; Protocol: UDP). Download the configuration file from ProtonVPN.
- Open the Firewalla App -> VPN Client -> Profile -> Create 3rd Party VPN. Enter your OpenVPN/IKEv2 username and password. Copy the credentials using the "Copy" buttons on the right and paste them into the "username" and "password" fields.
- Enter your ProtonVPN OpenVPN/IKEv2 Username and Password into the Firewalla app when creating a 3rd Party VPN. Then import the configuration file into the Firewalla app.
Unverified 3rd-party VPN services
These are some tips from contributions from our users:
-
PIA: Firewalla VPN Client is compatible with Private Internet Access (PIA) but some users report you may need to add this line to the PIA profile:
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pull-filter ignore "auth-token"
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see https://forum.netgate.com/topic/128325/solved-openvpn-reconnect-auth_failed/5
- Wireguard via NordVPN: Tutorial on using WireGuard via NordVPN and this one.
Comments
81 comments
Has anyone tried setting up the Firewalla VPN, either Wireguard or OpenVPN, with Azure VM?
I'm not sure how to create the config file for the wireguard. l have completed the setup on the Azure end but am now sure how to create the config file.
thanks andy. yep that's the familiar vpnu wg feature. it's wg tun stopped working after running for a few months and had to create a new profile on keepsolid. same vpnu wg experience here.
anyone using VPN Unlimited with Firewalla as a VPN client? tia.
https://www.vpnunlimited.com/
You are probably having the same issue I had with my NordVPN service. In order to Utilize the NORDVPN service, you have to setup a Service Level authentication login. Its pretty straight forward but you will have to do this from a PC and not on your phone. The link is the one I used below to configure mine and then I just imported it into my Firewalla Desktop Dashboard.
https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023379953-VPN-Client#h_677d2026-6bf7-4fe6-abbd-7566ef1c362c
Hi all, new Firewalla user here. I have a paid Proton VPN subscription and followed the guide listed here, also tried the modification listed in the comments, and I can't connect.
I get AUTH_FAILED notice in the logs. I do have 2FA on my account and I'm guessing that might be why I can't connect but want to confirm. And if that is the case, is there a way to continue?
When setting up a third-party VPN on Firewalla using NordVPN, it may be worth noting that the current step 1 (Go to the server picker on the NordVPN website. Tap on the Show available protocols button. Download the configuration file for the connection protocol you want to use.) in that process is if you are using the "find the best" server approach. If you have a Dedicated IP through NordVPN and what to connect to your specific NordVPN Dedicated IP Server, you can go to https://nordvpn.com/ovpn/ on the NordVPN website to get the config file. This is the recommendation approach from support at NordVPN and a page that they actively maintain. All of the other steps listed in this article are the same. Passing along to Firewalla support for possible inclusion to help save folks a little extra researching in the future.
@bob - the "internet kill switch" in the VPN connection settings should do exactly that
The Surfshark links don’t work and I’m trying to used the 3rd part VPN to setup. Any updated tips how to do this?
Hello, awesome post.
Is there a way to define the VPN routes for VPN configuration without having to modify the OPVN file directly? I would like to only tunnel the vpn routes rather than using a tunnel all traffic.
Thanks in advance.
I am trying to implement IP Vanish.
I have all the updated OVPN configuration files on the FW. Let's not discuss if that was a good idea or not, there was a reason that they ended up there, let's just agree they are there now. :-)
How can I import those files when setting up the VPN clients on the mobile app?
*** For those users attempting to us PureVPN. This could save you hours. ***
When using PureVPN be sure to verify your password is correct.
Your username will begin with "purevpn0s" and the password can be different than your login password.
To check your password> Login to PureVPN Membership area > Account and Billing > Under Subscription Details: There is a Dropdown box. > Show/Update VPN Password
I hope this helps someone.
What were the steps to get VPNSecure to work properly?
@Simon
Here it is:
https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023379953-VPN-Client-Beta-#h_073b9487-d00c-4bf0-9aea-d80f8d537366
Firewalla doesn't have the auto reset feature. Since you are techie, I guess you can just ssh and add a root cronjob to restart every night :)
Has anyone successfully managed to get a firewall 3rd party VPN to connect to pfSense running an OpenVPN server? I can't get it to import any of configuration profiles. They are all invalid.
Ok I spoke too soon, I went out and came back home and t looks like it works now.
Is there a way to use the 3rd party VPN service's DNS servers when connected via the VPN Client?
I am in Simple Mode, with my device's IP manually set to the overlay, and its DNS server set to 192.168.4.1 (my physical network gateway IP). Perhaps setting the DNS server to the Firewalla's overlay IP (192.168.218.1)?
Edit: setting the DNS server to the Firewalla's overlay IP seemed to work. When not using the VPN client, https://dnsleaktest.com/ says I'm using an AmazonAWS server, and when VPN is on, a different server whose location matches the location of my 3rd party VPN Server I'm connected to.
@George,
Can you send a screenshot of the import profile dialog, (which has the ovpn file in the window) to help@firewalla.com?
I tried in latest beta and latest production app, it works.
Thanks,
Melvin
I am using the latest beta version
@George
Which app version are you using? It should be an old issue, and already fixed in latest app.
Melvin
I am trying to connect to ExpressVPN. I cannot load the configuration as my .ovpn file is greyed out.
@Melvin Tu, newest beta works great! Thanks for the quick release. Great job!
@Keny1st7427,
Please upgrade to latest beta release (2.44.26), it has the import function.
@Andy,
Thanks for trying. The import bug should have been fixed in latest version (2.44.26), please have a try.
Melvin, the latest Beta update (with notes "allows import of profiles") on Android still doesn't work. The import button now appears but when I browse to my Nord VPN UDP saved file, it's greyed out for me. Contrasting with my iOS experience, which works fine and am able to install a VPN profile fine. Just to add I'm on Android 9 using a Motorola G6
@David,
The DNS server of 3rd party VPN will be used automatically when VPN client is connected and VPN mode is turned on in device.
When VPN mode is turned off in device, even if the device is still in overlay network and VPN client is still connected, it will NOT use the DNS server of 3rd party VPN. (Basically device traffic will not be sent through VPN)
So do you want to use the 3rd party DNS server even if VPN mode is not turned on?
Melvin
Im beta user. When I clicked on to use 3rd party VPN, it didn't show me to import file. Only manual configuration is showed. If that's the case, how do we manual config it? Thank you.
Just testing this now. On Android there is no option to import a profile, also when pasting one in, the "save" button stays greyed out.
Using iOS is more successful, I can import a profile, did a UDP and TCP from NordVPN. Next I see that I need to move devices from simple mode to static IPs on 192.168 network, so I fix two of my devices, they now show on the overlay network, I enable them both, click save and it looks like it's working, but when I test my IP, they show my normal IP not the VPN address.
Question, do I need a blue Firewalls for this to work?
thanks Melvin!
Hi Firewalla Team,
if I SSH into /home/pi/.firewalla/run/ovpn_profile
could I place an ovpn and auth file in that folder that the firewalla device would recognize?
I have a 3rd party VPN but it requires Username and Password.
Is there an example on how to create a new profile if I want to use a 3rd party VPN provider?
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