What are the advantages of Open VPN vs L2TP?
L2TP is having a ton of issues, due to the fact that Cisco owns the protocol. OpenVPN in my experience is wayyy stickier and more compatible!
Actually just saw your video on Unifi 3.0 and wire guard, so looking to see if I can get Synology native support for Wire Guard.
I would love that! But currently the only way is through docker
Actually since I have a Unfi Dream machine Pro and just downloaded the new 3.00.something OS. It came out of release candidate today. Setup WireGuard and I can SMB into my NAS once the connection is set!! BTW you mentioned living in Huntsville AL, Iām moving to Foley AL soon and will likely run some fiber as you did, is there a dongle available for Fiber to USB-C? Iām running an M-1 Mac Book pro but have not figured out how to get the high speed connection in to the computer. TIA
Is there any way to stop OpenVPN client to load automatically on the Mac? I would like to be able to open it whenever I need, like I can do with Tailscale
Thanks Will for these excellent tutorials; theyāve helped me learn a lot. Iām keen on using a VPN to access my files on Synology when away from home for the security advantages. Iād ideally like to use drive server (for the seamless integration and mobile app availability)
But how do you manage the change in IP address of Synology when you are on your home network vs away and using the VPN?
Many thanks in advance!
That can be a bit of a pain on windows. If you use an OpenVPN server there is a 90% chance that the old IP will keep working
I have successfully set up Open VPN access on my DS920+. I can access DSM remotely, but my SMB configuration is a little flaky. I normally use an alias for my home server ie āsmb://ServerName.localā to access my SMB shares via my Mac rather than my servers IP address (smb://192.168.1.222), but the alias protocol doesnāt seem to work via Open VPN. I realize my servers IP differs when accessing via Open VPN and I can access the shares through the VPN by using smb://10.8.0.1 - which corresponds to the synologys ip via the vpn, but the alias I normally use does not work. Just curious if there are additional settings that would enable the alias via Open VPN - since Iām not referencing the ip it seems odd that this is something that doesnāt just work.
Another option: you can always ssh remotely into your machine and have access to your files. That would need port forwarding or a reverse SSH setup. Or, if youāre living on the wild side, you can use FUSE + sshFS to mount it locally as a file system.
So if you want to use the servername.local it doesnāt technically work. That .local only works on the exact same LAN.
I go over it here
there is a way around it, but its janky. Might be worth it for you to check out!
Hey Will,
I saw some videos from you the last past days about starting with Synology NAS configs and it helped me so much, so thanks for that!
But at this point iām getting stuck and maybe the thing i want / iām trying is not possible:
Could i make a shared folder on my windows pc thatās been rooted via the NordVPN Services? I made the connection on the NAS but iām stuck on the path it should be what windows is asking.
Like to hear from you!
So are you trying to connect to the NAS via nordVPN? If so you would have to get them to open up ports, which I donāt think NordVPN does. Instead you could just use Tailscale
And is it also possible to get that on an android phone?
You should be able to! They work with most client devices
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Has anyone use Option #5 (OpenVPN server) from an android Tablet to access files remotely on your Synology NAS? Suggestions? Which OpenVPN server should I use on the Android Tablet, I see a couple on Google Play store.
I just configured my DS423+ thanks to your tutorial. 
. I was watching The Complete Guide to Remotely Access Synology NAS video when I came up with a question: so far, Iām using Quick Connect and Drive to access files on my Android smartphone and PC. Would I be better off connecting my phone to my LAN through VPN rather than Quick Connect and using Drive to access files that way? Is it more secure and maybe quicker as you are not relaying through Synologyās servers?
Hi! Watched your YouTube video and got openVPN to work. (mac) Although I noticed that my external IP address on the Mac doesnāt change, is this ok?
I can also access my Synology folder through itās IP address in Finder. But I would like to access it via the servername. Rekordbox is accessing all my music files like this: volumes/music (music is a folder on the Synology).
Is this possible?
What about assigning a static ip directly to Synology and accessing it with desktop applications ?