Cannot access VPN with DSL-2750U?

Foxhound5366

Foxhound5366

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Like so many South Africans I've got a D-Link DSL-2750U router from Telkom.

Only issue is that now when I'd like to get the privacy of a VPN with it, it doesn't seem like it's possible?

Under connection type, the 2750U only has these options:
Protocols.JPG

A VPN service like NordVPN and others requires support of the L2TP or PPTP protocols ... which are supposedly on that list above on newer routers (although apparently the protocols are old themselves).

What are my options here? Buy a new router? And how would I know it supports this?

Thanks!
 
DeathStrike said:
I dial my vpn from my pc. do you need the whole network on the vpn?
Click to expand...

I need to connect a single wifi-connected device that doesn't support an on-device VPN (a Roku). The only option is to go upstream to the router, unless somebody has a better Roku trick?
 
Foxhound5366 said:
I need to connect a single wifi-connected device that doesn't support an on-device VPN (a Roku). The only option is to go upstream to the router, unless somebody has a better Roku trick?
Click to expand...

I should probably stop answering my own questions here, but I found this article: https://support.unblock-us.com/cust...9.1334340563.1496499569-1647919483.1496499569

Managed to set that up on my router (at least you can specify the DNS to use on it!), sooooo ... now just gotta see if it works with the Roku. Still want a VPN though, so if anybody can recommend a decent modern router that supports VPNs that'll be cool: those pre-flashed VPN routers are pretty expensive (north of $250).
 
Ok, for whatever reason Unblock-US isn't working for me ... whatever DNS magic it's doing, my IP address is unchanged and it's that that the Roku is using to identify my region.

So we're basically back to needing a new router that supports a VPN service. If anybody has a good one they're not using anymore, let me know please :)
 
You are looking in the wrong place and the router probably doesn't do it.

You'll always need that PPPoE connection to get your internet.

Then you need a VPN client "behind" that connection.

Some routers now have that VPN client function built-in do you don't need to run it for each device.

Most don't though.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Ok, for whatever reason Unblock-US isn't working for me ... whatever DNS magic it's doing, my IP address is unchanged and it's that that the Roku is using to identify my region.

So we're basically back to needing a new router that supports a VPN service. If anybody has a good one they're not using anymore, let me know please :)
Click to expand...

Try putting the DNS entries directly in the Roku.

Odds are whatever app you want to use is doing a secondary lookup which needs to be blocked to make it work.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You are looking in the wrong place and the router probably doesn't do it.

You'll always need that PPPoE connection to get your internet.

Then you need a VPN client "behind" that connection.

Some routers now have that VPN client function built-in do you don't need to run it for each device.

Most don't though.
Click to expand...

Well that's the thing that I find confusing, right? Because check out this guide from NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/d-link/l2tp/

According to that, you can select L2TP as the main connection protocol INSTEAD of PPPoE. I'm honestly not sure where that leaves your main internet connection with your local ISP ... surely you need their settings included somewhere too? Regardless, the fact is that on my D-Link the drop-down menu just doesn't have the L2TP protocol available (only what's in my screenshot above).

But yes, the other alternative is to get a router from Flash Routers with Tomato or DD-WRT preinstalled, complete with the VPN provider of choice (they seem to have cornered the market on this because all the major VPNs link through to them). Example: https://nordvpn.com/flashrouters/

The issue there is that they're all mostly top-end routers costing $250-300 excluding shipping and import duties. I'd love to find a local South African distributor for the same thing, but it doesn't seem that many people in South Africa have even heard of DD-WRT and Tomato, never mind setting up a business for pre-flashing routers lol.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Try putting the DNS entries directly in the Roku.

Odds are whatever app you want to use is doing a secondary lookup which needs to be blocked to make it work.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read that the Roku has Google's DNS hardcoded into it, so with one of the workarounds you need to actually block calls to 8.8.8.8 in your router. I think that was with a VPN and not the alternative DNS, however I'll need to look into that again.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Yeah, I read that the Roku has Google's DNS hardcoded into it, so with one of the workarounds you need to actually block calls to 8.8.8.8 in your router. I think that was with a VPN and not the alternative DNS, however I'll need to look into that again.
Click to expand...
You block the Google dns for DNS services also. Had to do it for unotelly when I was using that.

The 2750u is a basic router. Doesn't have capacity for much. Rather buy a cheap WiFi router and use that to do your ppoe and vpn
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Well that's the thing that I find confusing, right? Because check out this guide from NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/d-link/l2tp/

According to that, you can select L2TP as the main connection protocol INSTEAD of PPPoE. I'm honestly not sure where that leaves your main internet connection with your local ISP ... surely you need their settings included somewhere too? Regardless, the fact is that on my D-Link the drop-down menu just doesn't have the L2TP protocol available (only what's in my screenshot above).

But yes, the other alternative is to get a router from Flash Routers with Tomato or DD-WRT preinstalled, complete with the VPN provider of choice (they seem to have cornered the market on this because all the major VPNs link through to them). Example: https://nordvpn.com/flashrouters/

The issue there is that they're all mostly top-end routers costing $250-300 excluding shipping and import duties. I'd love to find a local South African distributor for the same thing, but it doesn't seem that many people in South Africa have even heard of DD-WRT and Tomato, never mind setting up a business for pre-flashing routers lol.
Click to expand...

It probably relates to ISP's that don't use authentication at the router level and dish out via DHCP or have another modem device before it.

In SA though you need to authenticate with PPPoE to make the connection so you can't just remove that step.

OpenWRT would probably be a much cheaper option on a TP-Link.

I know Advanced Tomato can also be installed quite easily on some Asus Routers.
 
Hamish McPanji said:
The 2750u is a basic router. Doesn't have capacity for much. Rather buy a cheap WiFi router and use that to do your ppoe and vpn
Click to expand...

So I'd use the 2750u as just an ADSL modem, then run a cable from it to a second WiFi router that could be configured with the VPN? Seems like a waste of the 2750u, which actually performs quite well with its wifi capabilities (plus it has 3G fail-over).

Having two boxes like that just seems like a hack, I'd prefer to get one box that does it all. Only thing is i'd need to get one that's fiber friendly as well, in case I end up getting lucky enough to land up in a fiber area.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Yeah, I read that the Roku has Google's DNS hardcoded into it, so with one of the workarounds you need to actually block calls to 8.8.8.8 in your router. I think that was with a VPN and not the alternative DNS, however I'll need to look into that again.
Click to expand...

Easy enough to do if your D-Link supports static routes.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I know Advanced Tomato can also be installed quite easily on some Asus Routers.
Click to expand...

If anybody knows a tech guy in the Gauteng area who sells preconfigured Tomato routers at reasonable prices, please let me know! This is what I want and frankly I don't want to waste another day of my life figuring out whatever hardware I bought doesn't work lol.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
So I'd use the 2750u as just an ADSL modem, then run a cable from it to a second WiFi router that could be configured with the VPN? Seems like a waste of the 2750u, which actually performs quite well with its wifi capabilities (plus it has 3G fail-over).

Having two boxes like that just seems like a hack, I'd prefer to get one box that does it all. Only thing is i'd need to get one that's fiber friendly as well, in case I end up getting lucky enough to land up in a fiber area.
Click to expand...
It's not a hack. Many people do this. They use the 2750u as a modem only.

You can also have the other clients connected without VPN on 2750u, and a separate router only for devices that need vpn
 
Hamish McPanji said:
It's not a hack. Many people do this. They use the 2750u as a modem only.

You can also have the other clients connected without VPN on 2750u, and a separate router only for devices that need vpn
Click to expand...

Must be many techy people lol, the non-techy people I know all just use the box with the flashing lights the way that God intended lol. Ok ok, going this way will probably be cheaper, if I can just get a good recommendation of a second router to purchase that will support either being flashed with DD-WRT or Tomato, or has the L2TP protocol needed for a decent VPN like NordVPN or IPVanish. Anybody have a setup like that?
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Must be many techy people lol, the non-techy people I know all just use the box with the flashing lights the way that God intended lol. Ok ok, going this way will probably be cheaper, if I can just get a good recommendation of a second router to purchase that will support either being flashed with DD-WRT or Tomato, or has the L2TP protocol needed for a decent VPN like NordVPN or IPVanish. Anybody have a setup like that?
Click to expand...
Something like this isn't going to break the bank.

https://scoop.co.za/tenda-300mbps-wifi-router-universal-repeater.html

Check with supplier that it does have VPN dialup
 
Hamish McPanji said:
Check with supplier that it does have VPN dialup
Click to expand...

Honestly, I wouldn't trust what any local supplier said. I'm hoping to find somebody on here who actually uses a VPN and can share what their router setup is. I mean surely on MyBroandband not everybody is only accessing VPNs via on-device applications? Anybody here who can I say I use X-model ADSL modem + Y-model Wifi router + Z VPN company is somebody I'd follow into war on the issue more than a random sales guy trying to sell his product.
 
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