Secure access from anywhere: How to establish a VPN connection to the Fritzbox

With a VPN connection, you can surf the web using your home WLAN and have secure access to network storage and devices.

Secure access from anywhere: How to establish a VPN connection to the Fritzbox

With a VPN connection, you can surf the web using your home WLAN and have secure access to network storage and devices. The setup is not that difficult and even becomes child's play after an update of the FritzOS. ntv.de shows how it's done.

A virtual private network, or VPN for short, is known to most users primarily as a service that can be used to disguise your IP address and bypass country blocks. However, there are also VPN connections that are used to gain secure access to the network at home or in the company and the devices located there while on the go. This can be, for example, the smart home control of the heating or an integrated storage medium (NAS). What many do not know: the Fritz boxes also have such a VPN function. ntv.de explains how to set it up and connect smartphones and other mobile devices.

If you haven't already done so, you must first create a MyFritz account. To do this, open the user interface in the PC browser by entering the address https://fritz.box and log in with your password. Then select Internet in the menu on the left and then MyFRITZ! Account.

In the following window, enter your e-mail address in the MyFRITZ! account and click Next. You will then receive a message in which you can click on register your FRITZ!Box. On the website that opens, go to Set up MyFRITZ! Account, assign a password and then click on Complete process.

If the Fritzbox was already registered with MyFritz but no password was assigned, you can do this on the MyFritzNet website by clicking on Assign or change password.

Next, select Internet again in the Fritzbox user interface and go to MyFRITZ! Account, where you first set up MyFRITZ! Internet access and then click Set up FRITZ!Box user. If several users are registered, select one; if necessary, you can also set up a new user. Once that's done, click Apply.

After that, you need to determine the MyFritz domain name. To do this, click on Internet in the user interface menu and then on MyFRITZ! Account. Then you only write down or copy the part after the MyFRITZ! address that starts after https:// and ends with myfritz.net.

A separate IP address is required for a VPN connection. To set it up, go to Home Network in the user interface menu and select Network, then Network Settings. Then you click first on WAN settings and then on further settings.

Then enter the IP address 192.168.10.1 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 under IPv4 settings. Then you click on OK and confirm the action by pressing a button on the Fritzbox or by entering it on a FritzFon when prompted.

If you want to set up VPN access with a Windows PC, you must first download and install the "Fritzbox remote access setup" program. Open it, click on New, then on Set up remote access for one user and finally on Next. Then select PC with FRITZ! remote access and confirm again with Next.

In the following window, enter the e-mail address of the previously selected user and click Next. Next, you write the determined MyFritz domain name in the name. Then click on Use another IP network and enter 192.168.10.0 as the IP network address and 24 - 255.255.255.0 as the subnet mask.

Enter 192.168.10.201 as the IP address of the user in the FRITZ!Box network and activate the Send all data via the VPN tunnel option. Finally, click Next and then Finish. The program then opens a folder with the generated VPN data. This is best saved on the desktop.

Now it goes back to the user interface of the Fritzbox, where you click on Internet, Shares and VPN in the menu one after the other. Then select Add VPN connection and click Import a VPN configuration from an existing VPN settings file. Under Select file, select the fritzbox_[...].cfg file in the previously saved folder and click on open. Then you confirm the action with OK and after a request also on the Fritzbox or with a FritzFon.

Now load and install the program Fritz!Fernzugang. After opening it, click Next or File and then Import. There you select the file vpnuser_[...].cfg, which is also located in the previously saved folder, and click on Open. Finish ends the process.

To establish a VPN connection, open the Fritz! Remote Access program, select the icon with the FRITZbox's MyFritz domain name and click on Setup.

For a VPN connection with a Mac computer, you have to set up MyFritz as described above, adjust the IP network of the Fritzbox and set up the VPN connection in the Fritzbox. All settings can then be found in the menu of the Fritzbox user interface under System if you click on the pen symbol behind the Fritzbox user.

Then you call up the system settings on the computer via the apple symbol. Under Network, click on the plus sign under the existing connections. You may have to release this first by clicking on the lock symbol below and entering the computer password.

In the following window, select the VPN option after connection and Cisco IPSec after VPN type. For example, enter Fritz-VPN as the service name and then click on Create. The server address is the determined MyFritz domain name of the Fritzbox, for account name and password you enter the name of the selected Fritzbox user and his password.

Then you call up the authentication settings and enter the corresponding entries in the VPN menu of the Fritzbox user for the key and user name. Finally, click on OK, then on Apply and finally on Connect.

To establish a VPN connection to the Fritzbox with an Android smartphone or tablet, open the settings on the device and tap Network there

The connection is established by maneuvering back to VPN in the settings and tapping on the name of the connection there. Then enter the selected Fritzbox user and password, if necessary, and then tap Connect.

The Fritzbox is also prepared as described for VPN connections with iPhones and iPads. Then open the VPN settings on the device and tap on Add VPN. Then you enter any name in the description, for example Fritzbox, and fill in the other fields with the information that you can find in the previously saved folder. Then tap on Done.

To establish the VPN connection, go to VPN in the settings and set the slider behind Status to green.

Fritzbox manufacturer AVM is currently preparing a much more uncomplicated and faster VPN connection via the free Wireguard software. The protocol comes with the firmware FritzOS 7.39, which is currently available for download as a so-called laboratory version for testing in advance for the Fritzbox models 7590 AX, 7590, 7530, 6690 Cable, 6591, 6660, 6890 LTE and 6850 LTE.

With it, it is sufficient to install the appropriate application on a device and then establish a VPN connection with just a few clicks in the Fritzbox user interface. To do this, you generate a QR code under Internet → Approvals → VPN (Wireguard) → Simplified setup for iOS or Android devices, which is simply scanned with the Wireguard app. Nothing more is needed. For Windows or Mac computers, it works in a similarly uncomplicated way with configuration files that you import.

In the test, ntv.de was able to set up very fast VPN connections with a Fritzbox 6690 Cable in just a few minutes. However, the installation of a laboratory firmware is at your own risk. If you create a backup of the Fritzbox software beforehand, the risk is low.