First run on an OpenWrt router

What you get

A router that is linked to your account, with protection on for the devices you chose, in four screens. Until you press Turn on protection, nothing on your network changes.

Before you start

• Device: an OpenWrt router with ForestVPN installed, see install ForestVPN on OpenWrt.
• Plan: none needed. Without an account the router uses the Free plan, shared by every device behind it. A household can use that allowance up in a day, and the router tells you when it does.
• Account: either the ForestVPN app on a phone or computer that is signed in to an account, or your account number.
• Time: about five minutes.
• What can break: typing your account number on a page that is not encrypted. The router will not let you: the field appears only on the secure page.

Steps

1. Open Services > ForestVPN. If the router has no administrator password, the first screen asks you to set one, because without it anyone on your network can change the router and your ForestVPN account link. Set it, or use System > Administration, then come back.

2. Screen 1 of 4, "ForestVPN is installed". It names the router model and changes nothing. Continue.

3. Screen 2 of 4, your account. Choose one of three ways.

   • A code from the app: press Add to account, then on your phone or computer open ForestVPN, go to Account > Add a device with a code (on a computer, Add a device), and type the 8-character code shown on the router. The code works for 10 minutes and stops working when you close that page. The app must be signed in to an account: if you do not see the entry, tap Account > Create account first.
   • Your account number: shown only on the secure page. Your browser warns about the router's certificate, which is expected for a router. The number is not saved on the router.
   • Continue without an account: the Free plan.

   Link only a router you own.

4. Screen 3 of 4, which devices should use ForestVPN: every device, only the devices you choose, or every device except the ones you choose. Each device has a switch, Through ForestVPN or Direct. The choice is explained in whole home or chosen devices.

5. Screen 4 of 4, ready. Leave Location on Smart location, or choose a place. Choose what happens if ForestVPN cannot connect, Standard or Strict, which the kill switch page explains. Press Turn on protection.

   Shows the tunnel device once protection is on

   ip -br addr show fvpn0

Check it worked

The status page says "ForestVPN is on" and then Protected. Protected appears only after packets are proven to flow both ways, not from a handshake alone. In the terminal, fvpn0 is listed with an address in the 100.64.0.0/10 range.

From a device you chose, open a what-is-my-address page. It should show the location's address. A device you left on Direct should show your home address.

Undo it

Press Pause protection on the status page, for 15 minutes, an hour or until you press Resume protection. Protected devices then use your normal connection. To take the router off your account use Sign out on the Account page, which frees the seat on your account and leaves the router on the Free plan. Sign out first if you plan to reset or sell the router.

If something is wrong

Limits

• All devices behind the router share one location and one plan allowance.
• Sign out and Replace this router's identity are shown only when the server says your account's link can be undone. When it cannot, the Account page says so.
• Device names never leave the router.
• While protection is on, ForestVPN turns off the router's flow offloading, a speed feature, and turns it back on when protection is off.
• The speed of a router is not measured for most models. We publish no figure until we have measured one on real hardware.