GL-SF1200: How to setup VPN to allow my friend access to my internet?

Technical Support for Routers
1

My friend abroad in the middle-east cannot use a lot of VoIP apps as they are blocked there. Can you point me to a suitable guide to setup my GL-SF1200 router so that:

  1. My friend can connect to my internet through VPN on my router.
  2. Ensure VPN has a bandwidth limit.
  3. Ensure user authentication and a suitable timeout.

(Any other tips and advise for the above would also be appreciated).

2

You can follow the standard GL.iNet documentation to set up either an OpenVPN or WireGuard server on your router.

VoIP requires very low bandwidth. You may have to be more concerned about latency and jitter.

I presume you currently have a VoIP provider. It may be easier for your friend to use a commercial VPN provider to get past the blocking, so your friend can access the VoIP provider directly. This should provide better performance/reliability and be simpler than setting up/maintaining your own VPN server.

I do not work for and I am not directly associated with GL.iNet

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3

Thank you. Appreciate your help and pointers.

Using VPN services to bypass such “restricted” service is illegal and many commercial VPN services are blocked too in the middle east. Since mine will be a private VPN, it is less likely to be flagged and even if questioned about it my friend can claim it is a work related VPN (which is fine according to their laws).

It’s just a screwed up system - the ruling Sheiks there own the telecom companies. The middle east is full of foreign expats (more than half the population!) and so the telecom companies earn a lot from them when they make international calls. And hence the unreasonable blockages of nearly all the popular free and paid apps and internet based services there. The only free voice chat app allowed is one run by their intelligence services - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/us/politics/totok-app-uae.html

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4

Is it possible to run a VPN server on the router even if I don’t have a static IP from my ISP? Perhaps by using some dynamic DNS service?

5

Yes, the router has a built-in DDNS function, which I do not know if it works for VPN (@alzhao may want to chip in). But you can easily set up DDNS within luci for other providers anyway. This may not work if you are behind CG-NAT and similar atrocities though…

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6

ddns works for vpn. Of course, need to do port forward in your main router.

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7

And change your client file to use the DDNS rather than the IP address.

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8

You can definitely run a VPN server on your router using the free GL.iNet DDNS service, which is used by other people on this forum.

I am not a legal expert, so I searched out some information.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/united-arab-emirates-vpn-guide-2022/#:~:text=your%20usual%20websites.-,Is%20a%20VPN%20illegal%20in%20the%20UAE%3F,censored%20by%20the%20UAE%20government.

3 Best VPNs for Etisalat & UAE That Still Work in 2022.

If my non-expert understanding of these posts is correct, then VPN is not illegal in the UAE, but accessing banned websites, services, etc. is illegal and connecting to your router VPN to use VoIP would be illegal, at your friend’s own risk.