Today, with all the variety of means of accessing the World Wide Web, the so-called VPN clients have become very popular in the market of modern IT technologies, allowing you to create virtual private networks and bypass many of the restrictions that exist, say, on local networks set by the same system administrator. But let's see what it is.
What is a VPN client?
So what is such software? In fact, this is a specially developed application that allows you to create a tunnel connection to public networks that is different from the standard one.
A program of this type itself has a lot of advantages and is quite simple to install and configure. Here you need to have a minimum set of knowledge of the "operating system" Windows.
Advantages of this software over regular connection
If we talk about the operation of such an application, the VPN client for Windows is somewhat reminiscent of the functioning of the anonymous proxy servers, popular at the time, because it has the ability to change the actual IP address of the client computer terminal, which, in turn, increases the level of access security to the World Wide Web.
However, a VPN client can be a good find, say, for an employee of some serious company or organization who wants to watch funny pictures, read jokes, etc., over the course of a day, but only so that the boss doesn’t find out through system administrator. In this case, the same free VPN client for Windows 7 or 8 can work as a kind of anonymizer that hides traces of the user's internet surfing from prying eyes, not to mention protecting information stored on the computer through external access.
Based on this, any program of this type can be characterized both as a means to remain unrecognized on the Web, and as a kind of firewall, somewhat reminiscent of a regular firewall.
Program installation and setup steps
It goes without saying that today you can find quite a lot of applications of this type. However, the installation and configuration of almost all of them are identical. As a rule, registration is first performed on the manufacturer’s website (not always, however), then the installation distribution itself is downloaded, after which the program is actually installed on the system, then the personal profile is set up, and finally, the VPN client and connections are configured through its environment. How this is done, we will now see.
How to configure a VPN client server using the SecurityKISS example
Freeware SecurityKISS is a free VPN application that can be used in any Windows OS environment.
Installing the application is quite simple, just like other programs. As for the settings, everything is simple here. First you can find out your IP address, although this is not necessary. Such information can be useful only when you need to see if it has changed after the connection was established.
After starting the program, in the lower right corner, click on the icon marked with two system units, after which the user will be asked to select a region (country) and an active server from the list provided. A small recommendation: it is better to choose a server and a country geographically located closer to your region. Now, in general, everything is simple. It remains only to click the Connect button.
After about 10 seconds, a connection will be established, and, as a result, a message appears stating that you are in an encrypted tunnel.
We will make a reservation right away: absolutely for all programs that are a VPN client, an existing Internet connection or local network is required. Without this, they simply won’t work.
Settings for Windows 7
Now let's see how the VPN client for Windows 7 is configured, based on the fact that the program itself, say, Open VPN, is already installed. Now it’s up to the settings in the environment of the OS itself.
From the menu of the network and the Internet in the "Control Panel", the item for viewing the status of the network and tasks is selected, after which the creation (configuration) of a new connection is used.
In a new window, select the line indicating the connection to the workplace. You will be asked what kind of connection method to use in this case.
Select "My Internet Connection." Now you will need to enter the server address, and fill in the location and name arbitrarily. Yes, you must check the box next to the ignore line for immediate connection, it should only be configured. Finally, enter the login and password.
After all these procedures, you need to go to the section for changing the network adapter settings, which is located in the "Network and Sharing Center". In the properties, a security tab is selected, where a tunnel protocol such as VPN and maximum encryption are necessarily set, and the changes are saved by clicking OK. Next, a connection request window will appear, where you will need to activate it. Connection status will be displayed in the system tray.
Settings for Windows 8
If we talk about how to configure a VPN client for Windows 8, the procedures here are almost identical, only after specifying the type of connection you will need to first select the “Postpone setting up Internet connection” line, and then the “Create” button after all the registration data has been entered in advance as described above.
As you can see, almost all the steps taken to configure the client are the same in both systems, with the exception of only one point. In addition, the names of the sections themselves may vary slightly, but this is not the main thing.
Should I use a VPN connection?
That, in fact, is all about installing and configuring VPN clients in the Windows environment. As already clear, there is nothing particularly complicated in both of the cases described. However, each user must first take into account that the configuration is done only in the case of already connected. Well, which option to give preference to, everyone decides for himself. In principle, both methods are good. True, in the first case with the SecurityKISS program, the situation is even simpler, but in the free version there is a restriction on the use of traffic. For one session - 300 Mb. When the limit is reached, you will need to disconnect and activate the connection again. Not very convenient, of course, but for a quick visit to lightweight Internet resources this is enough.
In addition, it is worth paying attention to that moment that some VPN servers selected by the user for connection can themselves accumulate information about the user and his activities on the Internet, recording it in their logs. So it turns out that, on the one hand, we have confidentiality and unrecognizability, and on the other, full tracking of surfing.
However, even if you use the Windows settings with the Open VPN application, it may not be immediately, but you can still get to the truth. It is enough that the system administrator can easily connect to the remote "Desktop" or the user's computer terminal, view the list of installed programs and track the change in network connection settings. The user will not even know about it.