Sonicwall Netextender For Mac
Sonicwall Global VPN Client version that is compatible with Mac OS X? We use the NetExtender for MAC which is a free download from the mysonicwall site. We use the L2TP on the Sonicwall with the built in mac VPN client.
Ok.. Here's the problem..
You connect to 'X' VPN.. This VPN is for all traffic so the local firewall can't block/see what's going on.. This says 'all traffic, go out virtual network 1'. If you do a 'route print' from the command line, you can see this.
Now, if you try to startup a VPN for sonicwall, that will create a route for the local LAN [example: 10.1.1.x]. Trouble is, there is a route already in place with a lower metric for 0.0.0.0 [everything]. Now, the PC does not know to route over the Sonicwall Virtual adaptor to get to 10.1.1.x. Can you manually fix this? Yes. Temp cleaner exe. Can Sonicwall Mobile or GVC client figure it out, no really because it just expects 0.0.0.0 to be routed out the physical ethernet or wifi device with a proper metric.
Next time you want to play with this, fire it up and do the 'route print' to see those changes. You can temporary set/reset them with a lower metric and probably could get it working.. also, If you fire up the 'X' VPN first, they could block VPN over VPN [meaning, 'X' VPN service could block IKE].
| title | author | date | summary |
|---|---|---|---|
Jeremy | Replacing VPN software with outdated versions for fun and profit. |
WARNING: Big hack
Platform: Mac
SonicWall Mobile Connect is a VPN client for SonicWall VPN appliances. Unfortunately for me, I have been experiencing some rather annoying, intermittent drop outs when connecting in from home.
When these drop outs do occur, pinging any host within the private network times out. But.. if I leave the ping running for a few more minutes.. the pings eventually do begin to return - but taking riddiculously long times (i.e. 10000ms+).
To remedy this, I've been disconnecting and re-connecting from the VPN throughout the day whenever this issue occurs. Practically speaking, this means for me re-entering my password multiple times a day and restarting a bunch of services which had lost connection to some internal hosts.
For many months I suspected it was my internet connection (Optus Cable - who btw have promised to credit me back a few weeks after some rather bad outages - still waiting!). But my speedtest.net results are fine even during these supposed drop outs!? That also rules out my home network (2nd hand UniFi AP 1st gen and MikroTik router)
Workaround
After some googling and research I've discovered that the SonicWall Mobile Connect software is the replacement of the discontinued SonicWall NetExtender - the predecessor VPN client software from the people at SonicWall.
SonicWall NetExtender was last updated in 2016.. but I couldn't help but try it!
Install NetExtender. It is a bit tricky to find a download link. This one works okay: https://rahsupport.weebly.com/ (NetExtender 8.1.788.dmg)
Disable rootless system integrity protection http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/ . I already had done this to make HiDPI work on my U2515H (sheesh the joys of using a mac!) https://comsysto.github.io/Display-Override-PropertyList-File-Parser-and-Generator-with-HiDPI-Support-For-Scaled-Resolutions/
Use this script to start the GUI. (Launching the application directly fails with an 'Unable to load Java Runtime Environment.' error, and trust me I know I have JRE installed!)
(Thanks to http://www.seanlabrie.com/2011/osx-10-6-7-update-breaks-sonicwall-net-extender-again/)
Amazingly, the application works!
Results
After some experimentation I found that SonicWall NetExtenderactually performs better!
Pinging the same host within the private network now takes less time (9ms-30ms) consistently.
Editing files over Vim / SSH / VPN feels much better than before (placebo effect?).. hopefully thanks to better VPN performance.
No 'drop outs' yet.
So in conclusion, using the discontinued SonicWall NetExtender software actually performs better and is more reliable (perhaps becase the VPN appliance on the other end is outdated, or NetExtender's packets are less senstive to ISP firewall gremlins?