OpenVPN router setups
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How to set up Surfshark VPN on an AsusWRT router

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In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up a Surfshark VPN tunnel on your AsusWRT router.

To proceed, you need a router with AsusWRT firmware and an active Surfshark subscription. You can find the available plans on Surfshark’s pricing page.

NOTE: If you have updated your Asus router's firmware and have VPN Fusion instead of VPN Client available, set up OpenVPN on Asus VPN Fusion or set up WireGuard on Asus VPN Fusion.

 

Credentials and server selection

Before setting up the router, you will need to obtain the credentials for the manual setup and select a server to connect to.
 

NOTE: These are not your regular credentials, such as your email and password.
 

  1. Head to the Surfshark login page and log in. Then, click on VPN -> manual setup.



  2. Select set up manually.



  3. Choose the OpenVPN protocol.



  4. Once there, make sure that you are in the Credentials tab and click on Generate credentials. 



    NOTE: Keep this tab open or save the credentials, as we'll need them later.

 

Choose a Surfshark VPN server

  1. Head to the Locations tab and locate the server that you wish to connect to.


     
  2. Click on the download icon to the right of the server name.



  3. Click on download UDP. 



    NOTE: In this example, we will be using UDP, however, feel free to use TCP. You can check out the differences here.

 

Configure the AsusWRT OpenVPN client

 

1. Connect to the Control panel of your Asus router. You can access it by entering your Default Gateway address into your browser's URL address bar. By default, it usually is 192.168.1.1

2. You will see the login prompt. If you have never configured your router before, know that the credentials should be admin/admin or admin without a password. You can also check the back of your router for the default credentials.
ASUS router login screen prompting for username and password on model RT-AC51U.

3. When logged in to the Control panel, you should see the VPN tab in the left sidebar.

ASUSWRT router dashboard with Network Map displayed and VPN section highlighted in the left menu.

4. Select VPN Client in the VPN tab.
ASUS router VPN section showing the VPN Client tab selected for OpenVPN configuration.

5. Click on the Add profile button at the bottom.
VPN Client page on ASUSWRT with “Add profile” button highlighted for creating a new VPN profile.

6. Select the OpenVPN tab and enter the following:

Description — name this connection however you like
Username — the Surfshark username service credentials (refer to Get your credentials section in this article)
Password — the Surfshark account service password (refer to Get your credentials section in this article)

 

7. Add a configuration file of the server you'd like to connect to. Click Choose File. A prompt will appear asking you to select the configuration file you want to use.
ASUS router VPN profile setup popup with OpenVPN selected and the option to choose an .ovpn file for import.

8. Select the directory that you have downloaded the configuration files to and then click Open. If you have a .ovpn file, select that.
File explorer dialog open on a computer, selecting a client_udp.conf file to upload for OpenVPN profile on ASUS router.

9. After selecting the configuration file, click Upload, and you should see a message stating Complete if it was successful.
ASUS OpenVPN profile creation screen with the configuration file uploaded and the OK button highlighted.

10. Now, click the OK button. Import the CA file or edit the .ovpn file manually option should be left unticked.

11. You should see a new connection set up. Click on the Activate button to connect your router to a Surfshark server.

NOTE: You can only create one VPN connection at a time. If you'd like to have another connection configured, you should add another VPN profile (you will see a button for that).
ASUSWRT VPN Client list showing new OpenVPN profile with the Activate button highlighted to start the VPN connection.

12. After a successful connection, a blue checkmark should appear in the Connection Status column.

Ensure the VPN connection is successful

We always recommend checking if Surfshark VPN is working after setting it up for the first time. You can easily do it by performing Surfshark IP leak test and a DNS leak test. For your convenience, both are available on our website.

 

For more help with different devices and configurations, take a look at our other Surfshark VPN router setup guides, and if you don’t have the app, visit Surfshark download page.




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