VPN on a TP-Link router

First check that your router’s menu has “VPN Client”. If it does, the router can reach our server over OpenVPN or PPTP, and only the devices you tick go through the VPN.

Open the Router section

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TP-Link Add Profile window: Description, VPN Type PPTP, VPN Server, Username, Password, Encryption MPPE
The Add Profile window under VPN Client. The description can be any label you like.

Does your Archer have the client?

A VPN on a TP-Link router relies on the built-in client, and TP-Link doesn’t put it in every model. The company keeps the list in its help center, and it changes with firmware updates. At the time of writing it includes, for example, Archer AX20, AX23, AX53, AX55, AX73 and the GX90 gaming router. The Archer C80 isn’t on it, so it may well have no such menu.

Match the model down to the last character, hardware version included. On the Archer AX1800 used for the screenshots, the client was listed only for the US version, AX1800 (US). Update the firmware before you start. The client reached TP-Link routers through updates, and older firmware may not have it.

Setting it up under Advanced

  1. Turn on VPN Client

    Type tplinkwifi.net into the browser and enter the admin password. If that address won’t open, 192.168.0.1 works too. Under Advanced, choose “VPN Client”, tick “Enable” and press “Save”.

    TP-Link Archer AX1800, Advanced tab, VPN Client item in the left menu, Enable ticked
    Archer AX1800, US version. Other Archer models keep the same order.

  2. Add a server

    Under “Server List”, press “Add”. For OpenVPN, pick it as the “VPN Type”, enter your router login and password, then upload the regular .ovpn file from the same section of your account. PPTP needs no file. Put the server IP in “VPN Server” and set “Encryption” to MPPE. The window is the one pictured at the top of this page.

  3. Switch the profile on

    Save it and turn on the switch in its row. The list holds up to six servers, so you can keep one per country and switch between them.

  4. Pick the devices

    Further down, under “Device List”, press “Add” and choose which devices need the VPN. Anything not on that list goes online directly, as before.

    TP-Link Device List with VPN Access switches
    Device List with two devices. Names and MAC addresses are blanked out.

Archer questions

My phone goes through the VPN, my laptop doesn’t

The laptop is probably missing from the Device List. Add it and check that its “VPN Access” switch is on.

OpenVPN or PPTP?

Start with OpenVPN. It’s more secure, and the file gives the server two routes, over UDP and over TCP, so if your provider closes one, the other is still there. PPTP needs no file, but its encryption is weaker and it simply doesn’t get through on some networks.

There’s no VPN Client in the menu

Then this model or hardware version doesn’t have it in its firmware. Update the firmware from the TP-Link site. If the item still doesn’t appear, the router won’t work for this, and installing the app on each device is simpler.

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