Connect to VPN Gate Using the L2TP/IPsec VPN Protocol
This document describes how to connect to a VPN Gate
VPN relay server using an L2TP/IPsec VPN client.
The L2TP/IPsec VPN client is built into Windows, Mac, iOS
and Android. It is easier to configure than using OpenVPN. It is recommended to use
L2TP/IPSec
VPN before trying OpenVPN. However, some networks or firewalls block L2TP/IPSec packets. If
L2TP/IPsec fails, please try OpenVPN.
Connection Settings for L2TP/IPsec VPN
If you already know how to set it up, you can quickly configure your
L2TP/IPsec VPN Client using the following settings.
-
IP Address / Host Name: You can get it from the Public VPN
Relay Servers List page.
Username: vpn, Password: vpn
Pre-Shared Key (PSK): vpn
Choose Your Operating System
Step-by-Step Guide for VPN on Windows (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)
Using the L2TP/IPSec VPN client built into Windows
XP, 7, 8, 10, RT, Server 2003, 2008, and 2012
, below are the instructions for connecting to a VPN Gate public VPN relay server.
-
SoftEther VPN
Client is recommended on Windows.
Configuring the L2TP/IPsec Client is more troublesome than using the SoftEther VPN Client.
If you are using Windows, SoftEther VPN Client
is recommended because it is easy to configure and stable. SoftEther VPN Client
can display the list of currently available VPN Gate servers in the software interface.
In this guide, we use the Windows 7 interface. Windows XP and
Windows 8 are similar, but there are some slight differences.
1. Initial setup (only needs to be done once the first time)
In the bottom-right corner of the Windows
interface, right-click the network icon and click “Open Network and Sharing Center” .
In the “Network and Sharing Center”,
click “Set up a new connection or network” .
Select “Connect to a workplace” .
Select “Use my Internet connection (VPN)” .
Open the VPN server list page and choose the VPN server you want to connect to.
Copy the DDNS hostname (ending with the “.opengw.net” identifier)
or the IP address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
and paste it into the “Internet address” field in the setup wizard.
-
In general, it is recommended to specify the DDNS hostname (ending with
the “.opengw.net” identifier). The DDNS
hostname can continue to be used even if the IP
address associated with the DDNS hostname changes in the future.
However, in some countries or regions, you may not be able to use
the DDNS hostname. If you cannot specify the DDNS hostname, try using an IP
address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) instead.
After you paste the “Internet address”,
select the checkbox at the bottom of the screen “Don’t connect now; just set it up so I can connect later” .
If a username and password pop-up window appears, enter “vpn” (3
letters) in both the username and password fields. Also check “Remember this password” .
When the “The connection is ready to use”
message appears, click the “Close” button. Do not click
the “Connect now” button.
Go to the “Network and Sharing Center”
and click “Change adapter settings” .
The currently defined VPN connection settings are listed. Right-click the icon you created in the previous step, and click “Properties”.
On the Properties screen, switch to the “Security” tab. (In Windows XP, switch to the “Networking” tab.) From the “Type of VPN” drop-down list, select “Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)”.
Next, click the “Advanced settings” button. (In Windows XP, click “IPsec Settings” on the “Security” tab.)
The next screen will appear. Click “Use preshared key for authentication” and enter “vpn” (3 letters) in the “Key” field.
After completing the above configuration, click the “OK” button twice to close the VPN connection settings Properties screen.
2. Connect to the VPN Server
Double-click the VPN connection setting you created, and the following screen will appear.
If you enabled the option to save the password in the previous steps, the “User name” and “Password” fields should be filled in automatically. If not, enter “vpn” in both the “User name” and “Password” fields.
Click the “Connect” button to start the VPN connection attempt.
While the VPN connection is being established, the screen below shows the status. If an error occurs, check your settings and make sure the VPN type is “L2TP/IPsec” and that the preshared key is specified correctly.
If the VPN connection is established successfully, the VPN connection icon will appear on the screen and will be listed when you click the network icon in the lower-right corner of the Windows screen. The status of the “VPN Connection” icon should be “Connected”.
By the way, from now on, you can start the VPN connection simply by clicking this VPN icon.
3. Enjoy the Internet via the VPN Relay
When the VPN is established, all Internet communications will be forwarded through the VPN server. You can verify this by using the “tracert 8.8.8.8” command at the Windows command prompt.
As shown in the figure above, if the packet path goes through “10.211.254.254”,
then your communication is now being relayed through one of the VPN Gate public VPN
servers.
You can also visit the VPN Gate top page to check your current global IP address. If you connect to a
VPN server located in a foreign country, you can see that your source country or region has changed to another one.
When your VPN connection is established, enjoy YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.
Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail use HTTPS (SSL)
encrypted communication protocols. Whether or not you use a
VPN, no one can eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.
Step-by-Step Guide for VPN on Mac (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)
This document describes how to use the L2TP/IPsec VPN
client built into Mac OS X to connect to one of the VPN Gate VPN relay servers.
In this guide, all screenshots are from Mac OS X Mountain Lion. The configuration method for
other versions of Mac OS X is similar, although there may be slight differences in the user interface.
These screenshots are from the English version of Mac OS X.
If you use another language, you should still be able to configure it easily by referring to the guide below.
1. Initial Configuration (Only required once, the first time)
Click the network icon at the top right of the Mac interface. Click “Open Network Preferences…” in the menu.
Click the “+” button on the network configuration screen.
For “Interface” select “VPN”, for “VPN
Type” select “L2TP over
IPsec” , and click the “Create” button.
A new L2TP VPN configuration will be created, and the configuration screen will appear.
On this screen, you must specify the hostname or IP address of the target VPN Gate public VPN
relay server.
Open the VPN Server List page, click the VPN relay server you want to use. Copy the DDNS
hostname (ending with the
“.opengw.net” identifier) or IP address
(in the format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it into the “Server Address” field on the configuration screen.
-
In general, it is recommended that you specify a DDNS host name (ending with
the “.opengw.net” identifier). The DDNS
host name can continue to be used even if the IP
address corresponding to the DDNS host name changes in the future.
However, in some countries or regions, you may not be able to use a
DDNS host name. If you cannot specify a DDNS host name, try using an IP
address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) instead.
After you specify “Server Address”,
enter
“vpn” (3 letters) in the “Account Name” field,
which is next to the “Server
Address” field.
Next, click the “Authentication Settings…” button.
The authentication screen will appear. Enter “vpn” (3
letters) in the “Password” field. Also enter “vpn” (3
letters) in the “Shared Secret” field. After you have entered them, click the “OK” button.
Back on the previous screen, check “Show VPN status in menu
bar” and click the “Advanced…” button.
The advanced settings will appear. Check “Send all traffic over VPN
connection” and click the “OK” button.
On the VPN
connection settings screen, click the “Connect” button to start the
VPN connection.
2. Start a VPN connection
You can start a new
VPN connection at any time by clicking the “Connect” button. You can also start a
VPN connection by clicking the VPN icon in the menu bar.
After the VPN connection is established, the VPN connection settings screen will show
the “Status”
as “Connected”. Your VPN
private IP address and the connection duration will be displayed on the screen.
3. Enjoy the Internet through the VPN relay
When the VPN is established, all communications to the Internet will be forwarded through the VPN server.
You can also visit the VPN Gate top page to view your current global IP address. If you connect to a
VPN server located in a foreign country, you can see that your country or region of origin has changed to another one.
Once your VPN connection is established, enjoy YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter
.
Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail use HTTPS (SSL)
encrypted communication protocols. Whether through VPN
or not, no one can eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.
Step-by-Step Guide to VPN on iPhone / iPad (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)
This document describes how to use the L2TP/IPsec VPN
client built into iPhone / iPad to connect to a VPN Gate public VPN relay server.
In this guide, each screenshot is taken from iOS 6. The configuration method for other versions of iOS
is similar, but there may be slight differences in the user interface.
These screenshots are from the English version of iOS
. If you use another language, you should still be able to configure it easily by referring to the guide below.
1. Initial Configuration (Only needs to be set up once the first time)
Launch the “Settings” application from the iOS
home screen.
Under “General”, open “VPN” ,
and tap “Add VPN Configuration…” .
A new L2TP VPN configuration will be created, and the configuration screen will appear.
On this screen, you must specify the hostname or IP address of the target VPN Gate public VPN
relay server.
Open the VPN Server List page, click the VPN relay server you want to use. Copy the DDNS
hostname (ending with the
“.opengw.net” identifier) or the IP address
(in the form: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it into the
“Server” field on the configuration screen.
-
In general, it is recommended to specify a DDNS hostname (ending with the
“.opengw.net” identifier). The DDNS
hostname can continue to be used even if the IP
address associated with the DDNS hostname changes in the future.
However, in some countries or regions, you may not be able to use the
DDNS hostname. If you cannot specify a DDNS hostname, try using an IP
address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) instead.
After you specify the “Server” field,
enter “vpn” in the “Account”, “Password” and “Secret” fields (3
letters)
. After entering them, tap the “Save” field.
2. Connect to the VPN
At any time, by using the created VPN connection settings, you can start a VPN
connection.
Tap the “OFF” button to initiate a VPN
connection.
When the VPN is established, you can see the status and connection time on the status screen. Your VPN
private IP address is also displayed. The IP address
reported by “Connected to” is “1.0.0.1”, but this is not unusual.
3. Enjoy the Internet through the VPN relay
When the VPN is established, all communications to the Internet will be forwarded through the VPN server.
You can also access the VPN Gate Top Page to check your current global IP address. If you connect to a
VPN server located in a foreign country, you can see that your source country or region has changed to another one.
When the VPN is established, iOS
displays the “VPN” indicator in the top bar of the screen.
When your VPN connection is established, enjoy YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.
Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail use HTTPS (SSL)
encrypted communication protocols. Whether or not you use a VPN
, no one can eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.
Step-by-Step Guide to VPN on Android (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)
This document describes how to use the L2TP/IPsec VPN
client built into Android to connect to a VPN Gate public VPN relay server.
In this guide, every screenshot is from Android 4.x. The setup procedure is similar for other versions of Android 4.x, but there may be slight differences in the user interface. Some third parties have customized Android’s settings screens.
These screenshots are from the English version of Android. If you are using another language, you should still be able to configure it easily by referring to the guide below.
1. Initial setup (installation is required only once the first time)
Start the “Settings” application on Android.
In the “Wireless &
Networks” category, open “More…” and tap “VPN”.
Tap the “Add VPN profile” button to create a new VPN
connection.
A new VPN
connection settings edit screen will appear. Enter any name in the “Name” field
(for example, “vpn”)
and select “L2TP/IPSec PSK” in the “Type” field.
On this screen, you must specify the hostname or IP address of the target VPN Gate public VPN
relay server.
Open the VPN Server List page, and click the VPN relay server you want to use. Copy the DDNS
hostname (ending with the
“.opengw.net” identifier) or the IP address
(in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it into the “Server address” field on the settings screen.
-
In general, it is recommended to specify the DDNS hostname (ending with the
“.opengw.net” identifier). The DDNS
hostname can continue to be used even if the IP
address corresponding to the DDNS hostname changes in the future. However, in some countries or regions, you may not be able to use the
DDNS hostname. If you cannot specify the DDNS hostname, try using the IP
address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) instead.
Scroll down the settings screen and check the “Show advanced options” box, if appropriate.
Specify “vpn” in the “IPSec pre-shared key” field (3
letters).
Specify “0.0.0.0/0” in the “Forwarding routes” field (9
characters). Make sure you enter it correctly in the “Forwarding routes” field. If it is incorrect, you will not be able to communicate through the VPN.
After entering everything, click the “Save” button to save
the VPN connection settings.
2. Connect to the VPN
At any time, you can start a VPN
connection by using the VPN connection settings you created. Open the list of VPN connection settings and tap the setting, and you will see the following screen.
The first time you use it, you must enter the “Username” and “Password” fields.
Enter “vpn” in both the “Username” and “Password” fields (3
letters), then select “Save account information”.
Click “Connect” to start the VPN connection.
Once the VPN
connection is established, the status string “Connected” will appear next to the
VPN connection setting, and the Android status area will display the message “VPN activated”. You can tap the message to view the current VPN connection status.
3. Enjoy the Internet through the VPN relay
When the VPN is established, all communication to the Internet will be forwarded through the VPN server.
You can also visit the VPN Gate top page to check your current global IP address. If you connect to a
VPN server located in a foreign country, you can see that your country or region of origin has changed to another one.
When your VPN connection is established, enjoy YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter
.
Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail use HTTPS (SSL)
encrypted communication protocols. Whether or not you are using a VPN
, no one can eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.