When I first started using OpenVPN to connect to a remote ClearOS server I was delighted with it's SAMBA performance. File Explorer was very snappy and files copied at near wire speeds. This is from a Windows 7 VM and a Windows 10 PC using the OpenVPN connector App and the certificates downloaded from the users ClearOS GUI account.
I started noticing that File Explorer would only return a share if it had one or two files and would hang on larger shares. It would not allow the opening of a file. Meanwhile the OpenVPN I had set up in Linux stilled worked fine as did the Windows PCs if I used PPTP VPN.
It's as if there has been an update that has rendered the client and server incompatible. I've tried an earlier client but with the same problems. I've mess about with UDP and compression etc but it makes no difference. Remember the Linux client is fine. Pinging works fine too.
I started noticing that File Explorer would only return a share if it had one or two files and would hang on larger shares. It would not allow the opening of a file. Meanwhile the OpenVPN I had set up in Linux stilled worked fine as did the Windows PCs if I used PPTP VPN.
It's as if there has been an update that has rendered the client and server incompatible. I've tried an earlier client but with the same problems. I've mess about with UDP and compression etc but it makes no difference. Remember the Linux client is fine. Pinging works fine too.
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Responses (6)
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Accepted Answer
RDP is TCP:3389. SMB is all over the place but mainly TCP. We don't touch the MTU in OpenVPN, but it could also be affected by your ISP's MTU. You may find better expertise on the OpenVPN forums.
NATing inbound packets in openVPN is in the Webconfig and can be useful - see the app documentation. -
Accepted Answer
Nick Howitt wrote:
I really don't see why SMB or MySQL would mess up. Are you NAT'ing the inbound packets in the OpenVPN Webconfig?
My data connection is normally much faster than the first test. It was fine in my second test.
NAT'ing the inbound packets? How and why would I mess with that? I'm just using the standard OpenVPN in the standard way. Not changed anything that I know of.
I would suspect that SMB uses TCP and Remote Desktop uses UDP. Could be frame size but I have no idea. Could be the ClearOS server is screwed but it works OK with Linux OpenVPN. -
Accepted Answer
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Accepted Answer
Nick Howitt wrote:
The last OpenVPN server update was in March, but you say your Linux client still works. I am testing with Win11, OpenVPN (Community) 2.5.5 and using a laptop connection via my phone and it sucks. It took a while to connect. Having connected, it took the laptop a long time (5 min+) before it would route to my LAN. The shared folder listing was OK, but the subsequent download is stuck. I have no idea if this is a Windows issue or a Server issue or a poor data connection (but my phone gives me 3 bars on a 4G connection). This is pants.
Then my mother connects to my LAN by OpenVPN through her cable connection. Taking control of her PC with VNC and browsing a share on my LAN and downloading from my LAN was very fast so I don't know what to say. Her PC is old, Win10 with OpenVPN 2.4.8.
There are too many variables to know why my laptop > cell phone > me was slow. My mother's desktop to me was totally acceptable.
OpenVPN always connects instantly even when it's going to run slow. I would expect a cell phone connection to be slow and steady and get there in the end. What you're describing is failure.
It could be as long ago as March when the problems started happening. When connected not everything is broken, ping works fine and perhaps the webgui. It was not always like this and I was having router problems at the site so put it down to that. Now got a rock solid router proving I was having router problems before. However the OpenVPN problem is here all the time now.
There are two users who remote in and one of them has the problem for file shares and MySQL but strangely Windows Remote Desktop to his office computer is fine. That's how the other user uses OpenVPN, no file access, just their desktop PC. OpenVPN is messing with the packets, Remote Desktop packets are OK but SMB and MySQL packets get screwed up. -
Accepted Answer
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Accepted Answer
The last OpenVPN server update was in March, but you say your Linux client still works. I am testing with Win11, OpenVPN (Community) 2.5.5 and using a laptop connection via my phone and it sucks. It took a while to connect. Having connected, it took the laptop a long time (5 min+) before it would route to my LAN. The shared folder listing was OK, but the subsequent download is stuck. I have no idea if this is a Windows issue or a Server issue or a poor data connection (but my phone gives me 3 bars on a 4G connection). This is pants.
Then my mother connects to my LAN by OpenVPN through her cable connection. Taking control of her PC with VNC and browsing a share on my LAN and downloading from my LAN was very fast so I don't know what to say. Her PC is old, Win10 with OpenVPN 2.4.8.
There are too many variables to know why my laptop > cell phone > me was slow. My mother's desktop to me was totally acceptable.
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