Some very basic VPN questions...

[ddeder]

I would like to set up a VPN connection between my office and my home. I have one PC at my office that uses a Symantec Gateway Security 320 device. My office has a cable internet connection with a static IP address of 72.194.101.178 and a Gateway IP address of 72.194.101.129.

At home I have one PC (a laptop) that uses a Netgear wireless router (not a VPN router) which is also connected to a cable internet connection with a static IP address of 69.33.63.7 and a Gateway IP address of 69.33.63.1.

Both PCs are running Windows XP Professional.

There are many, many options to consider when configuring the Symantec Gateway 320, all of which are very confusing to me. Dynamic Tunnel, Static Tunnel, Client Tunnel, Client Users, VPN Policies, etc...

I have all of the information from both networks (Internet IP addresses, Subnet masks, Gateway IP addresses, DNS servers, etc...) written down nice and neat. I just need to know how to configure this thing to allow the connection.

First question:

Do I need special "VPN client software" installed on my PC at home in order for this to work?

Second question:

Do I need to go into Control Panel -> Network Connections on the PC at the office and set up an advanced connection to accept incoming connections?

Third question:

Do both networks need to have the same subnet mask? (My subnet mask at home is 255.255.255.0 and the subnet mask at the office is 255.255.255.128).

Fourth question:

What numbers (IP addresses) do I need to have, at the very least, in order to set this up?

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I just noticed on the box that the Symantec Gateway Security 320 device came in that it says: "Secure, high-performance gateway to gateway VPN". Does this mean that I can set up a VPN connection to this device only if I have a VPN router at home as well?
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[FreshPrince]

sounds like client tunnel since your router does not support vpn.

does the symantec come with client software? I'm not too familiar with it...if it uses SSL VPN, I would definite use that....it will install the client over the web.

 

[ColKurtz]

Get Hamachi. It the coolest, most well written, useful piece of software I've seen in a long long time. It's a "zero config" p2p VPN. All you do is install on each computer you want to connect and run it. That's it. Seriously. Actually, you have to come up with the name of the network (like a workgroup name) you'll use to connect, but that's honestly the only configuration needed. It works through NAT routers without having to open any ports and will work through all but the most anal-retentive corporate networks. It truly does rock. Oh, and it's free. If Hamachi had a leg I'd hump it.

Also, if you're going to connect multiple computers, run the install on each computer at the same time if possible. When you install Hamachi, you're given a permanent (permanent on Hamachi's servers, at least) IP address in the reserved 5.x.x.x address range. This is how you connect to other Hamachi users. Hamachi initiates the encrypted handshake and then bows out. If you install them concurently, you have a chance of getting concurrent IP addresses. The point in the install where you're assinged the address is when you hit the "power" button on the Hamachi client. You'll be prompted to do so... so this is where you need to be quick b/c Hamachi is becoming so popular that even a few seconds lag will give you a non-concurrent range. Just a tip.