This section describes how to establish a PPTP Virtual Private Network connection between two independent local area networks connected to the Internet through a single IP address using WinRoute Pro.

The solution requires two local area networks with WinRoute Pro installed on Windows 2000 Professional on both ends. The solution has also been tested on Windows XP and works well, although the setup dialogs may differ from Windows 2000.

In order to run this VPN successfully, it is vital that you follow all the installation steps without exception. First, you should establish the VPN connection without WinRoute Pro running (or installed). This will help to differentiate between problems caused by WinRoute Pro and Windows. Also, you MUST establish both incoming and outgoing connections on both ends, otherwise you will NOT be able to route between the two networks. For some reason Windows will NOT allow you to set appropriate routes from the server side!

The configuration consists of two main parts:

1. Server and Client Configuration

• set up an outgoing VPN connection on both ends
• set up an incoming connection on both ends making sure that the IP addresses you assign in the connection setup are from two different subnetworks
• set up routes for the VPN on both ends
• open the outgoing connections on both ends
• test the connection from both ends using the ping command

For detailed instructions on the server / client part click here.

2. WinRoute Pro Configuration

• make sure you have (at least) three interfaces available in WinRoute (LAN, Internet, VPN); if not, add more interfaces
• make sure NAT is switched on on the Internet adapter only
• select and configure the VPN connection in the RAS properties
• set up appropriate port mapping for PPTP VPN on both ends
• test the connection from both ends using the ping command

For detailed instructions on the WinRoute Pro part click here.

This is a diagram of an example VPN from New York to Nice. Please click the picture to enlarge.

NOTE: All public IP addresses in these instructions are only used as examples and do not point to any real PPTP servers. All private IP addresses are illustrative only and it depends only on the settings of your LAN and your preference as to which private IP address ranges you will use.