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Setting Up SoftEther VPN for Cabinet-to-Cabinet Play

What is SoftEther VPN?

SoftEther VPN is a free tool we use to create Virtual Hubs and connect multiple machines to the same virtual network, allowing the ability to perform Cabinet-to-Cabinet link even when the machines are on physically different networks.

Configuring SoftEther Server

This part of the guide is for hosting a hub! If you only wish to connect to a hub, refer to Connecting to a SoftEther Hub.

While this guide is mainly focused on setting up link-play for arcade games, theoretically this should also work with other PC games that supports link-playing over LAN.

Setting up the Server, and Creating a Hub

First, go to the SoftEther VPN Download Center. In the Select Component section, choose SoftEther VPN Server. Choose the Operating System and CPU based on your own machine, and grab the latest rtm build. This guide will be using Windows as an example, the layout for other OS might vary.

Run the installer and choose to install SoftEther VPN Server. Press Next to finish the installation, and start the Server Manager.

When running the Server Manager for the first time, you should be greeted with the window below. Click on the Connect button.

If prompted to setup a root password, set a password that you will remember. If prompted with the Easy Setup wizard, click Close on the bottom right of the window.

Click on Create a Virtual Hub on the window below.

Give your hub a name, and set an admin password. In this example, we will use Two-Torial.

If you wish to limit the maximum amount of sessions that can be connected to your hub at a time, you can enable Limit Max VPN Sessions. Most arcade games support up to 4-way link, so we will set the limit to 4 in this example.

Your hub is now created! You should see the hub show up on your Virtual Hub list. Click on the hub to highlight it, and click Manage Virtual Hub.

Adding Users to your Virtual Hub

You will need to add User Accounts into the Virtual Hub before anyone can connect. Click on Manage Users, then click New at the bottom left of the window.

Set a Username and Password for the user account, then check the Set Security Policy box on the top right, and click Security Policy.

Scroll down and find Unlimited Number of Broadcasts and Filter all IPv6 Packets, then enable the 2 options. Leave everything else as defaults and click OK.

Click on OK, and your user account should be created. Click on Exit to go back to the Hub Management page.

You can either create one user account and give everyone the same credentials to connect to your hub under the same user, or you can also create individual user accounts for all the players that wish to connect to your hub. I recommend creating an user account for each player so you can have an easier time to manage the hub if needed.

Configuring SecureNAT

We will use the SecureNAT option to assign a custom subnet to each connected machines. Some games like Chunithm requires you to be on a specific subnet or cab-to-cab link will not work. Click on Virtual NAT and Virtual DHCP Server (SecureNAT), then enable SecureNAT, and click on SecureNAT Configuration.

  • In the SecureNAT Configration window, set the IP Address under Virtual Host Network Interface Settings to the subnet you wish to use. In this exmaple, we will be using 192.168.139.x as this is the subnet required by Chunithm for cab-to-cab play.
  • Under Virtual DHCP Server Settings, set the IP Address range you wish to distribute to the connected machines. We will use a suffix of 11 to 14 in this example.
  • IMPORTANT: LEAVE THE Options Applied to Clients SECTION BLANK!!! Once everything is set, click on OK and Exit.

Setting a Dynamic DNS for your SoftEther Server

You can set a custom DDNS Hostname for your SoftEther Server to allow people to remember your Server Hostname more easily. You can also just leave the hostname as default if you wish.

Click Dynamic DNS Setting on the bottom left.

  • Under Change the Dynamic DNS Hostname section, set your preferred hostname. In this example, we will use twotorial.
  • Click Set to Above Hostname when done, and click Exit.

If a prompt shows up and ask if you want to regenerate a new Server Certificate, click on No.

If done correctly, the bottom left of your Virtual Hub management window should show your updated Hostname.

The server setup is done! User(s) should be able to connect to your hub now.

Connecting to a SoftEther Hub

Setting up the VPN Client

If you already have a hub created / you have a hub ready to connect, keep reading.

Go to the SoftEther VPN Download Center. In the Select Component section, choose SoftEther VPN Client. Choose the Operating System and CPU based on your own machine, and grab the latest rtm build. This guide will be using Windows as an example, the layout for other OS might vary.

Run the installer and choose to install SoftEther VPN Client. Press Next to finish the installation, and start the VPN Client.

In the VPN Client window, click on Add VPN Connection.

If a prompt shows up saying that you need to create a Virtual Network Adapter first, click Yes.

Leave the adapter name as default, and press OK. Wait for the creation process to finish.

Connecting to a Virtual Hub

After you have created a Virtual Network Adapter, you should be able to add a VPN Hub. Click on Add VPN Connection again.

  • Name the Hub whatever you prefer. In this example, we will use Twotorial.
  • In the Destination VPN Server section, input the server Hostname and port. The hostname should usually be [your_hostname].softether.net
  • If the Hostname is correct and the client is able to establish a connection, the Virtual Hub Name should auto-fill when you click on the dropdown box.

If the Virtual Hub Name shows a blank list even after clicking the dropdown box multiple times, it usually means your client is unable to establish a connection. Double check if the hostname, and your hub config is correct.

  • Under User Authentication Setting, input your username and password.
  • If you are connecting to another person's hub, ask the person for your login credentials.

  • Under Advanced Setting of Communication, UNCHECK THE RECONNECTS AUTOMATICALLY AFTER DISCONNECTED BOX. If this option is enabled, your VPN Client will always try to reconnect to the hub when it is running, taking up a spot in the hub. Please do not do this, it's just annoying when you're AFK in someone's hub and hogging up a spot.
  • Click Advanced Settings....

  • In the Advanced Settings window, you can set the Number of TCP Connections you wish to use. The higher you set, the more connections will be used, resulting in a potentially better link-play experience especially for real-time PVP games like Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune or Initial D: The Arcade.

If you set this to a very high value and your connection speed is unable to keep up with the requests, your connection quality may be negatively impacted. I recommend setting this to 8 for a good balance.

  • If you find yourself desyncing a lot when in game, you can also enable Use Data Compression to improve the connection stability.
  • Click on OK once everything is set.

Double click on the VPN hub to connect. If it shows you your assigned IP address, congratulations! You are now connected to the Virtual Hub and is ready for some cab-to-cab action!

Tips

  • If you need to fetch your assigned IP address because the notification window disappeared too fast or if you forgot your IP, you can do so with the ipconfig command in CMD.
  • The Virtual Adapter name will usually be Unknown adapter VPN - VPN Client.

  • If you already have your hub setup and want to share the config with other users, you can Export your VPN profile and send it to them. Right click on the VPN Hub you wish to share and click Export VPN Connection Setting....

  • If you wish to include your username and password in the exported config, click on No. If the hub you are connecting to have different accounts setup for individual users, click on Yes to remove all sensitive information from the config.