How to Create a Cisco VPN in a Cisco Router

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, allows you to connect to a private network via a public network, such as the internet. A VPN allows you to access resources such as files, servers, and other devices that are located on a private network. When you connect to a VPN, your computer or device will act as if it is part of the private network. You can use a VPN to connect to a corporate network, for example, so you can access private files and databases, or to circumvent geographic restrictions and access content that you would not normally be able to access because of location.

Cisco makes networking devices that are designed to be used with a VPN. One of these is the Cisco RV042 Wireless VPN Concentrator. The purpose of this blog post is to instruct you on how to set up a Cisco RV042 in order to create a VPN. We will also discuss some of the features that make this product unique and useful.

Features of the Cisco RV042 Wireless VPN Concentrator

The Cisco RV042 offers the following features that make it stand out from other VPNs:

• Multiple Authentication Methods
• TLS (Secure Sockets Layer)
• PEAP (Proxied Enhanced Authentication Protocol)
• PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
• SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
• IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange version 2)
• WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access version 2)
• Multi-User & Multi-Domain VPN (IKEv2)
• DNS Service (RFC 2136)
• DHCP Relay
• IPv6
• L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol)
• RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service)

Installing the Cisco RV042

In order to configure the Cisco RV042, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. Turn the Ethernet port on the back of the device off.
2. Wait about 10 minutes for the IP address that was assigned to the VPN to be propagated throughout the network.
3. Open a browser on your computer or device and go to the IP address that was assigned to the VPN. You will need to note this address as you will need to provide it to the company that you are connecting to in order to connect to a VPN.
4. Connect to the VPN by typing the address into the browser’s address bar and pressing enter.
5. You will be prompted to enter a username and password. You will need to provide your username and password when prompted.
6. Double-click the setup menu icon on the main screen and select VPN Client Settings.
7. Change the values on the following pages as needed:
• User Name: The username that you provided in step 7.
• Password: The password that you provided in step 7.
• Protocol: Select the VPN protocol that you are using. You can choose from the following options:
  • PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
  • L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol)
  • IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange version 2)
  • SVONOTPAKT (Simple Virtual Private Network Over Onion Proxy)
• Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
• IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) – This options allows you to choose which algorithms you would like to use for the IPsec-encrypted tunnels between your computer or device and the VPN. You can choose from the following options:
  • DES (Data Encryption Standard)
  • 3DES (Triple DES)
  • AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
  • Twofish
  • Camellia
  • Serpent
  • Rijndael (AES)
  • Authentication Methods (IKEv2) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • TLS (Secure Sockets Layer) (IKEv2) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • DHCP Relay (IPv6) – This option allows you to enable or disable Relay, which is a feature that allows you to connect to a VPN via a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server. DHCP Relay simply forwards DHCP requests to the VPN, allowing you to connect to a VPN via a limited number of DHCP servers. The downsides to this feature are that it is not always available, and it can be somewhat slow.
  • IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) – You can enable or disable IPv6 on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • Port Forwarding: This option allows you to establish a connection between a certain port on your router and a port on a different device (a server, for example). You need to know what port numbers you need to forward in order to connect to a specific service (such as a VPN).
  • SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • DNS (Domain Name System) – You can enable or disable the Dynamic DNS option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • WAN (Wide Area Network) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.
  • RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) – You can enable or disable this option on the main menu by checking or unchecking the box next to it.

After you have completed the above steps, you will be able to connect to a VPN via the IP address that was assigned to the VPN. You will also be able to access services on the internet that are located on a server that is located on the private network (the corporate network, for example). From this point on, all of your internet traffic will be encrypted and can only be read by the company that you are connecting to. This is a very useful feature since it prevents others (such as the government or your internet service provider) from reading your emails, browsing your web pages, or monitoring your activity.

We have now covered the basics of creating a VPN. In the next section, we will discuss how to connect to a VPN from within a Cisco device.

Connecting to a VPN from Within a Cisco Device

If you are reading this, you must already have a Cisco device (such as the RV042 mentioned above) that is capable of connecting to a VPN. If you do not have a VPN client on one of your computers or devices, you can download one of the free VPNs that we mentioned above.

If you have a Cisco device and would like to connect to a VPN, you will need to complete the following steps: