How to Connect NordVPN and Isolate VPN Traffic on a Separate AP (Part 2)

{{< notice “warning” >}} Outdated {{< /notice >}}

{{< notice “info” >}} This is an advanced configuration. You should understand the OPNsense menus and have a recovery path before changing VPN routing. {{< /notice >}}

See Part 1 — Add a VLAN and assign it to an interface.

II. Configure NordVPN on OPNsense

1. Configure the VPN client

Open System → Trust → Authorities, click +Add, and create a certificate authority.

Enter:

Descriptive Name: NordVPN_CA
Method: Import an existing Certificate Authority
Certificate data: paste the following certificate.

Leave Certificate Private Key empty and keep Serial for next certificate at its default.

Click Save.

Open VPN → OpenVPN → Clients and click +Add.

General information:

Field	Value
Disabled	Leave unchecked
Description	For example `NordVPN_JP`
Server mode	Peer to Peer (SSL/TLS)
Protocol	UDP4, or TCP4 if required
Device mode	tun
Interface	VPN_LAN
Remote server	Get a hostname from https://nordvpn.com/servers/tools/, for example `vn21.nordvpn.com`; use port 1194 for UDP or 443 for TCP
Retry DNS resolution	Checked
Proxy host / port	Empty
Proxy Authentication	None
Local port	Empty

User authentication:

Field	Value
Username/password	NordVPN username and password
Renegotiate time	Empty

Cryptographic settings:

Enable authentication of TLS packets: Enabled.
Disable automatic TLS-key generation and paste the static key below.

-----BEGIN OpenVPN Static key V1-----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-----END OpenVPN Static key V1-----

Peer Certificate Authority: NordVPN_CA.
Client Certificate: None; username and password are used.
Encryption Algorithm: AES-256-CBC.
Auth Digest Algorithm: SHA512.
Hardware Crypto: No hardware acceleration.

Tunnel settings:

Field	Value
IPv4/IPv6 tunnel network	Empty
IPv4/IPv6 remote networks	Empty
Limit outgoing bandwidth	Empty
Compression	Enable with adaptive compression
Type-of-service	Unchecked
Disable IPv6	Checked if IPv6 is not used
Don’t pull routes	Unchecked
Don’t add/remove routes	Checked

Advanced configuration: paste:

remote-random;tun-mtu 1500;tun-mtu-extra 32;mssfix 1450;persist-key;persist-tun;reneg-sec 0;remote-cert-tls server;

Set Verbosity level to 3 or leave it at 1, then click Save.

2. Add an interface for the VPN

Open Interfaces → Assignments and click +. The interface is usually named ovpnc1.
Edit the new interface and enable it.

Field	Value
Description	NordVPN or another useful name
Block private networks	Unchecked
Block bogon networks	Unchecked
IPv4 Configuration Type	None
IPv6 Configuration Type	None
MAC / MTU / MSS	Empty

Leave DHCP client configuration unchanged. Click Save and Apply changes. {{< collapse “Screenshot” >}} {{< /collapse >}}

Configure the firewall and gateway

Open Firewall → NAT → Outbound and select Hybrid outbound NAT rule generation. Save and apply.
Under Firewall → Rules → VPN_LAN, edit Allow VPN_LAN network and select gateway NORDVPN_VPNV4 under Advanced features.
Add another rule with Source VPN_LAN net and Destination VPN_LAN Address, then save and apply.
Open System → Gateways → Single, edit NORDVPN_VPN6, disable it, and apply.
Open VPN → OpenVPN → Connection Status. The connection should show up.

III. Configure the AP and separate VPN Wi-Fi

{{< notice “tip” >}} Follow the OpenWrt AP Mode and Guest VLAN guide, changing the VLAN ID to the one used for VPN_LAN. {{< /notice >}}

Good luck. If you find a missing step or get stuck, leave a comment with the exact screen and error.