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folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 2:21 pm
by owengerig
I have a wrt 1900 ac with open vpn built in and configured, the router also has a usb drive attached using smb to share out the drive
as well as the open vpn app loaded on my iphone 5s 9.3.1 (and an android tablet) and configured using the ovpn file
open vpn connects fine and looks like its working.

Here comes the tricky part, and i know there are alot of moving pieces for this and so it might not really be openvpn
I use RManager or VLC to browse the router share using the lan address 192.168.1.1
both apps open that address and show the folder structure of my share
im able to navigate through the folders until there are files in a folder
for example
root folder > audio folder > album folder > album files
in the above example i can easily and quickly navigate through the folders until i click on "album folder"
because this folder has a list of files rather than folders both apps just hang on trying to read the contents

as mentioned above this is the same behaivor with VLC on android as well
so the commonalities would be VLC or openvpn

FYI too
both RManager and VLC work fine when connected directly to the lan

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 5:36 pm
by Traffic
Perhaps your server upload speed in insufficient to load media files over the internet using a VPN ..

Instead try with a simple text file or very small picture ..

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 6:26 pm
by owengerig
ok yes, that does seem to work.

I put a 805kb file in its own directory
navigate to the folder and it shows
click to play, and than it hangs (like when it tries to load larger directories)

but this is enough to prove to me it is a bandwidth issues (maybe something with the stream readers on ios and android, or udp)

speed test show
50 down
4 up

which should be enough to stream an 805kb file but regardless something stupid is happening
Thanks

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 6:35 pm
by owengerig
Ahh ha

not really an answer but at least an error!

i changed the open vpn server settings to use tcp instead of udp
deleted and recreated the profile in the openvpn app from a newly generated .ovpn file
now as its loading large data the vpn icon next to LTE at the top, goes away
i switch over the openVPN app and see
OpenVPN_error: embedded_packet_size_error

any ideas? going to goggle it now

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 7:12 pm
by Traffic
It may help if you post details of your server and client configs ..

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 7:59 pm
by owengerig
Linksys AC 1900 - open vpn settings:
Server Address: X.X.32.8
Port: 1194
Protocol: TCP
IP Address Range: 172.19.13.2-6

clientconfig.ovpn (some text removed for sensitivity, maybe to much, i wasnt sure what mattered):

Code: Select all

client
dev tun
proto tcp
remote X.X.32.8 1194
tun-mtu 6000
# fragment 0 can be used to improve performance in some instances but
# breaks compatibility with some Android apps
# fragment 0
mssfix 0
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
ns-cert-type server
auth-user-pass
verb 3

<ca>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</ca>
<cert>
Certificate:
    Data:
<..>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</cert>
<key>
-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
</key>

# Auto-generated configuration file from skittleshost
# Thu May 12 18:27:05 UTC 2016 MCF1

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:40 pm
by Traffic
Don't use options you don't understand:
owengerig wrote:

Code: Select all

tun-mtu 6000
# fragment 0 can be used to improve performance in some instances but
# breaks compatibility with some Android apps
# fragment 0
mssfix 0
Remove all this.

If you want to improve performance pay for more of this:
owengerig wrote:but this is enough to prove to me it is a bandwidth issues (maybe something with the stream readers on ios and android, or udp)

speed test show
50 down
4 up
  • Remember .. you get what you pay for ..

Re: folders with files dont show on vpn connection

Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 2:22 am
by owengerig
works beautifully now, thank you!

FYI I didn't set those options, the linksys did!!! I just download the ovpn file