Network restrictions and OpenVPN

cyrenaiccyrenaic
in iOS VPN Setup
I've been using the OpenVPN app with PIA on iOS for years.  My work wifi network blocks IPSec, UDP (except maybe one port), and most TCP except common well known ports like 443.

I have been using the legacy OpenVPN configurations provided on this site (TCP/443) which worked well for me.

Recently OpenVPN release seriously buggy versions of the app (v1.2.5 and v1.2.6) which make the TCP connections drop in a few minutes or so.

Right now my only workaround I have been able to do is to use the PIA app which only supports IPSec due to Apple restrictions and only use that over cellular due to work block and wait for OpenVPN to fix all the issues that affect me.

Are there any other things I can do?  For example - I know there are UDP configurations but the config files specify a particular port.  Is there any way I can say use this other port I know is open?  Or something else I am not thinking of?

Comments

  • Max-PMax-P
    Unfortunately I don't think there is much we can do here. The only UDP port we have that is not 1194/1197/1198 or even higher (and most likely blocked) is port 53, which is the DNS port. Given the type of filtering your work appears to use, I don't expect port 53 to work since they probably transparently redirect DNS to their own servers, so the VPN will be very visible if it works at all (their server will probably not understand VPN traffic and just reject your request altogether).

    Your best bet in this case is sadly probably to wait for OpenVPN to get fixed.

    Here is the full table of supported ports and protocol for OpenVPN: https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/hc/en-us/articles/225274288-Which-encryption-auth-settings-should-I-use-for-ports-on-your-gateways-
  • cyrenaiccyrenaic
    Yeah that's what I figured - thanks for taking the time to respond and for the link which is useful to know for future reference.
Sign In or Register to comment.