OpenVPN Access Server Reviews

The primary use case for me is to encrypt my traffic to the Internet and protect my privacy on my home network.

One of the valuable features of OpenVPN is that it is free. I have set the default routes to the VPN server so that all traffic is encrypted.

One area for improvement in OpenVPN is the ability to selectively terminate connections. If the program could list active connections and provide an option to delete or kill them, it would be a useful feature. This would save users the trouble of having to restart the entire program each time they need to terminate a connection.

I’ve been working with OpenVPN for two years now.

It is a stable product.

The initial setup is straightforward.

You do not need a professional team to deploy the solution. I did it myself and it took around half an hour.

You don’t need to buy anything to use OpenVPN. But if you want access to the enterprise version, you need to buy a license for that.

OpenVPN's usage depends on the network preferences and deployment complexity.

I would rate it a seven out of ten.

Interoffice connections. We had offices in India and the US. To connect both of them to the same environment, we were using OpenVPN for that. It was so we could maintain a file store, exchange files and documents securely through our own proprietary mechanism, instead of having to rely on Dropbox and the like. 

Interoperability between different offices. We didn't have to keep exchanging documents via email and other tech. We were able to maintain a common file store because of the complete VPN setup we had using OpenVPN.

The compatibility with almost any Linux operating system, and how easy it is to write scripts and generate keys for people to use and log in. I found it easy to deploy quickly.

Some of the issues we faced were things like, if someone's key is not working, or if we had to remove someone's permission from it, or maybe an employee left the company and we had to take their key out. That seemed a little bit more complicated than it had to be.

Also, I think right now the GUI part of it is locked out behind the pay wall. It could use something that gives it a very basic, minimal, graphic interface for logging in, for the community version. That would probably be a good step forward.

We did not encounter any stability issues in our scope.

Our use case was less complex than most. We did not come across any issues with scalability.

I usually found support online, so I didn't have to use tech support.

We started off with OpenVPN when we were evaluating what we could use for our needs and we ended up with OpenVPN. I have used other VPN solutions at other offices, but in the cases that I've dealt with, OpenVPN was the choice.

If we had to create something for someone who was not necessarily tech savvy, I had to set that up on their computer, I had to write "read me's" and other things so that they could install their client and then connect to the VPN by themselves. So it was hard to set up for people who are not tech savvy. I had to actively provide assistance and walk them through the whole process.

The product's pricing is good value, definitely. It is one of the best features, I would say.

Evaluate the product before seeing which type of licensing is good for you. I think there is a good evaluation method available for OpenVPN, so you can just evaluate if it meets your needs. Then go forward with the right licensing policy.

OpenVPN is a good option for kick-starting any kind of interoperability between offices. It doesn't have a huge setup time, so it's a quick way to start experimenting with how the organization would work with its VPN requirements. Even if your requirements are very small, it's a very convenient to start off with this solution.

I rate it at eight out of 10 because it gives value for what it provides. You need technical know-how to get started on it, but it is also very swift. It has all the right features but it's technically challenging if you're not tech savvy. Providing clients with keys is not that straightforward.

My entire engineering team can access our infrastructure from anywhere in the world, securely.

Privacy and cryptography for my network communication.

Maybe provide a GUI or Web UI to manage users. Today these features are in the Pro Edition or are done by scripts.

No issues with scalability.

No issues with scalability.

The community is great. We are able to find a lot of documentation on the Web.

Cisco VPN, L2TP/IPsec. OpenVPN is easier to maintain and use, save us time.

Straightforward, a server is installed in a few minutes.

The Pro Edition has a reasonable price per user.

Cisco VPN.

I use it as server and client in AWS. The first reason is to provide a kind of crypted VLAN.

No real advice to give, except to be careful with the traffic in/out on extensive usage.

I rate it 10 out of 10. Simple to install and maintain, easy to find documentation or help in Google.

Try it. It's really fast to PoC and validate this solution.

I have used this solution for five years (2008-2013) as the company's main business solution, and then, for a year (2017), as a custom solution for secure AWS access.

I was using it on AWS to create secure access to internal VPC services. It is a lightweight, easy to setup solution.

Several years ago, I was working on a Consumer VPN service provider, and OpenVPN was a great base to provide such services. It is much easier to scale and troubleshoot compared to regular Windows-based VPN solutions or PPTP daemon.

• Easy to setup and manage
• Great documentation
• Community support

At the moment, I am not working too closely with the product.

No issues.

No issues.

On a scale of one to 10, I would rate technical support as a nine.

Just regular Windows Server PPTP/L2TP and Linux PPTP. OpenVPN is clearly better than the regular solutions.

50/50 (straightforward/complex). It requires some experience of Linux server configuration. If you are an experienced Linux user, setup is pretty fast and simple.

Enjoy implementing it!

We provide support services to customers. For some customers we do remote support, we can log in to their VPN via the OpenVPN Access Server.

The most valuable features of the OpenVPN Access Server are the ease of use and integration with different platforms, such as Android and Windows. I can use the solution on my desktop and mobile devices. Additionally, the solution is secure.

I have been using OpenVPN Access Server for a couple of years.

I rate the stability of the OpenVPN Access Server a five out of five.

I have used Proton VPN in parallel to OpenVPN Access Server.

The deployment of the OpenVPN Access Server is very easy and it can be done in minutes. There could be an easier way to set up the solution. However, if you use the provided information that comes with the solution there should not be a problem.

I have been using OpenVPN Access Server a ten out of ten.

We are using Access Server to put some of our internal systems behind VPN so that they won't be accessible externally. We are customers of OpenVPN. 

The solution is user-friendly and easy to implement. It's a good product and it works as expected.

There is occasionally some instability but that is due to issues with our internet connection, and is not related to the product. 

I've been using this solution for a year. 

The solution is stable unless there are internet issues unrelated to the product.

The solution is scalable. 

The initial setup is very easy. We have 150 users in the company. We have a team of 15 DevOps and IT that maintain it and other solutions in the company. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

We've been using OpenVPN Access Server for node accessing.

For us, it's important that OpenVPN Access Server is cheap and that we get to use it ourselves. It is also a stable solution.

The scalability of the solution could be improved.

I've been using it for nine years.

It is a stable solution.

It is not scalable. We have 20 people who use this solution. Most of them are developers, one is a system admin person, and one is a DevOps person.

I'm the CEO of the company, and there is a technical team that takes care of the installation. As far as I know, it was straightforward and easy enough for them. I think it took a day to install it.

We have internal staff who implemented it.

It is an open-source solution, so we don't pay for anything.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate OpenVPN Access Server at seven.

It was required for a secure network connection.

It is open source and therefore affordable for small projects.

It could include a configuration wizard so that users who do not follow instructions well can configure a connection.

No issues with stability.

We have not scaled service yet.

We did not use support.

This was our first solution.

It was fine, as long as you followed instructions, but it can seem complex if you do not know what you are doing.

It is free, you buy support.

We don't this use solution on AWS. Used it with a different cloud service company. We had to use the standard VPN ports in order for it to work through our cloud service’s firewall.

My advice would be, understand networking and your requirements first.