VPN Set UP and Configuration - Make Sure Your Home Computer Connects Properly to Any VPN

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An Introduction to VPNs

Virtual Private Networks generally fall into the following two categories:

Remote Access VPNs allowing employees to connect to the corporate network over Internet from any location.
Router-to-Router VPNs connecting two remote Local Area Networks through the Internet using a secure tunnel.

In this article we will mainly focus on the former type of VPN, as the latter falls under the domain of Systems Administration, which is not particularly interesting for home users.

If you work in a corporate environment, chances are that your employer has provided you with a set of credentials to connect to the office network from home in order to access shared resources such as files and printers. In order to set up a VPN connection you must have the following information:

The DNS name or IP address of the company's VPN server (ex. vpn.mycompany.com, or 10.42.91.12).
A username (usually the domain login that you use to log on to your workstation at work).
A password (your domain password).

How do I Set Up A VPN Connection?

The process of creating a VPN connection is almost identical in Windows® 2000, XP, Vista, and 7. The following instructions are for Windows XP:

Click Start, Run, type "ncpa.cpl" and press ENTER to open the Network Connections window.
On the left panel, click "Create a new connection."
Click Next, select "Connect to the network at my workplace", click Next again.
Select "Virtual Private Network Connection" and click Next.
Type the name of your company. This field is only used to name the shortcut for the VPN connection, so you can use any name.
Optional - If you are using a dial-up, ISDN, or any type of authenticated PPP connection, select the name of the connection in the "Automatically dial this connection" drop-down menu. Otherwise, select "Do not dial the initial connection" and click Next.
Type the DNS name or IP address of the VPN server and click Next.
Select "Add shortcut to my desktop", and click Finish.
Open the new shortcut from your desktop, type in your username and password, and click Connect.

Security on VPN

VPN is secure: the data is encrypted and encapsulated on your end before being transferred over a virutal tunnel to the VPN server at your office, where it is de-capsulated, decrypted, and handed off to the destination host on the network. The whole process is transparent to the participating hosts; it is as if you are physically located within the boundaries of the company's LAN, and you can communicate with all the hosts and printers (unless VPN traffic switching has been disabled on the router). VPN connections using L2TP protocol also allow more secure methods of user authentication such as Smart Cards and the use software certificates, along with your password.

VPN Issues

After connecting to a VPN network, you may notice that the performance of your Internet connection has degraded. This usually indicates bad routing table configuration on the VPN server. Sometimes administrators unknowingly leave the option to route the Internet traffic over the corporate router (gateway) enabled. You can verify this by checking your default gateway address using the "ipconfig" command. If the address matches the corporate network's default gateway address, you should contact your systems administrator and inform them about this bottleneck.

Setting Up a VPN Server

There are various ways to set up a VPN network for your small business. You can deploy Windows® 200x Server on a machine and use the "Routing and Remote Access" snap-in, use a 3rd party VPN software like OpenVPN (free) on an existing machine, or purchase a VPN/Firewall enabled router from Cisco, D-Link, or other network equipment manufacturers. Software solutions are easier to configure but slower and less reliable than hardware solutions. Also, keep in mind that some routers require you to install and use their proprietary software package on your system in order to be able to connect to the network. In this case, the generic procedures mentioned above do not work. Some examples of this are SonicWall VPN Client and Cisco VPN Client.

You can also set up your own VPN server at home to connect to your own computer remotely. This allows only 1 active connection at a time. Here is how it's done:

Open Start > Run, type "ncpa.cpl", press ENTER
Click "Create a new connection"
Click Next, select "Set up an advanced connection", click Next
Select "Accept incoming connections", click Next
Do not select LPT1 or any other parallel/serial ports on this windows, simply click Next
Select "Allow virtual private connection, click Next
Select the usernames to whom you like to provide remote access, click Next
Use the default settings, click Next, click Finish.

An "Incoming Connections" icon will appear in your Network Connections Window and you are ready to go. Please note that if you are using a router you should allow port 1723 pass through the firewall AND you should configure your router so that it maps the IP address given to you by your ISP to the local IP address of your computer on that specific port (ex. 10.51.12.3:1723 -> 192.168.0.101:1723).

There are also numerous VPN service providers that will allow to access your office connection from home.

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