How to Use OpenVPN and When to Choose It: One Profile for Routers, NAS and Linux

• Devices that only speak OpenVPN: router firmware (OpenWrt, Merlin, DD-WRT), NAS (Synology, QNAP), Linux servers, old systems. Hiddify does not install there and AnyConnect has no client.
• Unattended, connect-at-boot setups: the configuration is a single file that the system’s VPN settings can start at boot with no interface interaction.
• Daily use on phones and laptops: AnyConnect needs no import and sing-box handles packet loss better; both are more convenient. OpenVPN runs on UDP, so on campus networks that throttle UDP AnyConnect is the better choice.
• One account works with all three; there is no need to pick just one.

1. Install the client for your system from the table on this site’s OpenVPN page: the official OpenVPN Connect exists for every platform; Windows can also use OpenVPN GUI and macOS Tunnelblick, and all read the same profile.
2. After logging in, click a region’s flag to download that region’s .ovpn file. One file per region; download as many as you need.
3. Open or import the file in the client and connect. Windows, macOS, Android and iOS profiles have credentials built in; on Linux, import through the system VPN settings and enter your site email and password on the first connection.

• OpenWrt router: install luci-app-openvpn, upload the .ovpn, enable it, and the whole LAN takes the route. A router on this site’s firmware skips this — just log in with the account.
• Synology NAS: Control Panel → Network → Network Interface → Create → VPN → OpenVPN (via importing a .ovpn file). Tick “Use default gateway on remote network” only if the NAS’s outbound traffic should take the route; leave it unticked if you only want the NAS reachable.
• QNAP NAS: QVPN → VPN Client → Add → OpenVPN, import the file.
• Linux desktop: Network settings → VPN → Import from file. Command line: openvpn --config <file> (install the openvpn package on Debian/Ubuntu). For start at boot, place the file in /etc/openvpn/client/ and enable the matching systemd unit.

Connected from inside China, all traffic leaves overseas and Chinese sites slow down on the detour. This site offers a “China direct” tool: download, double-click, and Chinese IPs go direct while everything else takes the route — shared by the Cisco and OpenVPN sections. The LAN is direct already and needs no handling.

Users abroad should ignore this tool — it sends Chinese sites around the route, the opposite of what watching Chinese video needs.

For finer rules (by domain, by app) use the router option or sing-box routing rules.

1. Try another region’s profile. If another region connects, that one server is temporarily unreachable.
2. Read the log. AUTH_FAILED means wrong credentials or an expired account; TLS handshake failed / TLS key negotiation failed means UDP to the server is not getting through — change network or region; after a password change, download the profile again, the old one’s password is dead.
3. Change networks. If broadband fails, try mobile data once and vice versa; campus and office networks that block UDP stop OpenVPN — switch to AnyConnect over TLS.
4. Update the client. Old OpenVPN clients do not understand the newer encryption settings and show import errors or connection failures.
5. After the account expires the server ends the session; reconnect after renewing, the profile stays valid.

The profile carries your credentials — it is the account. Do not send it to others or upload it anywhere public. If it leaks, change your password on the site: old files stop working immediately, then download again.

The route uses tls-crypt-v2: without the key nobody can even start a handshake, so the servers are invisible to scanners. That is also why old clients must be updated — they do not support it.

Encryption is AES-256-GCM, comparable in strength to AnyConnect.