44Net Connect/Quick Start

Get Started with 44Net Connect

Before you begin, make sure you have what you need: a 44Net Portal account, a verified amateur radio callsign, a device capable of running WireGuard, and some sort of Internet access. If you haven't set up your Portal account or verified your callsign yet, see 44Net: Get Started for instructions. For a partial list of supported devices, see Supported Platforms.

Step 1: Sign in to the Connect dashboard

1. Visit The 44Net Connect dashboard.
2. Click the “Log In to Get Started” button.
3. Sign in with your 44Net Portal account credentials.

Tip

The Connect dashboard is where you will manage your tunnels and WireGuard configurations. Consider bookmarking https://connect.44net.cloud/ for easy access.

Note

The Connect dashboard is separate from the Portal dashboard. You will use your Portal account credentials to log in, but the two dashboards have different functions.

• The Portal dashboard is for managing your account, verifying your callsign, managing DNS, etc.

• The Connect dashboard is specifically for managing your WireGuard tunnels.

You will need to log in to both dashboards at different times depending on what you want to do.

Step 2: Create your first tunnel

1. On the dashboard page, click the “Create Tunnel” button.
2. Select an endpoint region and node.
3. Enter a name for your tunnel, click the “Create Tunnel” button, and confirm.

Tip

Don’t worry too much about the endpoint selection. You can change it later if needed, and you can have multiple tunnels to different endpoints if you want. The tunnel name is just for your reference.

Step 3: Get your WireGuard configuration

• Scroll down to find your tunnel configuration.
• Click the “Copy to Clipboard” button to copy the configuration text.
• Paste the configuration into your WireGuard client (Windows, macOS), or save it as a configuration file (e.g. wg0.conf on Linux, cloud instances, etc.).

Tip

The configuration includes your public and private keys, an automatically-assigned 44Net address, and the endpoint information. It’s a standard WireGuard config that you can use with any compatible client or device.

Warning

This is the only time you will see your private key in the Connect dashboard. If you lose it, you can generate a new configuration from the dashboard, but you cannot view the same private key again. If you opted to have the configuration sent to you via email, you can retrieve your private key from the email copy as well.

Step 4: Activate your tunnel

• Start the WireGuard tunnel (“Activate” in the client, or wg-quick up wg0 on Linux).

Once the tunnel is active, your system operates as a native 44Net host. Inbound and outbound traffic is routed through the Connect endpoint, giving your device a direct connection to the Internet.

Tip

If you have any issues activating the tunnel, check out the troubleshooting guide.

Note

Remember that your device needs to be connected to the Internet in order to use the Connect tunnel. The tunnel itself provides a secure connection to the Internet, but it does not provide Internet access on its own.