Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (2024)

Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows

Starting from KeeneticOS version 3.3, you can useWireGuard VPNto connect to the local network of the Keenetic router remotely.

First, you need to configure the WireGuard server on the Keenetic device. Thefollowing instruction shows the process: 'Configuring a WireGuard VPN between two Keenetic routers'. Then move on to the VPN client setup.

Important

If you want to configure a Keenetic router as a VPN server, make sure that it has apublic IP address, and when using theKeenDNSservice, that it works in the 'Direct access' mode. If any of these conditions are not met, connecting to such a server from the Internet will be impossible.

Below is an example of connecting to a server from a Windows operating system, usingWindows 10 1909 (19H2)as a reference.

To connect to the Keenetic WireGuard server on a Windows-based computer, you will need to download and install theWireGuardprogram from the official website.

  1. Launch the program and click on the down arrow next to 'Add Tunnel' in the lower-left corner. Select 'Add empty tunnel... [Ctrl+N]'.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (1)

    The configuration window for connection to the remote WireGuard server Keenetic - 'Create new tunnel' - will open.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (2)

    Important

    Leave this window open, do not close it.

  2. Downloadwg-client.conffile to your computer. You can save it to your Desktop. Open it in a text editor, for example, inNotepad++.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (3)

    You will see a ready-made configuration in which you will need to enter the settings for the Windows WireGuard client [Interface] and the remote WireGuard server Keenetic [Peer].

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (4)

    Important

    Leave this window open, do not close it.

  3. Go back to the 'Create new tunnel' window of step 1 and copy the Windows WireGuard client private key to your computer clipboard from the 'PrivateKey =' field.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (5)

    Important

    Leave this window open, do not close it.

  4. The copied WireGuard client private key must be inserted into the ready-made configuration from step 2 into the 'PrivateKey =' line.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (6)

    Important

    Leave this window open, do not close it.

  5. Now, set up a remote connection on the previously configuredWireGuard serverside.

    Connect to the router'sweb interfaceand go to the 'Internet' - 'Other connections' menu. Click on the previously created WireGuard connection ('WG-S') and then the 'Add Peer' button. Enter the name of the tunnel 'wg-windows-client' in the opened form of the peer settings.

    In the 'Public key' field of the web interface, insert the Windows WireGuard client key from step 1, which should be copied from the 'Public key' field to the clipboard.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (7)

    You can close the 'Create new tunnel' window, click 'Cancel'.

    Important

    Leave the WireGuard connection window open, do not close it.

    In the 'Allowed IPs' fields, specify the address from which traffic will be allowed to the server in IP/bitmask format — 172.16.82.6/32.

    In the 'Persistent keepalive' field, specify the frequency of attempts to check the availability of the remote connection side. Usually, a 10-15 second interval between checks is sufficient. By default, the 'Persistent keepalive' value in peer settings is 30 seconds.

    Click 'Save'.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (8)

  6. Back to configuringwg-client.conf

    [Interface]PrivateKey = wAG52nyfQEEMOnt1W9Y4SdEOQB8XYaggenoUI6Thz3A=Address = 172.16.82.6/24[Peer]PublicKey = 1YVx+x3C817V9YdhUtpUhzyDLVj5tnK2m//WjFGynm4=AllowedIPs = 172.16.82.1/32, 192.168.22.0/24Endpoint = enpwgwrkserver.dynns.com:16631PersistentKeepalive = 5

    Configuring the client [Interface]:

    In the 'PrivateKey' field of the [Interface], you have already entered the Windows WireGuard client key in step 4.

    Set the IP address in the 'Address' field of the WireGuard client in IP/bitmask format — 172.16.82.6/24 (internal tunnel address). It is possible to use a different subnet, choosing it from theprivate address rangeand avoiding overlapping with other subnets configured on these devices.

    Configuring the server [Peer]:

    In the 'PublicKey' field, insert the public key of the server, which can be copied to the clipboard from WireGuard settings in the web interface of the router:

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (9)

    In the 'Allowed IPs' field, enter the allowed IP addresses in IP/bitmask format — 172.16.82.1/32 (internal server address) and 192.168.22.0/24 (local segment address of the Keenetic router).

    In the 'Endpoint' field, enter the public IP address or domain name of the WireGuard server and the listening port on which the WireGuard client will set the connection.

    In the 'PersistentKeepalive' field, specify the frequency of attempts to verify the availability of the connection's remote side. Usually, a 10-15 second interval between checks is sufficient.

    Press the Ctrl+S key combination or select the 'File' > 'Save' menu.

  7. In the open WireGuard connection settings window from step 6, click on 'Import tunnel(s) from file' and select 'wg-client.conf' on the Desktop, click on 'Open'.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (10)

  8. After adding the 'wg-client' configuration to WireGuard, a new connection will appear in the 'Tunnels' list.

    Click 'Activate'.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (11)

    If the setting is correct, you will see a green indicator in front of the 'Status' line.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (12)

    You can send ICMP packets to its IP address at the Windows command line to verify server availability.

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (13)

    Check the availability of the server web interface (in our example, it is a Keenetic with IP address 192.168.22.1).

    Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (14)

    The setup is complete.

If you want to allow the connected clients to access the Internet through this VPN connection, make an additional configuration from this articleInternet access via WireGuard VPN.

Please note that on the VPN client side, in thewg-client.confconfiguration file, in the '[Interface]' section, you need to specify the DNS server in the 'DNS =' field. In our example, the Google DNS server address is set to 8.8.8.8 and 0.0.0.0/0 value for AllowedIPs =

[Interface]PrivateKey = wAG52nyfQEEMOnt1W9Y4SdEOQB8XYaggenoUI6Thz3A=Address = 172.16.82.6/24DNS = 8.8.8.8[Peer]PublicKey = 1YVx+x3C817V9YdhUtpUhzyDLVj5tnK2m//WjFGynm4=AllowedIPs = 172.16.82.1/32, 192.168.22.0/24, 0.0.0.0/0Endpoint = enpwgwrkserver.dynns.com:16631PersistentKeepalive = 5

Note

Provided that there is one peer in the configuration and the allowed network 'all addresses' is specified, the application will automatically generate a firewall rule on the computer that prohibits traffic past the tunnel.

Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (15)

The articleConnecting a Windows 7 computer to a remote Keenetic network through the WireGuard tunnelpresents another option when all traffic is routed to the tunnel and the VPN client accesses the Internet through it.

In this section:

Connecting to a WireGuard VPN from Windows (2024)

FAQs

How do I know if my WireGuard connection is working? ›

To check if WireGuard Server is working properly

Enable the connection, check if the phone has Internet access and whether its IP address is the IP of your WireGuard Server. There are several common reasons cause failed: The Internet Service Provider doesn't assign you a public IP address, please check here.

How do I view VPN connections in Windows? ›

Click on the Start menu and select the Settings icon. In the Settings window, click on Network & Internet. On the left-hand side, click on VPN. Under VPN, you will find a list of all the VPN connections you've set up on your Windows 10 device.

What is the port number for WireGuard VPN? ›

The default port is 51820 , additional tunnels must use a different port. The GUI will automatically suggest the next highest available port.

What port does WireGuard VPN use? ›

By default, WireGuard uses UDP port 51820. L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol) - this one uses various port numbers as well; TCP port 1701, UDP port 4500, and UDP port 500.

How do I check my WireGuard tunnel? ›

To view the status of one or more WireGuard tunnels, use the show wireguard [<instance>] command. This command prints the status of all WireGuard tunnels and can optionally limit the output to a specific instance.

Why is my WireGuard not connecting? ›

My WireGuard Server is suddenly not working

It may due to a power outage, please check if your server is still on line by Https Remote Access or GoodCloud. You didn't enable the DDNS before and the public IP address is changed. The port forwarding is failed for some unknow reasons, forward another port for a trial.

Why is my WireGuard not connected? ›

When a WireGuard connection isn't working, it's usually one of four things: a WireGuard configuration problem, a firewall problem, a routing problem, or a DNS problem. The tcpdump utility can help you quickly diagnose what kind of problem it is, by identifying where packets are going awry.

Does WireGuard hide IP? ›

As explained above WireGuard does not allocate a dynamic IP address to the VPN user. And, it indefinitely stores user IP addresses on the VPN server until the server reboots. So, there is no anonymity and privacy in WireGuard.

Does Windows 10 support WireGuard? ›

WireGuard setup guide for Windows 10

To use WireGuard on Windows, we recommend downloading IVPN's Windows client, which supports the protocol.

How do I run WireGuard on Windows without admin? ›

Fortunately there is a way to fix this. The Wireguard entry likely does not already exist under HKLM/Software (it's not there by default) so you can create it in Regedit. Under this key, create a new DWORD value called LimitedOperatorUI and set it to 1.

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