VPN/Secure Web Apps Question

[Mikeparkie]

I?ve been reading up on lots about VPN, SSH etc trying to get the right level of protection when away from home.

I?m still attempting to understand the full benefits of using a VPN. For the most part I understand that if you create a VPN, it creates a secure encrypted connection between the device I am using and my home machine, for my example I have setup a VPN on my home PC (Windows 7 + DLink Router using DD-WRT), if I want to ensure all my data is encrypted between my phone and the internet, then I can connect to the VPN and everything is secure.

However this is where I get confused:

• I connect remotely to Plex to stream media (including my photos) across the internet and also connect to my Usenet service. Whilst I securely connect to home via the VPN, is my connection between my home computer and my other web apps secure? I have setup the web apps to connect using SSL certificates/secure ports ? is this sufficient or should I also be adding an extra layer?
  

Thanks in advance for any comments, always love the support of the Neowin community.

[+BudMan MVC]

"I have setup the web apps to connect using SSL"

This an end to end encryption as well. So yeah your fine.

If you connecting to a website with SSL, your VPN to your home computer is really not required, unless you want to hide that your going to the website from where you end device is connected.

[The Dark Knight]

OP: Sorry for not being able to help and going a bit off topic, but how did you setup your VPN at home? I have been wanting to do this for sometime now, have tried with OpenVPN, but have just not been able to get it to work!

[+BudMan MVC]

"OpenVPN, but have just not been able to get it to work!"

And without some details of what you did or didn't do, some details of your network -- its impossible to help you with why you didn't get it working. Where you trying to run it on the router itself, server behind?

How where you testing it - where you trying to test from box inside to your outside address? Are you behind a double nat -- I find that lots and lots of users are actually behind a double nat because they think they need a router when their ISP already is doing nat and hook up another one, etc. Or they want wireless, or more ports and get another router when all they needed was switch or AP, etc.

If behind a double nat you would have to forward the port you were using through both of them. Were you trying to setup UDP or TCP connection - what port, maybe from where were tested it was blocked?

To be honest you can download the openvpn vm and have it up and running in like 10 minutes.

Without some details of what you were doing, etc.. its just plain impossible to help you work out what you were doing wrong. But setting up openvpn is not rocket science by any means of the imagination that is for damn sure ;)

[The Dark Knight]

Hi BudMan. Sorry for not going into detail, I was just actually wanting to know how OP set it up.

But with OpenVPN, I followed the guide on this page: http://www.howtogeek.com/64433/how-to-install-and-configure-openvpn-on-your-dd-wrt-router/

I faced issues while creating the certificates, then when that got sorted, something else came up, after that something else, and finally I gave up. It was quite a while ago, so I don't remember the details.

But thanks for the tip on the OpenVPN VM, will look into that! :)

[Mikeparkie]

I setup my VPN connection using this tutorial http://www.howtogeek...-dd-wrt-router/

And thanks Budman, I was hoping that was the answer :p