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My existing home network setup is as follows;

  • Virgin Media Superhub 2 in modem only mode
  • ASUS RT-N13U working as a switch / wireless AP running DD-WRT firmware version DD-WRT v24-sp2 (08/07/10) std
  • Port forwarding on ASUS for RDP (3389 for what its worth)
  • DDNS with NOIP
  • PIA Anonymous VPN Service - using client software on Windows 7 PC & Android mobile device - no VPN config on switch / router

Regardless of whether I am connected to the VPN, if my Windows PC is switched on, I can RDP into it remotely (not on the LAN) from pretty much anywhere - have tested on multiple devices from multiple locations. This works using either my WAN IP or my DDNS hostname.

My problem is that I cannot access the remote admin page of my switch and I'm pretty sure it's something to do with my VPN. I have listed the example scenarios I have tried below;

Scenario 1: The PC is switched on - connected to the VPN
Result 1: Cannot remotely access switch

Scenario 2: The PC is switched off - was connected to the VPN when last shut down
Result: Cannot remotely access switch

Scenario 3: The PC is switched on - not connected to VPN
Result 3: Can remotely access switch

Scenario 4: The PC is switched off - was not connected to VPN when last shut down
Result 4: Can remotely access switch

As with my RDP tests, I have tried all of the above 4 scenarios using both my WAN IP and my DDNS hostname from various devices in various locations.

There are two things which are confusing the hell outta me here;

Firstly why is the VPN apparently the issue here when it is controlled by software on a PC which may be on or off when trying to remotely access? I could understand if the VPN was configured on the switch / router but it isn't.

Secondly, how is RDP getting through every time without fail and remote switch / router access is failing every time without fail?

I have attached a few (hopefully) useful screenshots of the DD-WRT config, if any more details are required let me know in the comments and I will edit as necessary.

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12
  • How is your port forwarding set for port 8080? Can you post screenshots of that? (Sorry this really should be a comment, but I can't post there because I'm new and my reputation is too low. Will edit as needed).
    – teknoman
    Jul 26, 2015 at 18:08
  • Assuming you're accessing the WAN interface outside LAN, otherwise, you'll need to enable NAT loopback. Settings looks OK for me, its possible that your ISP blockes popular ports on WAN, since you've tried ssh/telent, how about changing the default 8080 port?
    – lex
    Jul 26, 2015 at 18:38
  • No port forwarding on 80/8080. Only 3389 for RDP.
    – Jonny Wright
    Jul 26, 2015 at 18:40
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    When you VPN in you should be able to access your router's admin page by entering its private LAN IP address (i.e. 10.0.0.1) via HTTP or HTTPS. The "Remote access" would be through your WAN IP on whatever port you've selected. As your SuperHub is in "modem only" mode then it's probably put the ASUS in its DMZ. Also, make sure the network you're using to connect doesn't dish out IPs in the range 10.0.0.x... Are you able to ping the router's LAN IP when you've connected via the VPN? You most certainly should be able to use the router's internal IP to get the GUI when you're RDP'ing...
    – Kinnectus
    Jul 30, 2015 at 16:23
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    NoIP client is on the router (sorry for the mis-match of device desriptions). It is definitely my WAN IP I am trying, not the VPN IP.
    – Jonny Wright
    Aug 2, 2015 at 22:21

2 Answers 2

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Try internal IP admin address when connected to VPN.

When you are connected to VPN maybe you need to use the internal IP instead of external IP / DDNS name.

Perhaps tunneling you on the VPN and then letting you hit the public side of your admin interface is impossible / difficult for DD-WRT.

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4
  • This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Jul 30, 2015 at 16:08
  • Fine I'll phrase it as an answer
    – TechnoCore
    Jul 30, 2015 at 16:12
  • Sorry the question may not be clear - its an anonymous VPN service for web access - it chooses random servers when connecting so effectively has a dynamic IP so there is no way (that I'm aware of) of "connecting to the VPN from a remote location"
    – Jonny Wright
    Jul 30, 2015 at 22:00
  • Oh so you are actually behind the router you are trying to hit, you are just VPN'ed elsewhere and are trying to then hit Router from public side? I thought you were remote and VPN'ing to your own router, which then you couldn't get to admin page.
    – TechnoCore
    Jul 30, 2015 at 22:06
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If you are trying to connect to the switch (where also the VPN-using computer is located in) from a remote device outside of the switch's LAN, I have two guesses/suggestions:

  1. The issue is due to a conflict between the DDWRT's DHCP server working on 10.0.0.1/8 and the VPN's IP address which is mostly something in exactly this range. But I cannot think of a way that a computers connection with such a network interferes with the switch which has no connection to it. Maybe someone else can.
  2. Assuming the VPN also uses Port 8080 (which isn't that unrealistic) and the VPN application maybe also uses UPnP to forward this port to the computer, an external access using the WAN IP (or its DDNS URL) should be unsuccessful.
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  • This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Jul 31, 2015 at 14:46
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    As you may see I don't have enough reputation but however wanted to help the author which did not yet receive a solving answer. Sorry for not 100% following the rules.
    – mxmehl
    Aug 1, 2015 at 11:50

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