Vpn: everything you need to know 【step by step】 ⭐️

Surely you have heard the term VPN quite often, and the benefits it has to surf the web safely. In this article we want to delve deeper into the topic to explain to you all the minors in the virtual private network that contribute to establishing a connection to other computers in a secure manner.

We will develop all the advantages that they can provide us, which will include greater security in our files, privacy and the advantage of being able to see all kinds of content with solutions such as those provided by OpenVPN or Surfshark.

What is a VPN and what is it for?

The first thing we must understand is the real concept of the virtual private network, which is basically a secure private browsing network that allows programs and devices to connect through an Internet extension, without being physically linked to the network, which ensures a secure transmission of data.

We see then that a VPN is a secure extension of a local area network the LAN of a lifetime, spreading it over the public network. With it, it is possible to join two geographically separated points via WAN.

To get a clearer idea, let's imagine two remote offices that require data or information to be transmitted and for this, it is necessary to connect the equipment to a VPN network through an Internet extension, that is, through the Internet, but without involving third parties, since it is not a public network. In this way it is possible to transmit our data, requests and orders through a kind of tunnel (tunneling) without the rest of users being able to hack our information through sniffers and other types of malware.

Differences from a normal Internet connection

To make everything a little clearer technically speaking, we can explain the difference between two Internet connections, one normal and the other VPN.

No VPN

We are a client that to make use of the Internet services we make a connection that starts on our computer and reaches the router. This part corresponds to the LAN, our own internal network in which the router assigns IP addresses to each computer. In the case of mobiles, they have a modem directly to connect wirelessly to the provider, although the foundation is the same. You already know that the mobile can also act as an access point for other equipment, almost like a router.

Through this router, we are connected to our Internet provider, with its own DNS that gives us an IP address to identify ourselves in the global WAN network. This is how we go to the Internet, through our provider's servers to view pages, play videos, send emails, etc.

With VPN

If we transfer this to a VPN the process is somewhat different. The way out of our LAN is similar, of course the data traffic continues to pass through our provider, in short, it is the one that gives us the service. But now this traffic reaches the VPN servers, which can be for example a company that gives us this service, our own router or a company server, because it is possible to set up our own VPN.

In short, it is what large companies do to protect their data, create their own VPNs. With the VPN the data travels encrypted at all times, and even the provider does not know what we are doing, nor do hackers who want to intercept the data (in principle). This is called a data tunnel, as the data will travel from point to point through a private tunnel throughout the WAN. Being useful to connect to a corporate LAN despite being in the other part of the world, this is how computer administrators or workers can work safely without being physically in the company.

But one of the advantages of this is that now our public IP is supplied directly by the VPN server, being different from what we had until now with our provider. According to the server we connect to, in the eyes of the Internet it is as if we were physically in that place. For example, if the VPN server is in the US, we are in the network of that country and we can consume content from that country, which is one of the great advantages of this type of connection.

What types of networks exist?

This connection can be made by remote access, by wired connection, through a term called Tunneling (Tunnel by SSH) or via internal network (LAN). Therefore, below we explain what each connection means and implies:

• Connection by remote access: it is perhaps the most used method, since it allows to shorten the distances that the involved teams could have, which likewise use the Internet as a coded service extension where users can access and communicate. For practical purposes, authentication in the VPN for access grants the same privileges as if we did it physically from the place, which is an advantage when working from anywhere. Wired connection: it is more used for the transmission of information within an office or headquarters of any company, its operation is more expensive than the remote access connection, since it is necessary to establish a cable highway that is distributed by all nodes and in turn reach the servers or the central internet supply. This type of connection is currently made with the global broadband network via the Internet. Tunneling: refers to the creation of a navigation tunnel within another VPN connection, it is also called an encapsulating network protocol, this allows creating new connections to the private network within existing ones, for example to redirect IP without modifying its content You can also send information simultaneously to different teams. The two that are transmitted end-to-end are encapsulated within a PDU (protocol data unit) which in turn go inside another PDU that encrypts the content and transmits it directly if the need to check the internal PDU containing the data. LAN connection: it works as a filter for network connections, for example: information of great importance from a company that only the owner of the area has the possibility of obtaining, but which can also be transmitted with other equipment via VPN, this also allows to further secure Wifi connections.

Protocols used in a VPN

We continue with the technical aspects of VPNs, and now we are going to see the different protocols that can be used to make a connection. In this way we will see its characteristics and which is better

• IPSec or Internet Protocol Security: it is an extension of the traditional IP protocol for VPN networks. It is secure enough to be used by companies to connect branches or their users remotely. It will encrypt any connection, thus ensuring privacy and integrity of the L2TP data or Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol: it is a protocol to encapsulate the data that in turn will be used by IPSec to encrypt and route them over the network. This method is called a virtual line since it is easy to use and the packet header has enough IP information for the VPN server to identify the user who is sending or sending it. PPTP or Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol: it is a protocol to encrypt and encapsulate packets with the IP protocol in a simple way. It is one of the fastest protocols, although with less robust protection than the previous ones because it has more fragile encryption. L2F or Layer 2 Forwarding: It is a protocol similar to PPTP created by the company Cisco Systems. In this case, it uses dial-up networks to transport packets, and like the previous one, it needs another protocol such as IP to encrypt the content of the packet. SSL VPN or Secure Lockets Layer: it stands out for its versatility and its great implementation for web access. A priori, it does not need the installation of a VPN client, which is why it is very commonly used in teleworking. OpenVPN: in addition to being a client software to connect to a VPN, it is also a point-to-point network protocol. This protocol is open source and allows establishing the tunnel between the client server using OpenSSL for encryption. Furthermore, it is capable of using the TCP or UDP transport protocols for data transmission. IKEv2: It is the evolution of the Internet Key Exchange protocol, it is another protocol that uses IPSec to encrypt data packets, although in a simpler way to improve their speed. This establishes the security association between the transmission points.

Advantages and disadvantages of a VPN

And we cannot define what a VPN network is without explaining the advantages that it can give us, both at the corporate level and at the home user level.

Make the data more confidential

This is the main advantage of being in a VPN network. The fact of having private connections at all times by tunneling or other methods out of reach of many hackers allows many users to work without being physically in the company, which has been teleworking. Authentication with username and password in the company LAN through VPN allows it to be safely extended practically wherever we want, using WAN we have no limitations whatsoever.

Reduced to the domestic sphere, we can mount our own VPN server with a virtual machine or with the router itself if it is compatible, and access our LAN from any point to view multimedia content from our territory or anything else.

Obviously nothing is without attack, and just as security advances, so does malware, but at least we minimize this danger. In addition, being inside a VPN does not completely guarantee anonymity, and many users use the Tor network in combination with VPN to achieve this "extra".

Greater security in public Wi-Fi connections

Another advantage that a virtual private network has is that of being able to connect to public wireless networks, such as the WiFi of a restaurant in a secure and encrypted way in front of the other users who access it. Who knows if the guy at the next table wants to hack us?

In addition, we currently have a large number of services and accounts activated on our PC or Smartphone, bank details, website passwords, and we even make our purchases from public Wi-Fi. All this will be more secure after a VPN, since the public network mode of Windows is not a too big impediment to keep an eye on us.

Avoid certain blocks or censorship of our country

One of the most common reasons to use the VPN services provided by companies, either for free or for payment, is basically to take advantage of geolocation of the server to eliminate censorship barriers in certain countries.

This would not be possible to do with our own VPN, although it would be the opposite, to see content from our country abroad. But there are many companies that offer their services for little money and have servers in practically the entire globe, at least always in the main countries. If we are in Spain and the server against which we connect is in the US, we eliminate that barrier in which the Internet services of our own country will place us. This means that we can see our own programs there from our browser, or paid content with our Netflix account that we could not see from here. This is how useful it is how the Chinese can connect to Facebook from there, a country that has a lot of censorship regarding "illegal" content.

It is one of the great strengths that companies have in providing this type of services to home users, beyond the extra security layer or the privacy of our content. Precisely for this reason, countries like Russia (who if not) are eliminating the possibility of using VPN from their territory, and others like China are layering the VPN applications available on Google Play or Apple Store.

Have dedicated servers

We are talking about those companies that, for a certain amount of money, or even free in the case of OpenVPN, give us access to their global macro VPN. All or most of them offer packages with extra services in addition to the typical connection to different parts of the world. These can be private data cloud services, ad blockers for the sites that we access with our browser, or even filters to detect email account vulnerabilities.

Most have their own applications to install on our PC or extensions for the browser that will help make that connection with any of our devices, even Smartphone

Increase security in P2P downloads

We all know that P2P downloads are the most common way to access illegal and copyrighted content. There are indeed legal torrents, although many more illegal than companies strive to prevent them from being consumed. And the solution they use is none other than limiting our connection, since all the information we access passes through their servers, they can limit the traffic of this type of packets that BitTorrent uses for example.

With a VPN network, this content goes unnoticed by these servers, as they are encapsulated in a PDU as an extra layer, so the imposed limitations are eliminated or at least considerably reduced. On the other hand, normally the download speed is not going to be the maximum of our connection, since the routing of the packets has to make a longer journey and consequently the latency will increase and the bandwidth will decrease. But at least it's better than having nothing.

But there are also certain disadvantages

Not everything is going to be advantages, and although we have already mentioned some, there are also important things to keep in mind, because nothing is infallible in this world.

• Speed ​​and latency: in addition to having to travel to the provider, the packets also have to reach the VPN server, so the jumps they must take are going to be possibly larger. Plus, the extra layer of tunnel encapsulation and security makes routing more expensive. This is especially noticeable in P2P downloads. Security is better, but not impenetrable: we have seen that there are stronger protocols than others, and depending on which we use, we can have more or less risks, for example, with PPTP. If we want to be anonymous, it must be used with Tor: the VPN gives us a certain confidentiality regarding our provider and other services, but there is always information on the origin of the package that is only masked with the Tor network, yes, that which is also called Deep Web. Limitations and political obstacles in the countries: we have already seen that certain countries limit or directly eliminate the use of VPN networks, so it is not 100% effective in the world. Many services are paid: it is not always in our hands to set up a VPN server, and to enjoy this content outside our territory we must go to companies that offer their services for a fee. At least it will be like this if you want a stable, secure and above all fast network.

How to create your own VPN network

We can be ourselves what we create our own virtual private network, not with the extensive characteristics of a payment network or a global VPN, but at least it will help us to connect securely to our LAN from anywhere in the world and enjoy of the multimedia and web content of our country, as we are the ones who directly control the server.

This would be ideal if we dedicate ourselves to traveling a lot or if we do not feel like spending money on an external supplier. For this, we have some very useful tutorials with which to create a VPN server in Windows or in a compatible router. We will increase the number of tutorials on this topic little by little to offer you more solutions.

Conclusion on VPN networks

In summary, the virtual private network works as a "connector" for two or more computers that are equidistant from which can only be accessed by means of a user and password that will be determined when creating the system. How the VPNs work will determine which of them you should use, but in the end they have the same pattern.

We recommend reading the best free public DNS.

This tool facilitates the remote connection between two computers, and that is why a company's technical service or systems department can access the other computers without the need to be present.

This connection method is the most widely used today and not only can you connect PC or laptop computers, but devices from any operating system can have access to these VPNs, such as Smartphone, Tablets or even Smart TV. Where you can connect to a Wifi network without running the risk of being intercepted or the security of the information being transmitted being violated, there are even applications that provide a VPN service for mobile devices.

As you will see, the benefits of VPNs are of total benefit for companies with one or more sites, so if you need to connect a branch of equipment with certain access systems this is the best and most used option today.