MikroTik RouterOS VPN Configuration And Best Practices

Have you ever wanted to set up a VPN on your MikroTik router, but didn't know where to start? If so, you're in the right place! By following this guide, you'll be able to configure a VPN on your router in no time.

Before we dive in, let's go over what a VPN is and why you might want to use one. A VPN, or virtual private network, is a tool that allows you to securely and privately connect to the internet from another location. This can be helpful if you're trying to access content that is restricted in your region, or if you're accessing sensitive information that you don't want others to see.

Now, let's get started with configuring your VPN on a MikroTik Router.

Step 1: Set up a Dynamic DNS

Before we can set up our VPN, we need to ensure that our router’s dynamic IP address is always accessible, even when it changes. By setting up a dynamic DNS address, we can make sure we can always access our router’s web interface and VPN connection.

1. Log in to your router’s web interface.
2. Click on IP, then click on Cloud.
3. Click on the Cloud Hostname tab and create a new dynamic DNS address.
4. Set the Update Time to the interval you prefer. This tells MikroTik how often to check what the current public IP address is behind the router.

Now that we've set up our dynamic DNS, let's move on to the next step.

Step 2: Set up IP Addressing

Next, we need to set up IP addressing on the router for both the local network and the VPN network.

1. Log in to your router’s web interface.
2. Click on IP, then click on Addresses.
3. Create a new IP address for your local network. This should be the IP address of your router (e.g. 192.168.1.1/24).
4. Create a new IP address for the VPN network. This should be a unique IP address range that you don't use anywhere else (e.g. 10.10.10.1/24).
5. Configure NAT to allow access from the VPN to the internet. To do this, click on IP, then Firewall. Add new src-nat rules.

Now that we've set up IP addressing, let's move on to the next step.

Step 3: Set up PPP

Now we need to set up PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) on the router to allow clients to connect to our VPN.

1. Log in to your router’s web interface.
2. Click on PPP, then click on PPP Profile.
3. Create a new profile and name it VPN.
4. Under General, set the remote address range to the IP address range we created earlier (e.g. 10.10.10.1-10.10.10.254).
5. Under PPTP, set the authentication and encryption settings to your preferred security level.
6. Click on Secrets and add a new user account for VPN clients to use.
7. Set a username and password for the new user account.

Now that we've set up PPP, let's move on to the next step.

Step 4: Set up PPTP Server

Now we need to set up our PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) Server on the router to allow clients to connect to our VPN.

1. Log in to your router’s web interface.
2. Click on PPP, then click on Interface.
3. Create a new interface and name it PPTP.
4. Select VPN as the PPP Profile.
5. Under Use Peer DNS, select Yes.
6. Create a new firewall rule to accept PPTP connections. To do this, click on IP, then Firewall, and then add a new rule.
7. Set the chain to input, the protocol to tcp, and the dst-port to 1723.

Now that we've set up our PPTP Server, let's move on to the next step.

Step 5: Allow VPN Access

Finally, we need to allow VPN access from clients on our local network.

1. Log in to your router’s web interface.
2. Click on IP, then DHCP Server.
3. Under Leases, find the local IP address that you want to allow VPN access for.
4. Click the Edit button, then click on Static Leases.
5. Enter the hostname and MAC address for the device you want to allow VPN access for, then click Add.
6. Now that we have a static IP assignment, we can go to IP -> Firewall and add rules to forward traffic to the VPN network.

And that's it! By following these steps, you'll be able to set up a VPN on your MikroTik Router in no time.

Remember to always keep your router and VPN settings secure to ensure your browsing privacy and security.

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