Cost of VPN

What is the cost of any hardware and software that
has to be purchased to allow for a small company to
set up VPN so that one employee can remote in securely??

Thanks!!

marcy wrote:
> What is the cost of any hardware and software that
> has to be purchased to allow for a small company to
> set up VPN so that one employee can remote in securely??
>
> Thanks!!
>
>
Did ja Google?

"marcy" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>What is the cost of any hardware and software that
>has to be purchased to allow for a small company to
>set up VPN so that one employee can remote in securely??

Hint: If you ask a question, and there are no numbers in the
question, then you're not supplying enough information for a decent
answer:
1. What speed broadband do you have?
2. PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, SSL, or don't care?
3. Do you have server available? What flavor?
Incidentally, after all these messages, I still don't have a clear
picture of what you're doing, what you're trying to accomplish, and
what hardware/software you have available to do it.

For one employee, you can terminate the VPN in a Windoze server.
Anything from W2K server, WS 2003, or Linux will work. The simplest
is PPTP, which is "good enough".
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/vpn/default.mspx>
Windoze XP comes with a PPTP client.

Many routers will also terminate a VPN. As I vaguely recall, you have
a Netopia 3347NWG. This router has an add-on IPSec VPN option, which
might be suitable. Personally, I prefer Sonicwall and Netscreen
(Juniper) products, which tend to be expensive, but very useful.

Somewhat cheaper ($175) is the Linksys RVL200. If you use mostly web
browser access, the SSL VPN server is the way to go. Note that the
RVL200 will NOT do PPTP.
<http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout &cid=1115416943097&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVis itorWrapper&lid=4309714408N03>

Linksys also has some other VPN routers. I'm not familiar with all of
them:
<http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout &cid=1115416943097&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVis itorWrapper&lid=4309714408N03>

When you dig through the muck that pretends to be a specification
sheet, make sure you understand the difference between "VPN
termination" and "VPN passthrough". You want termination.

It's also possible to use a bottom of the line router, such as Linksys
WRT54G/GS with alternative firmware, such as DD-WRT, to terminate a
VPN. That's what I'm doing between my home and office.
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/PPTP_Server_Configuration>
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Point-to-Point_PPTP_Tunneling_with_two_DD-WRT>

The cost varies from about $60 for a DD-WRT compatible router, to many
hundreds of dollars for a Sonicwall router. PPTP clients are free. I
kinda prefer the commercial IPSec clients, but there are almost free
versions available. Worst case is about $50. VPN licenses tend to be
by the number of users, so it's best to plan ahead somewhat.

What's nice about a VPN for remote users is that it's just like being
in the office. Network Neighborhood shows all the shares and printers
available in the office. Copying files is just click and drag. You
can open anything you can find on the server. Security is end to end
and therefore usually adequate. The downside is that VPN tends to be
rather slow. Don't expect spectacular performance, even for local
connections on a wired LAN.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

marcy wrote:
> What is the cost of any hardware and software that
> has to be purchased to allow for a small company to
> set up VPN so that one employee can remote in securely??
>
> Thanks!!
>
>
Can you be less specific?

"George" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> marcy wrote:
>> What is the cost of any hardware and software that
>> has to be purchased to allow for a small company to
>> set up VPN so that one employee can remote in securely??
>>
>> Thanks!!
> Can you be less specific?

LOL, thanks George. I needed that. :-)

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "marcy" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>
> Hint: If you ask a question, and there are no numbers in the
> question, then you're not supplying enough information for a decent
> answer:
> 1. What speed broadband do you have?
> 2. PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, SSL, or don't care?
> 3. Do you have server available? What flavor?
> Incidentally, after all these messages, I still don't have a clear
> picture of what you're doing, what you're trying to accomplish, and
> what hardware/software you have available to do it.
>
> For one employee, you can terminate the VPN in a Windoze server.
> Anything from W2K server, WS 2003, or Linux will work. The simplest
> is PPTP, which is "good enough".
> <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/vpn/default.mspx>
> Windoze XP comes with a PPTP client.
>
> Many routers will also terminate a VPN. As I vaguely recall, you have
> a Netopia 3347NWG. This router has an add-on IPSec VPN option, which
> might be suitable. Personally, I prefer Sonicwall and Netscreen
> (Juniper) products, which tend to be expensive, but very useful.
>
> Somewhat cheaper ($175) is the Linksys RVL200. If you use mostly web
> browser access, the SSL VPN server is the way to go. Note that the
> RVL200 will NOT do PPTP.
> <http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout &cid=1115416943097&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVis itorWrapper&lid=4309714408N03>
>
> Linksys also has some other VPN routers. I'm not familiar with all of
> them:
> <http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout &cid=1115416943097&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVis itorWrapper&lid=4309714408N03>
>
> When you dig through the muck that pretends to be a specification
> sheet, make sure you understand the difference between "VPN
> termination" and "VPN passthrough". You want termination.
>
> It's also possible to use a bottom of the line router, such as Linksys
> WRT54G/GS with alternative firmware, such as DD-WRT, to terminate a
> VPN. That's what I'm doing between my home and office.
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/PPTP_Server_Configuration>
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Point-to-Point_PPTP_Tunneling_with_two_DD-WRT>
>
> The cost varies from about $60 for a DD-WRT compatible router, to many
> hundreds of dollars for a Sonicwall router. PPTP clients are free. I
> kinda prefer the commercial IPSec clients, but there are almost free
> versions available. Worst case is about $50. VPN licenses tend to be
> by the number of users, so it's best to plan ahead somewhat.
>
> What's nice about a VPN for remote users is that it's just like being
> in the office. Network Neighborhood shows all the shares and printers
> available in the office. Copying files is just click and drag. You
> can open anything you can find on the server. Security is end to end
> and therefore usually adequate. The downside is that VPN tends to be
> rather slow. Don't expect spectacular performance, even for local
> connections on a wired LAN.
>
> --

Thanks Jeff, as always, you give great info. :-) Wish you were close
enough to thank personally. I was admittedly in a hurry, on the road,
will be in touch with more details after I have studied all that you sent.

Thanks again!!

"curly Bill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6Zcsi.4329$(E-Mail Removed)...

>>
> Did ja Google?

Certainly did! Got more info than I could possibly understand. But Jeff
has pointed
me in the right direction so I now have a starting point.
Thanks curly! :-)

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> 1. What speed broadband do you have?

It is currently DSL about 3MB download and 419 KB up. They only use the
internet
for email (supposely ;-) so internet connection was not a real priority.
The main thing
is that the business uses specialty software (for optical work). The three
workstations
at office are all used to enter data into the software that uses a server
computer (file server) at the
office.

> 2. PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, SSL, or don't care?

To ignorant to answer this question. Bellsouth (AT&T) is the ISP provider.
The only
concern that I have is to be able to remote in securely to my workstation
where I will at
most enter some data into the specialty software and check email. So it is
a low priority
work that I would do remotely. Therefore, I have to consider cost.
However, they are
adding a remote office (at a mall) and that site would want to do the same
thing (input data)
to a workstation. There, the concern is definitely to securely input data
that will include
credit card and social security number info.

> 3. Do you have server available? What flavor?

The only server we have is the file server for the internal specialty
software. That is on a
separate machine (XP Pro).
So I am concerned that you are saying to do this VPN think we need another
separate
server. I gather it is a separate VPN server that is required.

> Many routers will also terminate a VPN. As I vaguely recall, you have
> a Netopia 3347NWG. This router has an add-on IPSec VPN option, which
> might be suitable. Personally, I prefer Sonicwall and Netscreen
> (Juniper) products, which tend to be expensive, but very useful.

I also gather that you think a separate router is required for VPN??

Thanks Jeff. As always, you are a incredible resource of info!!!