Configuring a Gateway-To-Gateway VPN tunnel between two Linksys Business Gigabit VPN Routers

A Gateway-To-Gateway VPN is used to form a secure connection between two networks over the Internet.  The secure connection, also known as a VPN tunnel, allows computers in the two networks to be accessible to each other, while keeping the data being exchanged from potential hackers in the Internet.
 
Configuration must be done on both routers to enable a gateway-to-gateway VPN.  The configurations done in the Local Group Setup and Remote Group Setup sections should be reversed between the two routers so that the local group of one is the remote group of the other.
 
NOTE:  This configuration is ONLY applicable to the Linksys LRT214 and LRT224 Business Gigabit VPN Routers.  It can be in the following setup:
  • LRT214 to LRT214
  • LRT224 to LRT224 
  • LRT214 to LRT224 
Below are the steps for configuring a gateway-to-gateway VPN tunnel where one router has a static WAN IP and the other has a dynamic IP with a DDNS domain name.
 
Step 1:
Log in to the web administrative interface of the router with a static WAN IP and go to Configuration > VPN > Gateway To Gateway.  When the Gateway To Gateway page opens, enter a name for the tunnel.  The name is optional but will make it easier to identify a tunnel if the router will be configured with multiple tunnels later on. 
 
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Step 2:
Configure LOCAL GROUP SETUP.  Since the router has a static WAN IP in this example, select IP Only for the Local Security Gateway Type.  If the WAN port is up and running, the WAN IP should automatically display in the IP Address field.  The rest of the fields can be left as default.
 
NOTE:  In this example, the Tunnel Name test tunnel 1 is used.
 
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Step 3:
Configure the REMOTE GROUP SETUP.  Since the remote router in this example has a dynamic IP and a DDNS domain name, select Dynamic IP + Domain Name(FQDN) Authentication.  Enter the registered domain name of the remote router in the Domain Name field.  And then, enter the network address of the remote network in the IP Address field.  In this example, the remote router’s LAN IP is 192.168.2.0 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.
 
NOTE:  If the domain name is entered incorrectly, the tunnel will NOT be able to connect successfully. 
 
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Step 4:
Configure the IPSEC SETUP.  In this section, the only mandatory field for configuration is a Preshared Key, which is a shared secret between the two sides of the VPN tunnel.  Therefore, the preshared key needs to be copied into the other router’s tunnel configuration.
 
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Step 5:
Click the Save button, then go to the VPN > Summary page to see the tunnel status.  At this point, the status is waiting for connection, since the other router has not been configured yet.
 
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Step 6:
Log in to the web administrative interface of the router with a dynamic IP and DDNS domain name.  On the Configuration page, choose VPN > Gateway To Gateway.  When the Gateway To Gateway page opens, enter a name for the tunnel.  The name is optional as previously stated.
 
Step 7:
Configure the LOCAL GROUP SETUP.  Select Dynamic IP + Domain Name(FQDN)  Authentication for the Local Security Gateway Type.  Enter the registered domain name into the Domain Name field.
 
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Step 8:
Configure the REMOTE GROUP SETUP.  Since the first router in this example has a static IP (172.25.21.27), select IP Only for the Remote Security Gateway Type and enter its static IP Address into the IP Address field.  The Remote Security Group Type can use the default (Subnet), and enter the Subnet Address of the first router (192.168.1.0) into the IP Address field.
 
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Step 9:
Configure IPSEC SETUP.  Enter the identical preshared key into the Preshared Key field.
 
Step 10:
Click the Save button.  The tunnel is ready for testing.
 
Step 11:
Go to the VPN > Summary page to check the tunnel status.

 
You should now have configured the Gateway-To-Gateway VPN tunnel.

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