3COM Officeconnect Secure Router

I just purchase a 3COM Officeconnect Secure Router, and would like to create
vpn tunnels, but I am confused whether or not to use L2TP over IPSec
enabled, PPTP Server enabled or IPSec enabled. I will be using my router to
connect to a remote router so that I can monitor and troubleshoot the PCs
that are connected on the remote router.
Can someone help me with instructions tell the best out of the three options
to do this.


Thank you in advance

"Peace" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1rydnQIxA64OmVPcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I just purchase a 3COM Officeconnect Secure Router, and would like to
>create
> vpn tunnels, but I am confused whether or not to use L2TP over IPSec
> enabled, PPTP Server enabled or IPSec enabled. I will be using my router
> to
> connect to a remote router so that I can monitor and troubleshoot the PCs
> that are connected on the remote router.
> Can someone help me with instructions tell the best out of the three
> options
> to do this..

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns...0800a443e.html

L2TP combines PPTP with LTF (the best bits of both, I think therefore its
fair to say its newer. IIRC PPTP is a Microsoft implementation whereas L2TP
is a general standard now. You usually use something like IPSEC on top of
it.

http://www.academicdb.com/this_proje..._process_3896/
http://searchnetworking.techtarget.c...493383,00.html

The following paragraph comes from the following link:
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...2132230,00.htm

PPTP vs. L2TP

While more widely supported than Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP), PPTP is
giving way to L2TP as the tunneling protocol of choice because of L2TP's
enhanced security features. However, establishing an L2TP VPN is somewhat
more complex than setting up a PPTP connection. PPTP-based VPNs may also
operate slightly faster because there is less processing involved in
encrypting and encapsulating the packets. Under PPTP, the point-to-point
protocol (PPP) payload packet is encapsulated inside a generic routing
encapsulation (GRE) packet, which is then encapsulated inside an IP packet
to which the data link header is attached. The packet is then sent across
the tunnel.

Under L2TP, packets are encapsulated no fewer than four times and as many as
six times, depending on the IPSec policy being used. Each time a packet is
processed, overhead is added to the overall procedure, resulting in higher
latency. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that L2TP provides additional
levels of security through the use of DES and 3DES encryption as well as
data authentication. However, if you're looking at a VPN from a strict
standpoint of performance, L2TP may not be the best choice.

One point worth mentioning is the fact that PPTP relies on the TCP protocol,
while L2TP uses UDP for typical communication. This can result in slightly
lower performance capabilities for PPTP. Bear in mind, though, that since
PPTP uses fewer levels of encapsulation, the total message size is smaller
than with L2TP, which would tend to cancel this advantage.


As for setting up vpns, it depends what software, hardware you are using,
and though I've read a bit how to do it in Windows 2000 I'm probably not the
best person to ask as I've no experience of it.

kind regards,

Daniek