In this article, we show you how to set up an AsusWRT router to connect to Proton VPN servers. If you encounter any problems, please see the Troubleshooting section at the end of the article.
Please note that Proton VPN only guarantees support for streaming services if you have a VPN Plus, Proton Unlimited, or Visionary (legacy users only) plan.
How to set up Proton VPN on an AsusWRT router
- Open your Asus router’s admin panel by typing its local IP address into your browser’s URL bar. By default, the address is 192.168.1.1, but you may have changed it when you set up your router.
If you don’t know your router’s IP address, you can log in using the URL: router.asus.com.
2. Go to Advanced settings → VPN.
- Select the VPN Client tab and Add profile.
- Log in to your Proton VPN account and go to Downloads → OpenVPN configuration files. Download the OpenVPN configuration file(s) you desire, selecting Router for the platform.
5. Back in your Asus router’s admin page, select OpenVPN and enter the following:
Description – This can be anything you wish (for example, “ProtonVPN”).
Username and Password – Enter your OpenVPN / IKEv2 credentials (not your regular Proton VPN username and password). You can find these credentials in your Proton VPN account by going to Account → OpenVPN / IKEv2 username.
Note: To use our NetShield DNS filtering feature, append the suffix +f1 to your username to block malware or +f2 to block malware, ads, and trackers (for example, 123456789+f2). NetShield is a premium feature available with a VPN Plus, Proton Unlimited, or Visionary (legacy users only) plan.
After you’ve filled everything in, click Choose File.
Navigate to where you downloaded the OpenVPN configuration file(s), select one, and click Open.
Click Upload to import the OpenVPN profile to your AsusWRT router. You’ll see a Complete notification once this is done. Click OK to continue.
You have set up Proton VPN on your router.
How to connect to Proton VPN
You are now ready to connect to a Proton VPN server and begin browsing securely. Return to the VPN Client page (Advanced settings → VPN) and click the Activate button next to the connection you just set up to establish a VPN connection.
If the connection is established successfully, you will see a blue checkmark under Connection Status.
You can visit this website to confirm that the AsusWRT router VPN setup is complete and the connection is working correctly.
To disconnect the AsusWRT VPN connection, visit the VPN Client page and click the Deactivate button.
Troubleshooting
Proton VPN does not support OpenVPN versions earlier than OpenVPN 2.4 because they are no longer considered secure.
However, some AsusWRT routers have firmware that supports OpenVPN versions lower than 2.4. In this case, we recommend upgrading your firmware to the latest official version. To check the OpenVPN version supported by your router’s firmware:
1. Start or restart a VPN connection, as described above (Deactivate your VPN connection if it is running and then Activate it).
2. Go to Advanced Settings → System log. Scroll to the top of the log and look for the OpenVPN version.
If your OpenVPN version is 2.4+ (or you have updated your firmware and are still encountering problems), you have two options:
- Report the issue to ASUS using its official Security Advisory tool (as using earlier versions of OpenVPN is a security issue).
- Flash your router with alternative secure firmware such as FreshTomato (Proton VPN setup guide here) or OpenWRT (Proton VPN setup guide here).
My Asus RT-AC53 doesn’t have the openVPN tab. Is there any other way I can configure it through PPTP or L2TP ?
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Hello Toby. Sadly, we do not and will never support these connection protocols due to the security risks that comes with them. If your device does not support openvpn connection protocol, there is not much that we can do in this case but get a different device. :/
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Please publish to configure Linksys AC1900 and Linksys wrt 3200 routers
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Hello! These routers do not support OpenVPN right our of the box and has to be flashed with the DD-WRt or Tomato firmware. We do have tutorials for these firmware’s, but we do not provide any flashing guidance as that voids your devices warranty,
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Hi,
My router is a brand new Asus RT-AC66U_B1. I have followed the instructions several times but can’t get a connection. Any ideas?
Regards,
John
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Hello John, please contact our customer support team as we need to investigate this more that we could do here. https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Hi. Do I need to select a configuration file for a specific server from “Server Configs” (like the example seems to suggest) or can I use a “Country Configs” one? Assuming the latter, will it choose the fastest / least loaded one in the selected country at activation time?
Thanks
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Hello Paul, you can use the country configs but in any case if you face issues with the router, we would suggest to use specific server configs.
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Thanks for your awnser. Using the UK config file as example, I can see the below directives in the country config file:
remote uk.protonvpn.com 1194
remote-random
so the server will be selected randomly from the list of servers “uk.protonvpn.com” resolves into. I can see that it resolves to a couple of ip addresses only. Shouldn’t it return the ip addresses for all the servers available in the country? Are these the ip addresses of the two least loaded servers in the country and you update them regularly?
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While using out resolver to direct you to the best server, it will always pick like this – 1st thing is a the server location, the closer the better, 2nd thing is server load, the lower the better, so it takes these two factors in to consideration to connect you to the vpn server.
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Would this setup work for my router?
Linksys WRT1200AC AC1200 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Router
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Hello Greg, Your router is Linksys, not an Asus in this case, so this setup will not work. In your case you will have to flash the router with dd-wrt software , but sadly we do not provide tutorials for that as that voids the warranty and is totally your responsibility.
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Hi there… I have two factor authentication turned on, and I’m wondering if that is preventing me from connecting. I have followed the steps and everything is installed, but it fails to connect. At no time am I asked for the confirmation code. Where can I put this in when trying to connect through the Asus interface?
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Hello Cam, 2FA is not required when trying to connect, only when trying to log in to your account. Are you sure you are using the OpenVPN credentials with the right config type downloaded from our website? For further investigation, please contact our customer support team. https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Please publish directions to use Proton VPN on a Cisco RV325 router that supports OPENVPN
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سلام protonvpn را نمیتونم باز کنم
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Hello Ali. Please contact our customer support team with all of the details possible and we will do our best to help you out! https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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