The owner wants Tally from home. The manager needs a file on Sunday. OpenVPN is built into Untangle, fully working and free — here is the setup order that works first time, and the habits that keep that door safe.
Remote access is where the free tier quietly shines: OpenVPN is included at no cost, while the famous WireGuard app is subscription-only in this product. This page sets OpenVPN up in the right order — public name, per-user accounts, outside testing — then covers tunnel scope and the security habits that decide whether your VPN is a tool or a liability.
Untangle gives you two practical VPN doors. OpenVPN is built in, fully functional and free — the owner installs the OpenVPN client on a laptop, imports the profile file Untangle generates, and connects. WireGuard is faster and simpler on paper, but in this product it is a subscription app. For the classic small-office need — owner checks Tally from home, a manager reaches the file server on Sunday — OpenVPN's speed is entirely sufficient, and free is free. Choose it first; consider WireGuard only if you later have many roaming users where its fast reconnects really matter.
Most VPN failures are sequence errors, not product bugs. Follow the order:
A VPN login should open the office drawer the person needs, not the whole building. In the OpenVPN settings you control which internal networks connected clients can reach. The owner may legitimately get the full LAN; a part-time accountant's login should reach the accounting server and nothing else. Also decide split tunnel vs full tunnel: split sends only office traffic through the VPN (faster, and home browsing stays direct), while full tunnel routes everything through the office (more control, more load on the office connection). For most small offices split tunnel is the sane default.
VPN is a door in your firewall, so treat it like one. Strong, unique passwords on every VPN account. Remove a user's profile the day they leave the company — a departed employee's working VPN login is one of the most common real-world office breaches. Keep the firewall updated so the VPN service itself stays patched, and check the connection reports monthly for logins at strange hours. And the rule from the video applies here too: a VPN done properly on the free app is far safer than the port-forwarding shortcuts (RDP opened to the internet) that small offices too often use instead.
Watch the video walkthrough, then set up your first VPN user with this checklist.
▶️ Watch Full VideoYes — OpenVPN is part of the free core apps, including the server and per-user profiles. The subscription VPN apps are WireGuard and IPsec. For an owner and a few staff connecting from home, the free OpenVPN covers the need completely.
The usual cause is the office internet connection's public IP changed, so the client is knocking on an old address. A static public IP from your provider, or a DDNS hostname that updates automatically, prevents this entire class of failure.
For most small offices, split tunnel: only office-bound traffic enters the VPN, home browsing stays on the home connection, and the office link is not loaded with personal traffic. Full tunnel suits stricter setups where all traffic must be filtered centrally.