How to Create a VPN Server without Installing Any Software on Your Windows Computer
How to Create a VPN Server without Installing Any Software on Your Windows Computer
Although this option is somewhat hidden, Windows includes the ability to act as a VPN server via the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP). Here's how to locate and configure your VPN server.
Setting up a VPN server may be beneficial for connecting to your home network while traveling, playing LAN games with others, or securing your web browsing while using a public Wi-Fi connection – just a few of the numerous reasons you may want to use a VPN. This trick is compatible with Windows 7, 8, and 10. The server connects to the Internet via the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP.)
Establishing a VPN Server
To begin creating a VPN server in Windows, open the "Network Connections" window. To do so quickly, click Start, type "ncpa.cpl," and then click the result (or hit Enter).
To display the full menus in the "Network Connections" window, press the Alt key, open the "File" menu, and then select the "New Incoming Connection" option.
Following that, select the user accounts that will be able to connect remotely. To improve security, you may want to create a separate, limited user account rather than allowing VPN logins through your primary user account. This can be accomplished by clicking the "Add someone" button. Whichever user account you choose, make certain it has an extremely strong password, as a weak password can be cracked using a simple dictionary attack.
Once you've selected your user, click the "Next" button.
Select the "Through the Internet" option on the following page to enable VPN connections over the Internet. This is likely the only option available here, but if you have the dial-up hardware, you could also allow incoming connections via a dial-up modem.
The following section allows you to specify which networking protocols should be enabled for incoming connections. For example, if you do not want VPN users to have access to shared files and printers on your local network, you can disable the option "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks."
Once everything is configured, click the "Allow Access" button.
Windows will then configure access for the user accounts you specified—a process that may take a few seconds.
And at this point, your VPN server should be up and running and ready to accept connection requests from clients. In the future, if you wish to disable the VPN server, simply return to the "Network Connections" window and delete the "Incoming Connections" item.
Router Configuration
If you're connecting to your new VPN server via the Internet, you'll need to configure port forwarding so that your router knows to send that type of traffic to the appropriate computer. Navigate to the router's setup page and forward port 1723 to the IP address of the computer on which the VPN server is configured. For additional information, see our guide on how to forward ports on a router.
For maximum security, you may want to create a port forwarding rule that routes traffic from a random "external port" — such as 23243 — to your computer's "internal port" 1723. This enables you to connect to the VPN server via port 23243 and protects you from malicious programs that scan for and attempt to connect automatically to VPN servers that use the default port.
Additionally, you can consider using a router or firewall to allow connections only from specific IP addresses.
To ensure that you can always connect to the VPN server, you may also want to configure your router with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS.
Connecting to Your Virtual Private Network (VPN) Server
To connect to the VPN server, you'll need your computer's public IP address (the Internet address of your network) or, if you've configured a dynamic DNS service, its dynamic DNS address.
Simply hit Start, type "vpn," and then select the option that appears. It will be called "Change Virtual Private Networks (VPN)" in Windows 10. It's called "Configure a virtual private network (VPN) connection" in Windows 7.
When prompted, provide a connection name (anything will suffice) and the Internet address (this can be a domain name or IP address).
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