SoftEther VPN and LAN network

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Arnie01
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:49 pm

SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by Arnie01 » Wed Apr 20, 2022 3:09 pm

I am sorry if this has already been asked and answered and if this is a little redundant because of that but I have a problem which I think more experienced users could help me with.

So, at the moment I have LAN network and I wanted to be able to communicate with the computers in my LAN network from remote place and I found SoftEther could be solution to that.

For simplicity’s sake let’s say I have 2 computers PC1 and PC2.

PC1 is connected to the LAN network with other computers that are physically at the same spot and connected to the same router. I’ve set up static (internal) ip addresses to all computers (192.168.xxx.xxx).

I’ve installed SoftEther server manager on PC1 created the server and started running it on PC1. Then I’ve created several users so they can connect.

Then I’ve installed SoftEther client on PC2 that’s connected to the internet at the remote spot using it’s own internet connection. I set up static ip on PC2 softether vpn adapter using ip address that’s not in use on my LAN network with the same gateway address that is set up on my LAN network.

Everything works as it should I can ping computers on my LAN network (using their local ip addresses 192.168.xxx.xxx) while connected on softether vpn. But as soon as another user joins the virtual hub PC2 loses connection to virtual hub.

Sorry for the long post and I hope you can help me!

Thanks,

Arnie01

solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by solo » Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:51 am

Please clarify a few details.
- is it about the one particular remote user being disconnected or the server's inability to handle multiple connections?
- which VPN protocol do they use (MS-SSTP, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec or native SoftEther)?
- what's in server and client logs after disconnection?
- have you forwarded ports to the server or you rely on NAT-T and/or VPN Azure?
- what's the internet bandwidth capacity of the server's site?

Arnie01
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:49 pm

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by Arnie01 » Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:10 am

It’s not about the one particular user it just happens that it only handles 1 user at the moment. I’m using native softether protocol. As far as I know the port 443 is open (I checked using the portchecker) I think port 5555 is also open, I’ll doublecheck it when I get to the computer. Internet bandwidth capacity is more than enough I’m sure as I’m using fiber optic cable (500/500 Mbit I think is my download/upload speed).

As soon as second user logs in the first user is disconnected from the hub and is trying to reconnect unsuccessfully but when I disconnect the second user the first user is able to connect again. I’ll screenshot my server and client settings so we can see if everything is set up correctly.

Is the problem maybe there because I set up static ip addresses on virtual network adapter using the LAN settings such as the same ip as default gateway on LAN and subnet mask (I was careful not to assign same ip addresses to virtual adapters which are being used by physical network adapters connected to my LAN). My goal is to be able to communicate with all of the computers on LAN network and not just with the ones connected to the virtual hub. I hope I was clear enough so you can understand me. Thanks for your help! Is there any more info which I can give so you can help me?

eddiewu
Posts: 286
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:10 am

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by eddiewu » Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:19 am

Arnie01 wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 3:09 pm
But as soon as another user joins the virtual hub PC2 loses connection to virtual hub.
You installed softether client on PC2. Client is for one computer only. If you need to share the connection with multiple hosts, use softether bridge instead.

solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by solo » Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:49 am

Arnie01 wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:10 am
As far as I know the port 443 is open ...
In SE client settings do "Disable NAT-T" and re-test it.

Arnie01
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:49 pm

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by Arnie01 » Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:24 pm

eddiewu wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:19 am
Arnie01 wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 3:09 pm
But as soon as another user joins the virtual hub PC2 loses connection to virtual hub.
You installed softether client on PC2. Client is for one computer only. If you need to share the connection with multiple hosts, use softether bridge instead.
I am not sure we understood each other well. PC1 has Softether server running and PC2 is a client connecting to Softether server.

It seems that the problem was me connecting from PC1 as a client to softether server which is also running on PC1. Now I tried connecting from PC2 and some other computer to PC1 softether server and it is working (2 clients simultaneously connected one is PC2 and the other is my home computer).

Now I have some other questions. What is the best way to configure and set Softether server, hub and adapters considering my goal is to be able to connect from the outside to my LAN where PC1 is located. I noticed when I connect to my softether server my public IP becomes same as the one on my LAN. Is it possible for me to be connected from outside to my LAN but still use my own internet connection because my speed drops substantially. Do I need to have physical network adapters to be able to do that?

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it!

solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by solo » Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:38 am

Arnie01 wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:24 pm
It seems that the problem was me connecting from PC1 as a client to softether server which is also running on PC1.
Yeah that's for sure, but you had not revealed this peculiar detail of the "another user" before. The messed up routing to nowhere kills all connections. No wonder remote users got disconnected. Bizarre case.

Arnie01
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:49 pm

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by Arnie01 » Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:40 pm

What about the internet speed and virtual adapter configuration? Could you help me with that?

Is it possible to have LAN to LAN connection so each computer uses it's own internet connection because at the moment when I connect to virtual hub with PC2 I think the internet traffic goes through LAN on which PC1 is connected then through SoftEther VPN and then through local internet connection.

I would like to use my own internet connection on PC2 but at the same time be able to communicate with PC1 and other computers that are on the same LAN as PC1.

Thanks again and sorry if I am bothering you too much.

solo
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am

Re: SoftEther VPN and LAN network

Post by solo » Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:24 pm

Arnie01 wrote:
Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:40 pm
Is it possible to have LAN to LAN connection so each computer uses it's own internet connection because at the moment when I connect to virtual hub with PC2 I think the internet traffic goes through LAN on which PC1 is connected...
It is very easy for you to accomplish because you already...
I set up static ip on PC2 softether vpn adapter using ip address that’s not in use on my LAN network with the same gateway address that is set up on my LAN network.
Now, all you have to do is remove this gateway.

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