Machine-specific issue which is not caused by configs

qrohlf

I am trying to troubleshoot a machine-specific issue connecting to an OpenVPN server which is not caused by the config.

I have two laptops on the same network, both getting addresses from DHCP. I'm trying to get one of the laptops to connect to an openVPN server.

I have two openVPN servers that I'm working with. Server 1 is a tcp server running on port 443 of the remote machine, and Server 2 is a udp server running on port 1194 of the remote machine. Both servers are using TLS authentication.

Laptop 1 can connect to both servers with no problems.
Laptop 2, using identical configs as Laptop 1, can connect to Server 1 with no problems, but cannot connect to Server 2 at all. Whenever I try to initiate a connection with Server 2 on Laptop 2, the initialization hangs on "UDPv4 link remote: [remote ip]:1194".

Any ideas on what is causing this issue between Laptop 2 and Server 2?

Laptop 1 is running Windows 7 home premium
Laptop 2 is running Windows 7 starter
Both laptops have exceptions for openVPN in Windows Firewall
Both laptops are running the openVPN executable with administrative rights

janjust

is windows 7 starter edition capable of opening *any* UDP connection to the server? I don't know what the exact limitation of the starter edition are....

you can try running iperf in UDP mode

qrohlf

AFAIK networking in windows 7 starter isn't limited - so far, the only limitations that I know of between starter and home are that in starter, you can't use Aero and you can't change the desktop background.

janjust

try disabling the firewall altogether on the Win7 Starter box;
try an iperf test (iperf for windows can be found here:
https://nocweboldcst.ucf.edu/files/iperf.exe

on the server, run (as root)

iperf -u -s

then on the win7 boxen , try to connect using 'iperf -u -c ....'

if that works for both then you know UDP is working.

frankp

Thanks for the help janjust. I was having the exact same issues and was able to solve the problem.