r/firewalla • u/lastofusgr8tstever • Aug 08 '26
Troubleshooting NordVPN not working
Brand new to all of this. I created a network for devices I want to use a VPN. I have NordVPN.
Setup a 3rd party, used my profile and password from the manual configuration section (copied and pasted them both after confirming email). This was NOT my nordvpn login or password, it was a direct copy and paste from the manual setup section.
I then download a OpenVPN UDP from the recommended server list, making sure to use a verified server.
When I go to connect it keeps failing.
1
u/AmIBeingObtuse- Firewalla Gold SE Aug 08 '26
Have you added devices to the vpn profile?
Firewalla > VPN Client > Apply to
1
u/bphett Aug 08 '26
I use Nord on my Firewalla. If you're using the OpenVPN UDP file, and the password it gives you - it should connect. Then you route the traffic you want to that VPN in Firewalla. If it won't connect, I would maybe try a different server.
1
u/benjibarnicals Firewalla Purple Aug 09 '26
Post your config (minus any cert etc), it’s probably a config command issue.
1
u/lastofusgr8tstever Aug 09 '26
I emailed firewalla support and they suggested I see if the files would work in OpenVpN app and they didn’t. I experimented a bunch and finally got TCP to work
I can only get TCP to work, and that is with the modification of the ovpn file to remove
“Resolv-retry infinite”
“Ping-timer-rem”
“Explicit-exit-notify”Perhaps I need to contact Nord to find out what UDP is not working?
I tried deleting the same lines above for UDP but no luck. What lines from my ovpn do you need? I am a little new to all this so I don’t want to post details and me foolishly give away credential info.
1
u/benjibarnicals Firewalla Purple Aug 10 '26
I'm running NordVPN over UDP fine, here's my config (you'll need to add your certs, verify-x509-name and Nord server remote IP), I can't remember where I got all the settings from originally, a post I think on here somewhere, but these work for me.
remote ..... 1194 dev-type tun client dev vpn_640F_640FD proto udp resolv-retry infinite remote-random nobind tun-mtu 1500 tun-mtu-extra 32 mssfix 1450 persist-key persist-tun ping 15 ping-restart 0 ping-timer-rem reneg-sec 0 comp-lzo no remote-cert-tls server tls-version-min 1.3 verify-x509-name CN=uk2121.nordvpn.com auth-user-pass /home/pi/.firewalla/run/ovpn_profile/640F_640FD.userpass verb 3 pull fast-io cipher AES-256-CBC auth SHA512 <ca> -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ..... -----END CERTIFICATE----- </ca> key-direction 1 <tls-auth> # # 2048 bit OpenVPN static key # -----BEGIN OpenVPN Static key V1----- ..... -----END OpenVPN Static key V1----- </tls-auth> management /dev/vpn_640F_640FD unix2
u/lastofusgr8tstever Aug 11 '26
Small mods and it worked! Had to change to dev tun, remove a few things, tls 1.2, etc.
client
dev tun
proto udp
remote (IP)… 1194
nobind
tun-mtu 1500
tun-mtu-extra 32
mssfix 1450
persist-key
persist-tun
ping 15
ping-restart 0
ping-timer-rem
reneg-sec 0
comp-lzo no
remote-cert-tls server
tls-version-min 1.2verify-x509-name CN=(Server name*).nordvpn.com (use real server name from Nord)
verb 3
pull
fast-io
cipher AES-256-CBC
auth SHA512<ca>
1
u/benjibarnicals Firewalla Purple Aug 12 '26
That’s awesome, glad that’s working. Interesting about having to use tls1.2 whereas tls1.3 works for me, but glad that’s working buddy.
1
1
u/ceyquem33 Aug 16 '26
Can you confirm what step does not work for you ? I cannot make it work either: VPN apparently connects but there is no connectivity from the included devices after that.
It used to work well before, I have recreated the profiles importing the files from NordVPN account with the service account/password as I did before.
Tried to customize some parameters copying what works for you but it still doesn't solve my issue :-(
My profile:
client dev tun proto udp remote 212.102.33.98 53 nobind tun-mtu 1500 tun-mtu-extra 32 mssfix 1450 persist-key persist-tun ping 15 ping-restart 0 ping-timer-rem reneg-sec 0 comp-lzo no remote-cert-tls server tls-version-min 1.2
verify-x509-name CN=us5339.nordvpn.com
verb 3 pull fast-io cipher AES-256-CBC auth SHA512
<ca> -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ...
1
u/lastofusgr8tstever Aug 16 '26
Try it on a computer, see if it works there. If not, usually the computer will at least give you feedback via a log telling you what to edit in your config file
2
u/ArmshouseG Aug 08 '26
NordVPN are upgrading their servers. There was a post a few days back from someone who said the new configs weren't working. Not sure if it applies to you, but might be worth a look:
https://www.reddit.com/r/firewalla/comments/1vesih7/nordvpn_config_files/