How do I know what WAN IP to use when setting up pfSense?

[outsource_locally]

I'm trying to setup VPN using pfSense, and am running into issues connecting. I think I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to setting the WAN IP. I have watched a number of videos and read through countless documents, and I'm getting some conflicting info (probably because the end solutions for each vid/doc are slightly different).

I can set the LAN IP, I can connect to the web config and set the VPN users, but I can't connect with my VPN setup and I think the problem is my WAN IP.

I saw that the WAN IP "should be an unused IP outside of client range". Does this mean I need a block of static IP's from my ISP, so I can use one of those? If I set the WAN to DHCP, how do I find out what that IP is?

 

[Alabalcho]

WAN IP is something you don't define, but is given by your ISP.

 

[outsource_locally]

WAN IP is something you don't define, but is given by your ISP.

Right, so am I correct in thinking that to configure the WAN correctly I would need to get a couple of static IP's from my ISP so I can assign an unused IP?

 

[RealBeast]

No, you can configure pfSense to use a dynamically assigned address. Most non-business ISPs plans will not allow use of a static address.

 

[outsource_locally]

No, you can configure pfSense to use a dynamically assigned address. Most non-business ISPs plans will not allow use of a static address.

Then how do I find what the dynamically assigned IP is? When i configure the VPN on my Windows computer, I need to input a "server name or address". I have used Cisco Meraki's to setup VPNs before, and I would use the WAN IP for that "server name or address" (a static IP purchased from the ISP). Or on DHCP the Meraki device puts out a hostname that works also as the "server name".

With pfSense, The device has a name, but I can't connect to it using that. So that leads me to believe I need to use the WAN IP. But when I use the WAN IP I currently have from my ISP, that won't work either (assuming because it's already in use).

 

[RealBeast]

Have you gone through the WAN interface troubleshooting algorithm HERE?

 

[outsource_locally]

Have you gone through the WAN interface troubleshooting algorithm HERE?

Surprisingly, I have not seen this KB document yet. I'll run through this troubleshooting today and see if I can get it right. Thank you!

 

[nigelivey]

You just set the WAN to receive IP from DHCP. Make sure you fill in DNS settings. Gateway from within LAN should not be specified. I would also set DNS as a resolver not forwarder.