VPN on a Keenetic router

Installing, step by step

You’ll need a computer or phone connected to this router and access to your account. On the pictures, what to press or find is framed.

1. Find the model code on the router’s sticker

   The sticker is usually on the bottom of the router. The code is the letters KN or NC and four digits. NC marks Netcraze routers, which is what Keenetic is called now.

   What you’ll seeA code like KN-3810. Check its digits against the list below, not the name.

   Supported codes

   • KN-1010
   • KN-1011
   • KN-1012
   • KN-1810
   • KN-1811
   • KN-1812
   • KN-1912
   • KN-1913
   • KN-2311
   • KN-2312
   • KN-2610
   • KN-2710
   • KN-2910
   • KN-3611
   • KN-3810
   • KN-3811
   • KN-3812
   • KN-4110
   • KN-4210
   • NC-1012
   • NC-1013
   • NC-1812
   • NC-1913
   • NC-2312
   • NC-3611
   • NC-3811
   • NC-3812
   • NC-4110
   • NC-4210

   If the code isn’t on the list, the app won’t install on this router. How to connect a router like that is on the Other routers tab of your account.

   

2. Install the OPKG component on your Keenetic

   Open my.keenetic.net or 192.168.1.1 in a browser. The router asks for the admin login and password, the ones chosen when the Keenetic was first set up. You’ll need them again later.

   In the menu, open General system settings and click Component options. Tick Open Package support, that’s OPKG, and click Install update below the list.

   What you’ll seeThe router downloads the component and restarts by itself. Wait until the web interface opens again.

   You need KeeneticOS or Netcraze firmware 5.0 or later, as both use the same numbering. How to check the version is explained in the questions further down.

   

3. Copy the install command

   There’s one command for every model on the list. The router tells the server its model by itself and gets the right installer, so there’s nothing to choose.

   Your account has the same command, on the Keenetic tab in the Router section. The app goes to the router’s internal memory, and if there isn’t enough room, the installer moves it to a plugged-in USB drive formatted as ext4 by itself.

4. Paste the command into the Keenetic command line and press Enter

   Open my.keenetic.net/a or 192.168.1.1/a. If the router asks for the login and password again, enter the same ones. Paste the command into the field and press Enter.

   What you’ll seeAlmost nothing, and that’s fine. The installation shows up in the system log.

   If the installation failed and you’re doing this step again, first run this command in the same command line.

   no opkg disk

   The router answers Disk is unset. Now copy the install command from step 3 again, paste it and press Enter. Without no opkg disk the repeat does nothing, and the router only writes Disk is unchanged to the log. You’ll see the same line if you press Enter twice during a good installation, and then there’s nothing to do.

   

5. Open the Keenetic System log and wait

   It’s in the menu of the same web interface, my.keenetic.net. Installation usually needs a couple of minutes, sometimes up to 10, and the router writes what it’s doing to the log as it goes.

   What you’ll seeInstallation lines numbered from [1/8] to [8/8]. The last one starts with [8/8] Done and has the router page address, http://bensvpn.home:8790/ (http://192.168.1.1:8790/). It means the app is in. If it takes long to appear, reload the log page.

   Keenetic’s own messages in the log are always in English. If one of them says response code 404 (Not Found) and there are no numbered lines, the server didn’t recognise the router’s model. Check the code against the list in step 1 and read the question “My model isn’t supported” further down. For any other download error, see the question about it there too.

   If the log has Disk is unchanged and no new numbered lines, the router skipped the command because it remembers the earlier attempt. Start step 4 over with no opkg disk. If numbered lines are coming in or [8/8] Done is already there, do nothing.

   

6. Open the router page and log in as the Keenetic admin

   Open the address from the log, bensvpn.home:8790, on a device connected to this router. If the name doesn’t work, click http://192.168.1.1:8790/. The login and password are the ones you use for the Keenetic web interface.

   What you’ll seeThe Status tab saying “Not signed in”. That’s expected, the router doesn’t know your account yet.

7. Press “Sign in with code” on the router page

   The button sits under the cards on the Status tab.

   What you’ll seeThe Account tab with a “One-time code” field at the bottom.

8. Press “Get code” in your account

   Go to the Keenetic tab in your account’s Router section. The button is in the “Signing the router in” card. The site may ask you to prove you’re not a robot first.

   What you’ll seeA “Router code” window with eight digits. The code works for 3 minutes.

   If you see a red note instead of the button, your account has no e-mail. Sign in with e-mail instead and press the button again.

9. Type these digits into the “One-time code” field

   It’s at the very bottom of the Account tab on the router page. Leave the mirror block above it alone, it’s only for when the router can’t reach the service.

   What you’ll seeAfter the eighth digit the page checks the code by itself, there’s nothing to press. Within a few seconds the Status tab says “Connected”.

   

10. Pick devices if you need to

    From now on everything on your home network uses Ben's VPN, new devices too. On the Devices tab you can leave individual devices out, or let only the ones you choose go through it.

    What you’ll seeA tick saves by itself, there’s no Save button. A device may need up to a minute to switch over.

    If Ben's VPN stops working (a failure, a reboot, an update), your whole home network stays offline until it’s back. A pause or signing out lets the network go online directly.