Connect to VPN Gate by Using L2TP/IPsec VPN Protocol

This document describes how to connect to a VPN Relay Server of VPN Gate by using the L2TP/IPsec VPN Client which is bundled with the operating system.

L2TP/IPsec VPN Client is built-in on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. It is easier to configure than using OpenVPN. L2TP/IPsec VPN is recommended before you try to use OpenVPN. However, some networks or firewalls block L2TP/IPsec packets. If L2TP/IPsec fails, try OpenVPN.

 

Connecting parameters for L2TP/IPsec VPN

You can quickly configure your L2TP/IPsec VPN Client by using the following parameters if you have already known how to set up.

 

Select your OS

 

VPN on Windows step by step guide (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)

Here is the instruction how to connect to a VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server by using L2TP/IPsec VPN Client which is built-in on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, RT, Server 2003, 2008 and 2012.

  • SoftEther VPN Client is recommended on Windows.
    L2TP/IPsec Client configurations are difficult than SoftEther VPN Client.
    If you are using Windows, using SoftEther VPN Client is recommended because it is very easy to configure and stable. SoftEther VPN Client can show the list of currently running VPN Gate Servers on the software screen.

On this instruction, we use Windows 7 screens. Windows XP and Windows 8 are similar, however there are a little number of changes.

 

1. Initial configurations (only once at the first time)

Right-click the network icon on the bottom-right side of Windows screen, and click "Open Network and Sharing Center" .

 

Click "Set up a new connection or network" on the "Network Sharing Center" .

 

Select "Connect to a workplace" .

 

Select "Use my Internet connection (VPN)" .

 

Open the VPN Servers List page and choose a VPN Server which you want to connect.
Copy the DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) or IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it on the "Internet address" field on the configuration wizard.

  • In general, DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) are recommended to specify. DDNS hostname can continue to be used even if the corresponding IP address of the DDNS hostname will change in future. However, in some countries or regions, you might be unable to use DDNS hostname. If you fails to specify a DDNS hostname, try IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) specification instead.

After you paste the "Internet address" , check "Don't connect now; just set up so I can connect later" checkbox on the bottom of the screen surely.

 

If the username and password prompting screen appears, input "vpn" (3-letters) on both username and password field. You should check "Remember this password" .

 

When "The connection is ready to use" message appears, click the "Close" button. Do not click the "Connect now" button.

 

Go to "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 "Network" tab.) Choose "Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)" on the "Type of VPN" drop-down list.

 

Next, click the "Advanced settings" button. (In Windows XP, click the "IPsec Settings" on the "Security" tab.)

The following screen will appear. Click "Use preshared key for authentication" and input "vpn" (3-letters) on the "Key" field.

 

After the above configuration finished, click the "OK" button twice to close the property screen of the VPN connection setting.

 

2. Connect to the VPN Server

Double-click the created VPN connection setting, the below screen will appear.
"User name" and "Password" fields should be filled automatically if you enable password-saving options in previous steps. If not, input "vpn" on both "User name" and "Password" fields.

Click the "Connect" button to start the VPN connecting attempts.

While the VPN is trying to be established, the following screen displays statuses. If an error occurs, confirm your settings make sure that the type of VPN is "L2TP/IPsec" , and the pre-shared key is correctly specified.

 

If the VPN connection is successfully established, a VPN connection icon will be listed on the screen which appears when you click the network icon on the bottom-right of Windows screen. The status of the VPN connection icon should be "Connected" .
By the way, you can initiate the VPN connection by simply clicking this VPN icon from now on.

 

3. Enjoy Internet via VPN relaying

While VPN is established, all communications towards the Internet will be relayed via the VPN Server. You can verify that by using "tracert 8.8.8.8" command on the Windows Command Prompt.

As the above figure, if the packet-path are through "10.211.254.254" , your communication is now relayed via one of VPN Gate Public VPN Servers.

You can also visit the VPN Gate Top Page to see your current global IP address. You can see your source country or region has been changed to other if you are connecting to a VPN server which is located on oversea country.

 

Enjoy YouTube, Facebook or Twitter while your VPN connection is established.
Facebook, Twitter and Gmail uses HTTPS (SSL) encrypted communication protocols. Regardless of VPN or non-VPN, no one can tap these encrypted communications.

 

VPN on Mac step by step guide (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)

Here is an instruction how to connect to a VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server by using L2TP/IPsec VPN Client which is built-in on Mac OS X.

On this instruction, every screen-shots are taken on Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Other versions of Mac OS X are similar to be configured, however there might be minor different on UIs.

These screen-shots are in English version of Mac OS X. If you use other language, you can still configure it easily by referring the following instructions.

 

1. Initial configurations (only once at the first time)

Click the network icon on the top-right side on the Mac screen. Click "Open Network Preferences..." in the menu.

 

Click the "+" button on the network configuration screen.

 

Select "VPN" as "Interface" , "L2TP over IPsec" as "VPN Type" and click the "Create" button.

 

A new L2TP VPN configuration will be created, and the configuration screen will appear.

On this screen, you have to specify either hostname or IP address of the destination VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server.

Open the VPN Servers List page, and click one VPN Relay Server which you want to use. Copy the DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) or IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it on the "Server Address" field on the configuration screen.

  • In general, DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) are recommended to specify. DDNS hostname can continue to be used even if the corresponding IP address of the DDNS hostname will change in future. However, in some countries or regions, you might be unable to use DDNS hostname. If you fails to specify a DDNS hostname, try IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) specification instead.

After you specified the "Server Address" , input "vpn" (3-letters) on the "Account Name" field, which is the next to the "Server Address" field.

Next, click the "Authentication Settings..." button.

 

The authentication screen will appear. Input "vpn" (3-letters) to the "Password" field. Specify "vpn" (3-letters) also on the "Shared Secret" field. After you input them, click the "OK" button.

 

After return to the previous screen, check the "Show VPN status in menu bar" and click the "Advanced..." button.

 

The advanced settings will be appeared. Check the "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 by clicking the "Connect" button at any time. You can also initiate a VPN connection by clicking the VPN icon on the menu bar.

 

After the VPN connection will be established, the VPN connection setting screen will become as below as the "Status" will be "Connected" . Your private IP address on the VPN, and connect duration time will be displayed on the screen.

 

3. Enjoy Internet via VPN relaying

While VPN is established, all communications towards the Internet will be relayed via the VPN Server.
You can visit the VPN Gate Top Page to see your current global IP address. You can see your source country or region has been changed to other if you are connecting to a VPN server which is located on oversea country.

 

Enjoy YouTube, Facebook or Twitter while your VPN connection is established.
Facebook, Twitter and Gmail uses HTTPS (SSL) encrypted communication protocols. Regardless of VPN or non-VPN, no one can tap these encrypted communications.

 

VPN on iPhone / iPad step by step guide (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)

Here is an instruction how to connect to a VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server by using L2TP/IPsec VPN Client which is built-in on iPhone / iPad.

On this instruction, every screen-shots are taken on iOS 6. Other versions of iOS are similar to be configured, however there might be minor different on UIs.

These screen-shots are in English version of iOS. If you use other language, you can still configure it easily by referring the following instructions.

 

1. Initial configurations (only once at the first time)

From the iOS main screen, start the "Settings" application.
Open "VPN" in "General" , and tap "Add VPN Configuration..." .

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A new L2TP VPN connection setting will be created, and the configuration screen will appear.

On this screen, you have to specify either hostname or IP address of the destination VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server.
Open the VPN Servers List page, and click one VPN Relay Server which you want to use. Copy the DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) or IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it on the "Server" field on the configuration screen.

  • In general, DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) are recommended to specify. DDNS hostname can continue to be used even if the corresponding IP address of the DDNS hostname will change in future. However, in some countries or regions, you might be unable to use DDNS hostname. If you fails to specify a DDNS hostname, try IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) specification instead.

After you specify the "Server" field, you have to input "vpn" (3-letters) to "Account" , "Password" and "Secret" fields. After input, tap "Save" .

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2. Connect a VPN

You can start a VPN connection by using a created VPN connection setting at any time.
Tap the "OFF" button to initiate a VPN connection.

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While VPN is established, you can see the status and connect time on the status screen. Your private IP address in VPN is also displayed. The "Connect to" IP address reports "1.0.0.1" , but it is not an unusual.

 

3. Enjoy Internet via VPN relaying

While VPN is established, all communications towards the Internet will be relayed via the VPN Server.
You can visit the VPN Gate Top Page to see your current global IP address. You can see your source country or region has been changed to other if you are connecting to a VPN server which is located on oversea country.

iOS displays the "VPN" indicator on the top bar of the screen while VPN is established.

Enjoy YouTube, Facebook or Twitter while your VPN connection is established.
Facebook, Twitter and Gmail uses HTTPS (SSL) encrypted communication protocols. Regardless of VPN or non-VPN, no one can tap these encrypted communications.

 

VPN on Android step by step guide (Using L2TP/IPsec VPN)

Here is an instruction how to connect to a VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server by using L2TP/IPsec VPN Client which is built-in on Android.

On this instruction, every screen-shots are taken on Android 4.x. Other versions of Android 4.x are similar to be configured, however there might be minor different on UIs. Some third-parties customizes the configuration screens of Android.

These screen-shots are in English version Android iOS. If you use other language, you can still configure it easily by referring the following instructions.

 

1. Initial configurations (only once at the first time)

Start the "Settings" application on Android.
In the "Wireless & Networks" category, open "More..." and tap "VPN".
Click the "Add VPN profile" button to create a new VPN connection setting.

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A new VPN connection setting editing screen will appear. Input something string on the "Name" field (e.g. "vpn" ), and choose "L2TP/IPSec PSK" in the "Type" field.

On this screen, you have to specify either hostname or IP address of the destination VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Server.
Open the VPN Servers List page, and click one VPN Relay Server which you want to use. Copy the DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) or IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and paste it on the "Server address" field on the configuration screen.

  • In general, DDNS Hostname (an identifier ends with ".opengw.net" ) are recommended to specify. DDNS hostname can continue to be used even if the corresponding IP address of the DDNS hostname will change in future. However, in some countries or regions, you might be unable to use DDNS hostname. If you fails to specify a DDNS hostname, try IP Address (digits as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) specification instead.

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Scroll down the configuration screen, and tap the "Show advanced options" checkbox if appropriate.

Specify "vpn" (3-letters) on the "IPSec pre-shared key" field.

Specify "0.0.0.0/0" (9-letters) on the "Forwarding routes" field. Make sure that you input the "Forwarding routes" field correctly. If not, you cannot communicate via VPN.

After all inputted, tap the "Save" button and save the VPN connection setting.

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2. Connect a VPN

You can start a VPN connection by using a created VPN connection setting at any time. Open the VPN connection settings list and tap a setting, you will see the following screen.

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At the first time of using, you have to input "Username" and "Password" fields.
Specify "vpn" (3-letters) on both "Username" and "Password" fields, and check "Save account information" .

Tap "Connect" to start the VPN connection.

 

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After the VPN connection will be established, the indicate string "Connected" will be displayed next to the VPN connection setting, and the status indication area of Android will show "VPN activated" message. You can tap the message to see the current status of the VPN connection.

 

3. Enjoy Internet via VPN relaying

While VPN is established, all communications towards the Internet will be relayed via the VPN Server.
You can visit the VPN Gate Top Page to see your current global IP address. You can see your source country or region has been changed to other if you are connecting to a VPN server which is located on oversea country.

Enjoy YouTube, Facebook or Twitter while your VPN connection is established.
Facebook, Twitter and Gmail uses HTTPS (SSL) encrypted communication protocols. Regardless of VPN or non-VPN, no one can tap these encrypted communications.

 

Any errors using L2TP/IPsec VPN?

  • Username, password and pre-shared key are all "vpn" (3-letters). Especially, make sure you input the pre-shared key correctly.
  • Mac OS X and Android needs a special settings to make the VPN server relays all traffics. Confirm the above instructions again.
  • Make sure that the destination hostname or IP address are correct, viewing the VPN Servers List page.
  • In some countries or regions, specifying DDNS Hostname (.opengw.net) might fail. In such an environment, specify the IP address directly instead of DDNS hostname.
  • Your local firewall might filter any L2TP/IPsec packets. In such a network, L2TP cannot be used. If you use Windows, try Using SoftEther VPN Client. Mac, iOS or Android, try Using OpenVPN.