vpn:start [IG Manual]

====== VPN Overview ======
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network – networks connections that pretend they are private, but use the Internet for connection instead of expensive dedicated private cables.

VPN is a concept – not a technology. There are several different technologies, standards, one can use to establish a VPN connection: PPTP, L2TP, IPSec to name a few.

IPSec is the most widespread technology for VPN connections.

===== What is VPN used for? =====
Virtual Private Networking (VPN) uses a public network (i.e. the Internet) to securely connect two different networks as if they were on the same network. For example, an employee can access the corporate network from home using VPN.

===== Pass-through vs. termination =====
The Internet Gate can handle VPN pass through. When VPN pass-through is used the Internet Gate doesn't perform any encryption or authentication in the VPN tunnel. The termination is done in the client computer and the Internet Gate only lets the tunnel traffic pass through.

VPN termination means the VPN connection is made between the Internet Gate itself and the remote VPN client. It is the Internet Gate that authenticates and encrypts the VPN tunnel. The clients on your LAN do not need to have any VPN capability on their own.

<if !vpn>
^ :!: Your Internet Gate does not have VPN license. ^
| You need to purchase a VPN [[:license]] to be able to activate the VPN termination in your unit.\\ Only VPN pass-through is available otherwise. |
</if>

===== VPN Configuration =====
You configure VPN termination on the [[web GUI:VPN page]]. You can either use the [[EasyServer]] and [[EasyClient]], or configure [[configure server manually|server]] or [[configure client manually|client]] manually.

  * IPSec [[VPN:Server]]
  * IPSec [[VPN:Client]]
  * IPSec [[VPN:Tunnel]]