NetComm Wireless VPN Functionality Feature Spotlight

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network (VPN) is a secure connection between two or more endpoints on a network.

There are two types of VPN scenarios: Site to site VPN where data is encrypted from one VPN gateway to another over a third party network such as the internet Remote Access VPN where a secure connection is established between an individual computer and a VPN gateway.

NetComm Wireless routers support the following VPN protocols: IPSec OpenVPN PPTP GRE

IPSec

IPSec is a VPN protocol operating at the internet protocol (IP) layer of the internet protocol suite.

It can be used to secure data flow in the following configurations: Host-to-host Network-to-network Network-to-host

OpenVPN

OpenVPN is an open source virtual private network program for creating point-to-point or server-to multi-client encrypted tunnels between host computers.

It can traverse network address translation (NAT) and firewalls and provides 3 methods of authentication: Certificate Pre-shared key Username/password PPPoE username and password

PPTP-Client

The Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol (PPTP) is a method for implementing virtual private networks using a TCP and GRE tunnel to encapsulate PPP packets. PPTP operates on Layer 2 of the OSI model and is included on Windows computers.

GRE

The Generic Route Encapsulation (GRE) protocol is used in addition to Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol (PPTP) to create VPNs (virtual private networks) between clients and servers or between clients only. Once a PPTP control session establishes the VPN tunnel GRE is used to encapsulate the data or payload.

What can you do with VPNs?

The benefits of using a VPN include: Security – All traffic in and out of the router is encrypted (except when using GRE) ensuring the integrity of your network.

Common network – the devices can be placed in the same subnet meaning that they can be more easily administered.

Anonymity – because the router is connecting to a VPN gateway, any remote connections it may make appear to come from the gateway.

Reduce maintenance costs and time – when you have multiple routers on the same network, you can save time and money by reducing the effort required to service them.

Configuring an IPSec VPN

Configuring an IPSec VPN (continued)

Select encapsulation, encryption and hash types

Configuring an IPSec VPN (continued)

Enter Dead peer detection keep alive time and timeout, re-key interval, SA life time and then select the key mode.

Configuring an OpenVPN server

Configuring an OpenVPN server

Enter the server details. All fields are required.

When all fields have been completed, click Generate CA certificate button

Configuring an OpenVPN server

If using certificate authentication, enter the details for at least one certificate and click

Generate

.

After its generated, you can use the

Download

button to download the certificate file.

Certificates may be revoked in the future if they are no longer necessary or security has been compromised .

Enter the remote network address and network mask if you know them.

Click the

Save

button to save your settings.

Configuring an OpenVPN client

Configuring an OpenVPN client (continued)

To use certificate authentication, scroll to the bottom of the screen and use this section to upload the certificate first.

Configuring an OpenVPN client

Select uploaded certificate from drop down list.

Certificate information is displayed.

Click the

Save

button when finished.

Configuring an OpenVPN P2P connection

Configuring an OpenVPN P2P connection (continued)

Enter the remote network IP address and subnet mask

Configuring an OpenVPN P2P connection (continued)

On both server and client sides, click the

Generate

button to create a secret key to be shared with the other router.

Use the Client secret key upload field to upload the secret key file from the other router.

Configuring a PPTP-Client connection

Configuring a PPTP-Client connection (continued)

Configuring a PPTP-Client connection (continued)

Further information

For more information, please visit www.netcommwireless.com

and navigate to your product’s support page.