suba

i want to setup a VPN so that i can access a server/desktop connected on the internet via a ADSL router. the router suppose VPN. so do i need to do some setup on the router or somewhere else?

ozzy

If you want to use your router's VPN, then you'll need a VPN server/gateway at the other end.

Both the router and server needs to use the same authentication and protcol e.g. secret key & ipsec.

Stefan

[Edited by ozzy - 04/08/2003 19:43:29]

DazV

I know to be on the safe side you need static IP's, but I was thinking of playing around with VPN from my PC (dynamic IP) to the Office (also dynamic IP)

Was wondering if simply having WindowsXP at each end would be enough to setup VPN or do I need additional stuff ?

(GULP!) Just realised I may have hijacked SUBA's thread - sorry mate. Please ignore my post!

[Edited by DazV - 04/08/2003 22:02:09]

suba

well, you didnt really hijack my post. that's the idea i wanna do, from the office, i want to access my friend's home server/LAN which is connected via an adsl router.

seems pretty simple to setup the VPN client in w2k and XP using the wizard but surely there's something else i need to setup at the other end.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Need a fixed IP at the "receiving" end otherwise you've got nothing to connect to...

(Like go to this postcode 'cos thats where the house is instead of go to this country 'cos thats where the house is)

DazV

Puff, so a dynamic IP at both ends will definitely not work ?

On a different subject, PCAnywhere will work over broadband with dynamic IP at both ends, so why not this ? Is StaticIP the only wayt to 'secure' things ?

ozzy

DazV,

AFAIK, dynamic won't work unless you re-configure the VPN everytime you're allocated a new IP address.

It's all to do with securing the IP VPN tunnel between two networks or two clients. Both ends have to be pre-configured with either trusted IP addresses AND passwords/certificates.

Unless the site you are connecting too implements some form of Dynamic DNS, then how the heck are you going to know what IP address they are using at any given time, and therefore what address to connect too ???

To use Puff's analogy, it's like me chaning my post code and house number and you trying to send me parcels every day.

In saying all of that, I use VPN from home (dynamic) into my office (fixed). I can connect both ways, so connecting to a LAN with a dynamic IP address does work, but ........ my ISP only changes my (supposedly) dynamic IP address every 6 months or so. If I rebooted my firewall and they assigned me a new IP address, then my VPN would stop working and I'd have to modify the configuration with the new settings.

So, dynamic will work as long as it doesn't change frequently. If it changes everytime you connected with your ADSL, then you're stuffed. Unless of course you want to configure the VPN each time you want to connect to each other.

Suba,

XP desktops come with VPN client software i.e. desktop connects to a VPN. They will not allow incoming VPN connections, which can route traffic across the internal LAN. So, you can't connect a home XP desktop to the office XP desktop and then access all the office network from your home PC. The only thing you could do is establish a remote desktop connection and take control of your office PC.

Stefan

suba

i want to VPN into my friend's PC (connected to the internet via ADSL router that support VPN).

ozzy

Your router supports VPN, but you first need to find out if that's just as a VPN client or can it act as a VPN gateway. If it's just a client, then you (or your friend) can only connect to a remote VPN gateway. If both your routers only support this, then you can't connect to each other.

If your routers can configure themselves as VPN gateways, then your next problem is finding out how often your ISP changes your IP address. If it's everyday, then you'll both need to tell each other the new IP address and change both your configurations daily.

Stefan

DazV

ozzy, yes - when I mentioned dynamic IP, I was talking about mine which changes probably once a year. Not to worry, there's some good deals now on static IP's so we'll get that in at work.