OpenVPN Server poll timeout errror

Hello,

Having an issue and hoping someone with a lot of network experience can guide this NOOB.

I used the following tutorial to setup a Raspberry pi server - https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-vpn-server/ - and connecting to the vpn works on both my computer and mobile app while at home. What does NOT work is when I try to log into the vpn server through any other wifi connection (e.g. starbucks).

Here is a brief synopsis of the log I keep getting:

2018-06-17 18:49:54 EVENT: RECONNECTING
2018-06-17 18:49:54 EVENT: RESOLVE
2018-06-17 18:49:54 Contacting [10.*.*.**]:1194/UDP via UDP
2018-06-17 18:49:54 EVENT: WAIT
2018-06-17 18:49:54 Connecting to [10.*.*.**]:1194 (10.*.*.**) via UDPv4
2018-06-17 18:50:05 Server poll timeout, trying next remote entry...

Here is an example of one of my configuration files:

client dev tun proto udp remote 10.*.*.** 1194 resolv-retry infinite nobind persist-key persist-tun remote-cert-tls server tls-version-min 1.2 verify-x509-name server_MIXcZteM4AtZJXtC name cipher AES-256-CBC auth SHA256 compress lz4 verb 3

IP addresses starting with 10. are private addresses. They are not available on public networks. When you try to connect to a 10.*.*.* IP address at Starbuck's, you're attempting to connect to an IP on their LAN (if one exists), not to the private addresses on your LAN at home.

How is your LAN connected to the internet? We'd need much more information about what you're trying to do.

Hey scasey,

Thanks for offering your help.

I had considered this may have been the issue. Originally, the VPN had asked me to set a public DNS name (which I set to S******). I received the following error message:

Mon Jun 18 13:32:19 2018 RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: s********:1194 (No such host is known. )

To get the VPN to work at home, I replaced the public DNS name with the private I.P. address, which you astutely points out only works when at home.

In the installation, I opted to use openDNS as a DNS generator for my VPN service.

As for the Lan question

The actual Pi has a built-in wifi detection system and is connected to the Internet via our home's wifi connection.

Hope this answers your questions and is a good start.

*************EDIT*********************

I think I figured out the problem. I was supposed to set up a DNS hostname (through no-ip.org) and port forward it to my IP address. I am working on this now and I will let you know if I need any more help. Thank you again for pointing out my error. I will post back if I need further help.