Conflicts between OpenVPN and other VPNs?

Synology
1

I use NordVPN on all my devices (MacPro, MacBook Pro, & iPhone)

If I configure my Synology NAS to use OpenVPN, will there be a problem or conflict between these two VPNs?

I use my MacBook Pro on WiFi in cafes, hotels, and airports all the time, so I want to be using my NordVPN all the time. So if I set up OpenVPN on my Synology NAS will I be able to connect to my NAS remotely via a computer using a commercial VPN like NordVPN?

2

You can have conflicts when you try to run two VPNs from the NAS at the same time. For example, if you were to set up your Nord VPN account to make your NAS a VPN client and you have your NAS also set up as a OpenVPN Server, you will get a conflict if you try to enable your NordVPN network interface while the OpenVPN server is enabled.

In your case you want to run the OpenVPN tunnel through the NordVPN tunnel on your MAC. It will probably work but it will be extremely slow at best. Why wouild you want to use one VPN over another anyway?

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3

Thanks for your answer. I get it that it would be impractical to use both VPNs at the same time.

What I think I am going to do is this;

I will continue to use NordVPN for most of my internet traffic. But when I am away from home and want to access files on my NAS, I will stop the Nord VPN App on my laptop and use OpenVPN Connect to access the NAS.

4

Your decision makes a lot of sense. Generally speaking running one connection through another is going to be so slow that it will look like your connection is frozen most of the time. As food for thought, if you need to backup files or folders while on the road you can use Synology Drive and your QuickConnect connection. When setting it up on your laptop there is a checkbox you can tick to encrypt the connection, though you should not run this through your VPN either.

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