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Knowledge document #49

Setting up an IPSec VPN to the FRITZ!Box in Windows

With IPSec and the FRITZ!VPN software you can establish VPN connections to the FRITZ!Box on your computer with Windows. This way you can access your FRITZ!Box and all devices in your home network with your computer over a securely encrypted connection, even when you are away from home.

You can find an overview of additional VPN connection options in our guide VPN with FRITZ!.

Requirements / Restrictions

  • Windows 8.1 / 8 / 7 (64-bit or 32-bit) is installed on the computer. We recommend using WireGuard with computers with Windows 11 / 10.
  • The FRITZ!Box must obtain a public IPv4 address from the internet service provider. If the FRITZ!Box does not obtain a public IPv4 address, we recommend using WireGuard as it also allows VPN connections via IPv6.

Note:All instructions on configuration and settings given in this guide refer to the latest FRITZ!OS for the FRITZ!Box.

1 Preparations

Downloading and installing FRITZ!VPN

  1. Open our VPN service page in a web browser.
  2. Download the FRITZ!VPN software.

    Important:Separate versions of FRITZ!VPN are available for Windows 10 (64-bit) and Windows 8.1 / 8 / 7 (64-bit and 32-bit). The version of FRITZ!VPN for Windows 10 (64-bit) is currently only available in German and can be downloaded from avm.de/vpn.

  3. Install FRITZ!VPN on the computer that is to establish a VPN connection to the FRITZ!Box.

Downloading and installing "Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection"

The Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software allows you to set up a VPN connection quickly and easily. All of the security settings are automatically generated by the software and written to configuration files, which then only need to be imported into the VPN remote sites.

Note:The Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software is available for computers with Windows 10 / 8 / 7 (64-bit and 32-bit).

  1. Open our VPN service page in a web browser.
  2. Download the Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software and install it.

Configuring MyFRITZ!

Register the FRITZ!Box with MyFRITZ! so that it can be reached on the internet at any time at a fixed MyFRITZ! address:

  1. Create a MyFRITZ! account and set it up in the FRITZ!Box.

Adjusting the FRITZ!Box's IP network

Both ends of the VPN connection must have IP addresses in different IP networks. As soon as the computer is connected to a router (for example another FRITZ!Box) that uses the same IP network as your FRITZ!Box, VPN communication is no longer possible.

Note:All FRITZ!Boxes use the IP network 192.168.178.0 in the factory settings.

Set up an IP address to your FRITZ!Box that differs from the IP addresses of the routers you use to connect to the FRITZ!Box, for example 192.168.10.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0):

Changing the FRITZ!Box's IP network
  1. Click "Home Network" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Network" in the "Home Network" menu.
  3. Click on the "Network Settings" tab.
  4. Click "Additional Settings" in the section "LAN Settings" to display all of the settings.
  5. Click the "IPv4 Settings" button.
  6. Enter the desired IP address and subnet mask.
  7. Click "Apply" to save the settings and on the FRITZ!Box, confirm that the procedure may be executed, if you are asked to do so.

2 Creating a file with VPN settings

  1. Start the Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software and click "New".
  2. Select the option "Configure VPN connection for one user" and click "Next".
  3. Select the option "Computer with FRITZ!VPN" and click "Next".
  4. Enter the email address of the user who intends to connect to the FRITZ!Box via VPN and click "Next".
  5. Enter the MyFRITZ! address of the FRITZ!Box (pi80ewgfi72d2os42.myfritz.net) in the "Name" field and click "Next".
  6. If you did not change the FRITZ!Box's IP settings (IP address 192.168.178.1, subnet mask 255.255.255.0) enable the option "Apply factory settings of the FRITZ!Box for the IP network".
    • If you changed the FRITZ!Box's IP settings, assign the computer an IP address in the FRITZ!Box network:
      1. Enable the option "Use a different IP network".
      2. Enter the IP network (xxx.xxx.xxx.0) and the subnet mask of the FRITZ!Box. Do not enter the FRITZ!Box's IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.1).

        Example:
        If the FRITZ!Box has the IP address 192.168.10.1, enter 192.168.10.0 as the IP network and select the subnet mask "24 - 255.255.255.0".

      3. Adjust the "IP address of the user in the network of the selected FRITZ!Box" to the IP network of the FRITZ!Box.

        Important:The IP address of the user may not be in the range used by the DHCP server of the FRITZ!Box (xxx.xxx.xxx.20 to xxx.xxx.xxx.200 in the factory settings).

  7. If you also want all web requests from the computer to be forwarded to the FRITZ!Box via the VPN connection when a VPN connection is active, enable the option "Send all data over the VPN tunnel".

    Note:This means you can use services such as email or online banking in public Wi-Fi hotspots just as securely as if you were directly connected to the FRITZ!Box via Wi-Fi at home.

  8. Click "Next" and "Finish".
  9. Now Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection creates the VPN settings and opens a Windows folder containing the file "fritzbox_[...].cfg" and a subfolder with the file "vpnuser_[...].cfg".

    Note:You can always open this folder if you select the MyFRITZ! address of the FRITZ!Box in the Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software and click the "Explorer" button.

3 Importing the VPN settings into FRITZ!Box

  1. Click "Internet" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Permit Access" in the "Internet" menu.
  3. Click the "VPN (IPSec)" tab.
  4. Click the "Add VPN Connection" button.
  5. Click "Import a VPN configuration from a VPN settings file" and then "Next".
  6. Click "Choose File".
  7. Select the file "fritzbox_[...].cfg" created with the Configure FRITZ!Box VPN Connection software and click "Open".
  8. Click "Apply" to save the settings and on the FRITZ!Box, confirm that the procedure may be executed, if you are asked to do so.

4 Importing the VPN settings into FRITZ!VPN

  1. Open the FRITZ!VPN software from the Windows start menu and click "Next" or "File" and then "Import" in the software.
  2. Select the file "vpnuser_[...].cfg".
  3. Click "Open" and "Finish".

5 Establishing a VPN connection

  1. Establish an internet connection on the computer on which FRITZ!VPN is installed.
  2. Open the FRITZ!VPN software from the Windows start menu.
  3. Select the symbol with the MyFRITZ! address of the FRITZ!Box.
  4. Click "Establish" to establish the VPN connection.

    Note:Active VPN connections are displayed in the FRITZ!Box user interface under "Overview" in the section "Connections".



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