Hi,

I use OpenVPN with my IPCOP firewall. When I first installed OpenVPN, I configured to work on TCP 443. Speed was good and connection was reliable. However, I decided to implement a web server which sits inside my LAN therefore, I had to forward port TCP 443 to the web server and change OpenVPN to port UPD 1194. I noticed with port UDP 1194 my connection is sluggish and sometimes unreliable.

Which other port would you recommend using?

Thank you!

tRY 1198.

There is no particular technical reason why a "UDP" port should be "sluggish" or "unreliable."

In fact, OpenVPN usually uses "UDP 1194." (Although I don't always use this port-number, for obscurity reasons, I do use this protocol.)

Therefore, if you are experiencing "sluggish / unreliable" behavior right now, it has nothing specifically to do with "your protocol or port." That's a red herring.

I suggest that you first use tools such as tcpdump to observe the (encrypted) packets as they come and go, and also that you check the system logs for any indication of communications issues. This necessarily must be "a basic network communication issue," not something specifically associated with OpenVPN.

Thank you guys for your response. The strange thing is that while I was using port TCP443 i had no speed issues. Maybe the machine I am using for IPCOP is too old. It is a PIII 700mhz with 128MB of ram. I am thinking of using a "newer" box for it. P4 2.4GHZ 2GB of ram.

I will check the net with tcpdump.

Of course, UDP is a datagram protocol: it sends one-way packets merely expecting them to get through to their destination. There is no concept of a "connection."

UDP traffic should be carried just like TCP/IP traffic and with comparable reliability. If not, then you might use tools such as the old standby, nc, to send packets and see if they are getting through. (There are many protocols which use datagrams, so it should be of concern to you if they're not reliably and consistently making it to their destination. Any piece of hardware could be a potential culprit.)

Thank you Sundialsvcs.

Hey Guys,

It seems like the location were I usually connect from to my VPN server was causing the sluggish connection. I am currently at a different location using wireless and connected to my VPN just fine.

Thank you