You can create a VPN to your home network through Windows XP. Would you be able to dial in though a modem?

Question

Win XP allows for creating a VPN connection to your PC and network, which is nice. But, can it be accessed via dial-up? And the real question is, can you get internet access if you are dialed in?

I had this idea the other day. I can fax from my laptop using my cell phone as a modem, but can I dial into my home VPN and get the internet connection? I know it would only be dial-up speed, but it would be very cool to be able to get on the internet from anywhere I had a cell signal.

Someone also mentioned to me if I got the unlimited data plan for my phone I might be able to hook it up to my laptop to share the connection. I'm not certain if it would would, because the phone is only recognized as a modem, and I don't know if I could make it work as a...PC Card? I guess?

If anyone really has the answers to these questions, I would truly appreciate it. I am looking for only the best of the best answers, not random ideas or suggestions. Thanks.

Answer 1

Using it as a server



vpn over phone worked, but was unreliable. Microsoft had some documents saying that phone was too slow. You need Microsoft server, or a router that will accept the vpn connection. XP usually acts as a vpn client, not a vpn server.



I like using ssh as a tunnel. you can go in and out with that.



If you want to connect into you machine at home, it must be up all the time. most dialup isp's will hate you and might drop you.



Using it as a client:

You can share an internet connection with connection sharing. You can also share an internet connection with a proxy server like Apache, Squid and others. I would recommend the proxy server.



cell phone internet is expensive and/or violates your service agreement so be careful or you might lose your cell phone.

Answer 2

Vista recognises network devices in a slightly different way to XP and won't recognise the XP parts of the system without installing a Microsoft download on the XP machine. Google "Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120)" and download the update from Microsoft - that should fix it.

Answer 3

you should be able to, but make sure you enable xp to accept incoming connections, this is done by enabling routing in the services section of the admin tools, which is in control panel, once enabled you tell xp who is allowed to access your pc through this connection, i.e. name and password. i think there is a small bit of information about vpns in the xp helpfile, hope thats of some help