SOHO VPN Router User Guide

SOHO VPN Router User Guide
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Kevin Palmer

This section outlines the process to setup pre-configured routers at the end-user’s location.

Installation Instructions

Caution: It is important to connect the VPN router to a working Internet connection. The VPN router must connect to the Internet when the router is powered on. A common mistake is to forget to unplug the cable or DSL modem before connecting the VPN router. The cable or DSL modem must be unplugged to clear the ARP cache. There are a few cable and DSL modems that include a battery backup. If your cable or DSL modem has a battery backup, you will need to unplug the device and remove the battery to clear the memory.

1. Power off the ISP provided cable or DSL modem. (Clear the arp cache.)
2. Connect the Ethernet cable from the ISP provided cable or DSL modem to the WAN port on the VPN router.
3. Connect an Ethernet cable from LAN Port #1 on the VPN router to the WAN port on the QoS router.

• Do not connect anything to LAN ports 2, 3, or 4 on the VPN router. Doing so will kill QoS.

4. Connect the VoIP phone to any of the LAN ports on the QoS router.
5. Connect additional devices to any of the LAN ports or the Wireless on the QoS router.
6. Power on the cable or DSL modem and wait five minutes. (Wait until the cable or DSL modem is fully booted up.)
7. Power on the VPN router.
8. Wait two minutes and power on the QoS router.


Notes

Existing Cable/DSL Routers
In many cases an end-user will have an existing wireless router. It is possible to connect the WAN port on an existing wireless router to one of the LAN ports on the QoS router. Connecting an existing router will prevent you from having to change settings on home computers. The home network will also benefit from QoS.

UPS / Power Supply
The WRT54GL is more sensitive to power spikes and brown outs than a home computer. You can improve reliability by connecting the WRT54GL to a UPS. If you suspect problem related to a power surge, cycle the power on both routers.

Reliability Expectations
The VPN tunnels will be down for two minutes every night. A complete restart of the VPN is scheduled nightly between 12am and 3am. Every router is scheduled to restart the VPN at a different time.

The VPN tunnels will be down up to ten minutes every time the public IP address changes. Time Warner changes IP addresses less than once a month. Comcast changes IP addresses infrequently. In the unlikely event that your ISP changes IP addresses several times a day, you may experience difficulty with the VPN.

DSL
PPPoE is supported. There is no web interface to configure PPPoE. Ask your network administrator for assistance or look at the instructions in the OpenWRT WIKI.