How to create a VPN server on your Windows PC without installing any software
👨💻
Windows has the built-in ability to act as a VPN server using Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), although this option is somewhat hidden. Here’s how to find it and set up your VPN server.
Related: What is a VPN, and why would I need one?
Setting up a VPN server can come in handy for connecting to your home network on the go, playing LAN games with someone, or securing your web browsing on public Wi-Fi — some of the many reasons you might want to use a VPN. This trick works on Windows 7, 8, and 10. The server uses Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP.)
Note: Some people who have updated to Windows 10 Creators Update are experiencing a problem when the VPN server creation fails because the Routing and Remote Access service failed to start. This is a known issue that has not yet been fixed by updates. However, if you are comfortable with editing a couple of registry keys, there is a workaround that seems to solve the problem for most people. We will keep this post updated if the issue is officially fixed.
determinants
Although this is an interesting feature, setting up a VPN server in this way may not be the ideal option for you. It has some limitations:
- You will need the ability to forward ports from your router.
- You should show Windows and a port of the PPTP VPN server directly to the Internet, which is not ideal from a security point of view. You should use a strong password and consider using a port that is not the default port.
- This is not as easy to set up and use as programs like LogMeIn Hamachi and TeamViewer. Most people would probably be better off with a more complete software package like this one.
Related: How to use LogMeIn Hamachi to access your files anywhere
Create a VPN server
To create a VPN server in Windows, you will first need to open the Network Connections window. The quickest way to do this is to press Start, type “ncpa.cpl,” and then click on the result (or press Enter).
In the Network Connections window, press Alt to bring up the full menus, open the File menu, and then select the New Incoming Connection option.
Next, select the user accounts that can connect remotely. To increase security, you may want to create a new, limited user account instead of allowing the VPN to be logged in from your primary user account. You can do this by clicking on the “Add someone” button. Whatever user account you choose, make sure it has a very strong password, as a weak password can be cracked with a simple dictionary attack.
When your user is selected, click the Next button.
On the next page, select File Online option to allow VPN connections over the Internet. This is probably the only option you’ll see here, but you can also allow incoming connections via dial-up modem if you have a dial-up device.
After that, you can select which network protocols should be enabled for incoming connections. For example, if you don’t want people connected to a VPN to be able to access shared files and printers on your local network, you can disable the File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks option.
When you’re done setting things up, click the Allow Access button.
Windows then configures access to your chosen user accounts — which can take a few seconds.
At this point, your VPN server is up and running, ready to receive incoming connection requests. If you want to disable the VPN server in the future, you can simply go back to the “Network Connections” window and delete the “Incoming Connections” item.
Router setting
If you are connecting to the new VPN server online, you will need to set up port forwarding so that your router knows it is sending traffic of this type to the correct computer. Log in to your router setup page and forward port 1723 to the IP address of the computer where you set up the VPN server. For more instructions, check out our guide on how to forward ports on your router.
Related: How to access your router if you forgot the password
For maximum security, you may want to create a port forwarding rule that forwards a random “external port” – such as 23243 – to “internal port” 1723 on your computer. This will allow you to connect to the VPN server using port 23243, and will protect you from malware that automatically scans and tries to connect to VPN servers running on the default port.
You could also consider using a router or a firewall to only allow incoming connections from specific IP addresses.
Related: How to Easily Access Your Home Network from Anywhere with Dynamic DNS
To make sure you can always connect to the VPN server, you may also want to set up a dynamic DNS service like DynDNS on your router.
Connect to your VPN server
Related: How to find private and public IP addresses
To connect to a VPN server, you will need your computer’s public IP address (the IP address of your network on the Internet) or its dynamic DNS address, if you have set up a dynamic DNS service.
In whatever version of Windows you’re using on the device to make the connection, you can just press Start, type “vpn,” and then select the option that appears. In Windows 10, it will be called “Change Virtual Private Networks (VPN)”. In Windows 7, it’s called Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Connection.
When asked to provide a connection name (anything will do) and an Internet address (it could be a domain name or an IP address).
Related: How to connect to a VPN in Windows
For more instructions on connecting — including some advanced options you can choose — see our complete guide on how to connect to a VPN on Windows.
[ad_1]
Don’t forget to share this post with friends !
