Setting use-ipsec=required forces clients to negotiate IPsec. No insecure L2TP-only connections allowed.
/ip ipsec active-peers print /ip ipsec installed-sa print
You must allow the VPN traffic through the MikroTik's firewall. You need to open ports for both L2TP and IPsec. Filter Rules and add these chain rules: : L2TP traffic. : IPsec ISAKMP. : IPsec NAT Traversal. IP Protocol 50 (ESP) : Encrypted payload. mikrotik l2tp server setup full
/ppp profile set default-l2tp-profile local-address=192.168.100.1 remote-address=l2tp-pool dns-server=8.8.8.8,1.1.1.1 use-encryption=yes change-tcp-mss=yes only-one=yes
Complete Guide to Setting Up a MikroTik L2TP Server Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) combined with IPsec is a highly secure, reliable, and widely compatible VPN solution. It allows remote workers and external devices to establish encrypted connections to a central network. MikroTik RouterOS makes deploying an L2TP server highly efficient. Setting use-ipsec=required forces clients to negotiate IPsec
Push DNS servers to your VPN clients so they resolve internal hostnames.
: If your MikroTik router or your Windows client is behind a carrier NAT router, Windows may fail to connect. To fix this, you must add a registry DWORD key named AssumeUDPEncapsulationContextOnSendRule with a value of 2 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PolicyAgent , then restart your PC. macOS Configuration You need to open ports for both L2TP and IPsec
While not strictly required, this rule improves compatibility and performance by clamping the TCP Maximum Segment Size. This prevents packets from being fragmented, which can cause speed and loading issues.
# Pool /ip pool add name=l2tp-pool ranges=192.168.100.10-192.168.100.100
Before enabling the server, you need to define the "home" for your VPN clients—their IP addresses and DNS settings. Enable Cloud DDNS (Optional but Recommended): If your WAN IP changes, use MikroTik's built-in DDNS. Navigate to Enable DDNS , and click Create an IP Pool:
