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Netgear WireGuard Setup Guide

Manual gateway Works as a gateway for one LAN with no extra steps. Extra VLANs need a few rules added on the device by hand, explained below.

Most consumer Netgear routers (Nighthawk, Orbi) do not support WireGuard in stock firmware. Your options are: flash OpenWrt (if your model is supported), or place a GL.iNet router behind your Netgear.

1

Check if OpenWrt supports your model

Visit openwrt.org/toh/start (Table of Hardware) and search for your Netgear model.

If your model is listed with "Supported" status, you can flash OpenWrt and follow the OpenWrt guide.

2

Alternative: use a GL.iNet router

The easiest approach for most Netgear users:

  1. Buy a GL.iNet travel router (GL-MT3000, GL-AXT1800, etc.) — ~$50–80
  2. Connect it to your Netgear via LAN port
  3. Follow the GL.iNet setup guide
  4. The GL.iNet acts as your WireGuard tunnel device
3

Netgear PR-series business routers

If you have a PR460X or PR60X, WireGuard is built-in since firmware 2.5.0.66.

Go to VPN → WireGuard in the management UI and import your config. The firmware handles NAT automatically.

Good to know

Consumer Netgear stock firmware (Nighthawk, Orbi) does not support WireGuard. Do not expect to import a .conf file into the stock UI.
Flashing OpenWrt on Netgear routers can void the warranty and occasionally brick the device. Always check the OpenWrt wiki for your exact model before proceeding.

Reaching more than one VLAN

One LAN needs nothing beyond this guide. If the site has several VLANs (a camera VLAN, a PBX VLAN, a guest network), there is one more thing to know.

ProxyLink gives every gateway its own private address range and translates between that range and your real LAN addresses. That is what lets two different clients both use 192.168.1.0/24 without colliding. The translation rules live in the PostUp and PostDown lines of the config we generate.

Netgear cannot run those rules for itself, so extra VLANs are routed directly instead of being translated. Two consequences worth knowing:

If a site has several VLANs and you would rather not maintain that by hand, put a small Linux box (a Raspberry Pi is plenty) or a MikroTik beside the router and use it as the gateway. Both are managed, so every VLAN is handled automatically and the existing router is left alone. See the Linux and MikroTik guides.

What you get once the tunnel is up

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Setup guides for other platforms