I primarily use the GLiNET App to manage my VPN Profiles but I have a few observations about it as it is very confusing. The VPN documents (listed below for 4.x) are primarily for the Webadmin and don’t have answers to my questions.
The first screen I see is the one with the Custom profiles, OVPN and WG, side by side. Oddly, clicking EITHER of them takes you to the SAME “VPN Client Dashboard”, showing OVPN and WG menus on the same page. No biggie but I thought one would manage OVPN and the other WG, separately. Here are the two subsequent screens. I only included the 2nd screenshot once as you see the same screen regardless of if you choose OPENVPN or WG from the main screen.
OK, so in that “VPN Client Dashboard” if you click OpenVPN client you are presented with a screen which states “Profiles in Phone” and “Profiles in Router”. Can someone explain what each of these mean?
a) Does it mean I have a VPN profile set up in GLiNET which I can run from the App; and a separate one “inside” the Router?
b) If I run the one from the App, what does it do exactly, access the Router?
c) Then there’s a MANUAL configuration - how does that differ from these other two animals? When I go into that it is one of my VPN profiles with a heap of letters suffixed to it; what’s with that?
Similar to 2 a,b,c for W; except for (c) it doesn’t append the extra letters it’s a fixed name.
Profile in Router is VPN Config files that have been created on the routers Web admin page and are physically stored on the GL-AX1800
Profiles in Phone are VPN Config files that have been created on the phone using the GLiNet App, OpenVPN App or VPN providers app and are stored on the phone.
a) If you have a VPN config profile on you phone that you want to run you can upload that to the router
b) If you run the a vpn APP on the phone it make for a easier sign in and creation of VPN configs
c.) Manual will be everything is typed or coped and pasted and has the potenttionally for formate errors that cause the VPN not to work.
Thank you that adds a bit of clarity, much appreciated.
So I guess you don’t really need profiles “in the router” if you use the App and choose the “in the phone” option?
Do you know whether if I choose the “in the phone” option it ONLY runs a VPN for the device running the App? Or is it pushed to the router do ALL connecting devices go through the VPN?
I can see one advantage for a VPN profile saved “on the Router” is that you can associate it with side button and hopefully the VPN would be running “on the router” for all clients i.e. you can forgo using the App (although you’d probably want to access the WebAdmin anyway to check it was working).
Is my understanding correct here - be nice for GLiNET to clarify and confirm the purpose and usage of these various types of VPN profiles as shown above.
I am still unsure of what that (seemingly third) “manual” VPN profile (the one where an existing profile gets appended with many letters in the name automatically) is about.
There is in my view a need for better documentation for the GLinet App.
