Help me setup VPN please..

manithree · 2022-01-12T00:35:13.000Z

vestureofblood:

I went to network status and under Ethernet it says “not connected”, but LTE-XXX (my router) says connected. So it looks like maybe whatever it changes was on the NAS???

How did you “go to network status”? Was that on the NAS, or a PC?

It’s highly unlikely that the VPN client on one of your computers modified your NAS.

vestureofblood:

I also tried plugging the NAS in directly to the shop PC with an eithernet cable, rather than being routed through the network switch and it did nothing

Unless you’ve had that working before, I wouldn’t expect it to (i.e. it’s not a very good test). In general, you can’t just connect two computers, and your NAS is likely just a small linux or bsd computer, with a straight-through network cable. Unless one or the other has an auto-configuring network adapter (which used to be quite rare, and I think still is), you need a crossover cable to do that.

ETA: Plus addressing issues. That’s just very unlikely to work.

Lumencraft-Matt · 2022-01-11T23:10:01.000Z

manithree:

How did you “go to network status”? Was that on the NAS, or a PC?

That was on the house PC.

manithree · 2022-01-12T00:43:08.000Z

vestureofblood:

manithree:

How did you “go to network status”? Was that on the NAS, or a PC?

That was on the house PC.

There are 2 things to check. If the network status on the PC is “not connected” there is either a physical problem with the NIC in the PC, the cable, or the switch. Or, it can’t connect to the DHCP server on the router to get its assigned IP address. Check the lights on the port on the PC, lights on the ports on the switch, and double-check your router is still working.

Given that you’re seeing multiple problems on your local network (I think), it’s possible your router is disconnected from your LAN, or not functioning. I would focus on one PC that’s plugged directly in to the router, if possible. Get its network connection working properly by checking every step between it and the router. If you can’t get that working, you’ve almost definitely got a router problem.

Kelly8 · 2022-01-12T10:51:30.000Z

Sorry if this is off-topic, but is it worth it to buy Express VPN, or are there better options?

CM2010 · 2022-01-12T13:46:00.000Z

ExpressVPN is considered one of the best if not the best.

I just split the cost with a friend and share it as you can have 5 connections.

raccoon · 2022-01-12T21:13:51.000Z

Kelly8:

Sorry if this is off-topic, but is it worth it to buy Express VPN, or are there better options?

If you're looking for a budget option, I like Ivacy VPN.

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/50112/30

They're not the best VPN, but they're dirt cheap and good enough for me.

The_Dude_Abides · 2022-01-12T21:58:54.000Z

I think most paid VPNs are pretty much a scam at this point with all the Youtubers shilling for it. For securely accessing your home network, including accessing Synology from afar, I recommend Tailscale. I have been using it for many months and it is great and free. It runs based on Wireguard VPN.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a zero config VPN for building secure networks. Install on any device in minutes. Remote access from any network or physical location.

raccoon · 2022-01-12T23:32:36.000Z

In my research, everywhere that I have read, all free VPNs are worthless, privacy-wise.

(Many paid ones as well.)

azj · 2022-01-12T23:25:02.000Z

Well, at this point, it sounds like your Synology is not getting proper network settings. I’d try the following:

1) turn off the pc with ExpressVPN on it, just to be sure (this shouldn’t be necessary, but hey, just to be sure)
2) reboot the Synology. This can take 5 minutes or so. To do this you are probably going to have to tap the power button, wait a bit for all its lights to go out, then tap it again. If that doesnt work, hold down its power button until the lights go out (force it off, less desireable), then push it so it comes back on. A much worse/last ditch method is to pull its power.
3) try and ping the Synology after waiting the 5 minutes or so from a different computer. It appears from your screenshots that its name is “nasstorage”, so you’d open a command prompt by typing “cmd”, and either press enter or click the command prompt icon, then in the black command window type “ping nasstorage” (no quotes). You may have to do this a few times. Hopefully you get messages that say “Reply from…” after a bit and not “Request timed out” or something else bad.

You can click the “X” or type exit to get rid of the command window.

If that doesn’t work then I’m not sure what’s up with the Synology, but it really shouldn’t have anything to do with the VPN. Maybe unplug/replug/check its network cable.

If all that does work, then turn your VPN computer back on and go from there.

Good luck

As far as one vpn service over another, ExpressVPN is fine. I happen to have “Private Internet Access”, but only because I got a good deal many years ago and I knew how to connect to them using a router. I also connect to them using a PC when I’m at work with no issue.

pennzy · 2022-01-13T01:28:31.000Z

raccoon city:

In my research, everywhere that I have read, all free VPNs are worthless, privacy-wise.

(Many paid ones as well.)

Proton vpn gets good reviews and is free.

raccoon · 2022-01-13T02:04:24.000Z

pennzy:

Proton vpn gets good reviews and is free.

They throttle the speed of the free accounts, and don't allow file sharing.

Also, with a free VPN, you are the product, which means they sell your data, which is the exact opposite of what you want with a VPN.

If you care about your privacy, do not get a free VPN.

"If you really want better protection online, avoid free VPNs. While you might save a few dollars each month, the risks to your privacy and data are not worth it. In fact, using a free VPN could cost you a lot more than the subscription to a premium provider."

https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/free-vpns-are-not-safe-to-use/

pennzy · 2022-01-13T02:15:46.000Z

I don’t know about file sharing and the speed does slow from some free locations but Proton was one of the best for protecting your info. It is fast enough for me but I don’t use it for gaming or anything requiring a lot of speed. At least it was rated highly when I joined up over a year ago.

top10vpn.com

Proton VPN Free Review | Is It Still Safe & Trustworthy in 2023?

Should you use Proton VPN's free application? Read our latest review to see the results of our tests.

raccoon · 2022-01-13T02:51:05.000Z

Okay, according to that website, ProtonVPN is the only exception to the rule (of free VPNs that offer unlimited access selling your data.)

I did some additional research, and it looks like my comments about privacy and ProtonVPN were wrong (in previous posts.)

You'll get much better speeds with a reputable paid VPN, and I got a lifetime subscription to Ivacy VPN for only $40

Lumencraft-Matt · 2022-01-14T19:48:14.000Z

My Apologies!!! I found the problem with my network and as minithree and azj suggested it was not an issue cased by the VPN. At the same time I installed the VPN I also updated some old passwords including the one on the NAS. I didn’t realize that I needed to update them inside each of my computers as well (someone else setup this nework for me).
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I left my original post but edited it to reflect this. That way all of the responses to that comment will still make sense. I also deleted the post I made that suggested a person should take into account the “damage” done by VPNs as part of the “Price”. Again I apologize for posting the incorrect information. Thanks to all who offered support.
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I still plan to peruse the VPN. I am going to do a new set of backups before proceeding since mine are like 5 months old. Once that is done I will Test the VPN again.

Lightbringer · 2022-01-14T21:53:29.000Z

I’ve been using PIA for quite a while, and the general consensus is that it’s good, but slow. It’s been tried (twice?) in court and proven that they keep no logs, which is good. One concern I have/had is the ownership transfer to Kape, who had ties to stuff that would stick spyware in some apps, but there’s been no proof that it has anything to do with PIA.

I did notice the slowdowns, so would “shop around” for various servers as the need arises. Some are blacklisted by some sites (no prob, pick a different server and you’re done), other times the server might be busy and slow, so again, pick a different server. That’s about it as far as my grexing. Well, that and getting directed to amazon.co.uk instead of .com if I happen to pick a server in London, that kind of thing.

It does work pretty well overall, and since using them I haven’t gotten any of those “letters” which studios send to various people purely at random with no basis whatsoever to support their wild unsubstantiated claims, so that’s well worth the annual sub.

azj · 2022-01-15T00:09:06.000Z

vestureofblood:

My Apologies!!! I found the problem with my network and as minithree and azj suggested it was not an issue cased by the VPN. At the same time I installed the VPN I also updated some old passwords including the one on the NAS. I didn’t realize that I needed to update them inside each of my computers as well (someone else setup this nework for me).

Heh, no worries, I’ve been in computers for over 40 years and doing networking for over 30, and I make dumb mistakes periodically…Case in point, one of my backups was failing, and after diagnosing for over 2 weeks I opened a support case with Veeam, only for me to 2 days later that one of the machines in the backup chain was not the machine I thought I was backing up. 1 reboot later (when in doubt…REBOOT), everything was fine.

Lumencraft-Matt · 2022-01-22T22:23:04.000Z

I have a VPN setup now on several of my devices and it seems to be working okay. Since I am not able to install it on my router do I also need to install this on my synology NAS?

azj · 2022-01-24T22:53:04.000Z

You shouldn’t need to put it on the NAS. Are you still able to see the NAS while the vpn is active? If not, look for a setting on the vpn to allow local network access or something like that. Each vpn service might call it something else so I can’t tell you what it is exactly. Mine is “Allow LAN Traffic”

Note: if you are not sure if the vpn is active or not, go to a machine that does not have it, open a browser to https://whatismyip.com and make note of the address and location. Then go to a device with the vpn and do the same thing. You should see a difference.

Think of it like this. Everything in your little local network is like the houses in a cul-de-sac. As long as you are going between the addresses of those houses on that little cul-de-sac, you aren’t leaving your local network. If you leave the cul-de-sac, you enter another street and hit the internet. A VPN virtually moves your cul-de-sac elsewhere, anywhere in the world. You can still talk to the houses in the cul-del-sac, but if you exit that street, you’ve entered somewhere else.

…wait, didn’t I see that in an episode of the twilight zone?

Lumencraft-Matt · 2022-01-24T23:09:45.000Z

azj:

You shouldn’t need to put it on the NAS. Are you still able to see the NAS while the vpn is active? If not, look for a setting on the vpn to allow local network access or something like that. Each vpn service might call it something else so I can’t tell you what it is exactly. Mine is “Allow LAN Traffic”

Note: if you are not sure if the vpn is active or not, go to a machine that does not have it, open a browser to https://whatismyip.com and make note of the address and location. Then go to a device with the vpn and do the same thing. You should see a difference.

Think of it like this. Everything in your little local network is like the houses in a cul-de-sac. As long as you are going between the addresses of those houses on that little cul-de-sac, you aren’t leaving your local network. If you leave the cul-de-sac, you enter another street and hit the internet. A VPN virtually moves your cul-de-sac elsewhere, anywhere in the world. You can still talk to the houses in the cul-del-sac, but if you exit that street, you’ve entered somewhere else.

…wait, didn’t I see that in an episode of the twilight zone?

Thanks for responding. I can see everything in the NAS fine. The concern I have is that the network switch that the NAS and my PCs are connected to is also connected to my router. I can login to the NAS remotely this way. To me it seems like it might be a vulnerability.

This is not related to the VPN, but another thing I have a concern about with the NAS is when I login remotely at the top it says connection not secure. It shows the crossed out padlock. Is this something I need to be fixing?

This cybersecurity stuff makes me feel like a kid who’s playing with something he’s not supposed to have

fourbyfive · 2022-01-25T04:08:43.000Z

I’ve been humming along with Proton VPN now for awhile now, as well as their encrypted email service. The free services are fine for a low level user like me. The paid versions look pretty robust and useful for those that need it. The free service is able to stream video. Quality customer service is the main reason I use Proton. Not an advertisement here, merely my experience. I consider VPN a necessity these days.