What is VPN for?

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markmcrobie

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I know VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, but can someone tell me what I would use it for on my iPhone?

How would I go about setting one up? (I notice my router's settings page has options for VPN)
 

grp318

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VPN, will allow you to control your home computer via your iphone or itouch. Download the VPN on your portable device then download and install the "server" version for your home pc. I use http://www.uvnc.com/ it’s free and easy to use.
 

markmcrobie

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markmcrobie said:
Thanks. What do you mean by "control"?
Ok, I guess from reading the link you gave it means total control of the PC.

How does it work on the iPhone? Is it easy to set up?

Also what are the settings labelled VPN on my router for? Will they be needed to set this up?

I notice my mum's router doesn't contain VPN settings pages, and her's is a more advanced model than mine (I have a Netgear DG834G, she has the DG834PN)
 

grp318

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My router has the same settings, but I don’t use them. It works ok on the iPhone but I prefer getting out of bed and walking to my computer. The screen is a little small to do work on. Try setting it up, you might not need to change the router settings. If you do, I would look at the manufactures web page for help. They are all basically different.
 

BlackWolf

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could it be that you are talking about different stuff?

for controlling the homePC you use VNC.
VPN actually stands for "Virtual Private Network" and is, well, a virtual network :D don't know exactly what it's used for to be honest.
 

markmcrobie

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I installed UVNC at lunch time, and I have NO idea what to do with it!

Any ideas?
 

skruggie

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VPN is how I get onto the network at work with my home computer. They give us a special key with passcode and it goes with software that was loaded onto my laptop.

I'm not sure how it would work with the iphone, but it would have to be something similar in regards to logging into a private network.
 

kyussmondo

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A lot of workplaces use VPN for logging on to intranets or networks. So if you are in the office you can use the network to access the internet if it is secure or access a companies intranet (network) from anywhere securely.
 
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VPN is one of those things that if you don't know what it is, then chances are you don't need it... :)

As others have mentioned above, it's a protocol used to allow access through corporate firewalls by creating a securely encrypted "tunnel" between your device and the corporate network. Once you've established a VPN connection to your corporate environment, you can generally access web portals and e-mail servers within the corporate environment as if you were sitting on your desktop computer at work -- your device essentially becomes connected directly to the corporate network (that's a bit of an oversimplification, since different companies configure their VPNs differently, but that's the general idea).

The iPhone only supports a PPTP/L2TP VPN, which is a common lower-end VPN solution used by many inexpensive routers and Windows Servers. More sophisticated VPN solutions generally use IPSEC or some variant thereof, which the iPhone does not presently support. Chances are that if you have to add a special client to your laptop to get VPN access to your corporate network, you are either using IPSEC or some other proprietary VPN technology, since Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP/Vista have PPTP/L2TP VPN capabilities built in.
 

Dim

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I would like to see Apple make the iphone a little more corporate compliant. Our VPN uses IPSEC and our wireless network uses 802.1x authentication, neither of which is available on the iPhone, so it has no way of getting on our network.
 
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Well, due to the increased complexity of IPSEC, I suspect it's more likely that we may see Apple open up the SDK to companies like Cisco to produce a separate IPSEC-based VPN client for those who need it, rather than building it in directly.

802.1x is definitely something people have been clamoring for, however, and IMHO is something that Apple would realistically need to build directly into the OS itself.
 

bobb-mini

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jhollington said:
VPN is one of those things that if you don't know what it is, then chances are you don't need it... :)
But once u know what it is then u go WHOA!

U mean I can access my home machine/resources/drives/files from anywhere in the world with Internet access? Just like if my machine was next to me?!!! Able to turn on the AC 1/2 hr b4r I get home! Opens the possibility of Synching with my iTunes dabatase which is at the other side of the continent at the moment! VPN is an enabler for Now We're Talking Big Boys Toys!
 

gilchrist

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Hello Mark,

Though this post is very old but I want to contribute my thoughts and personal experience with you as well. Yes there is no doubt that VPN means Virtual Private Network that prevents you to detect your IP from malicious agents like hackers and spammers. But if you are keen about to know that how to setup or configure vpn on your iphone, here it is :

1- Tap on your iPhone Settings Icon.
2- Tap General.
3- Tap Network.
4- Tap VPN.
5- Now you will find an option to configure a VPN connection named “Add VPN Configuration”.
6- Select PPTP/L2TP.
7-Description is simply the Name that you want to give to your VPN Connection.
8- Now Server name is only provided by the VPN service provider.
9- Similar to your Server Name, Your Account Name and Password will also be provided by your VPN Service provider.
10- After adding the information in these three fields. Set your RSA Secure ID to Off.
11- Set your encryption level to Auto.
12- Set, “Send All Traffic” to “ON”
13- Save the Configurations and return back to the Home Screen of your iPhone.
14- Tap your Settings once again and now Magic! you will see VPN Slider Tab added to your settings, just below your WiFi Tab.
15- Set it to ON. You will have your VPN up and running.

Hope it works for you.
 

pattydukes

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I have straight talk and just activated an iPhone 4 and I cannot get internet unless I use my wifi which I need data working for when I am not at home of course. I am supposed to update the APN settings in the iPhone but it only has the VPN. I don't know what that is but I'm sure I need it. My phone doesn't have the network option in the settings. Don't know why. Can anyone help?
 

cjmnews

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VPN = Virtual Private Network

This is typically an encrypted network that runs over WiFi or 3G (for iPhone 5 it could be 4G) that is used to access a corporate network.
 

snappybux

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VPN is the network associated with your carrier, not your home internet service.

If yours isn't working Patty I'd sugget contacting Apple themselves, most cell phone carriers won't be able to help you, only the manufacture of the phone can.

Call 1-800-MyiPhone
 
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