How to Edit VPN Network Address in Windows 7

If you are using a VPN at home, you will have noticed that the default gateway for your network interface changes every time you connect to a different VPN server. While this behavior can be convenient, it also makes it tricky to work with remote employees and contractors who are frequently on the move. To ensure that your VPN connections are always established using the same gateway, it’s a good idea to edit the network address for your VPN interfaces manually. In this article, we will discuss how to edit VPN network address in Windows 7.

Open Network and Internet Settings

If you are already in the Settings app, then click on the Network icon to open the Network and Internet Settings. Alternatively, if not already in the Settings app, then click the Start menu and choose Control Panel. From there, click Network and Internet and then Network and Internet Settings to open the Network and Internet Settings dialog. You can also open Network and Internet Settings from the Control Panel by right clicking on it and choosing Go to Network and Internet Settings.

Change VPN Default Gateway

The first step is to change the VPN default gateway. Click the Change button next to the VPN protocol (e.g. PPTP, L2TP, or SSTP) to bring up the dialog box shown below.

If you are using a dedicated IP address for your VPN connection, then select the Save button to save your changes. Otherwise, leave the default gateway unchanged.

Once you have made the required changes, click the OK button to save them and close the Network and Internet Settings dialog. You can now close the Network and Internet Settings applet or dialog box from the Settings app.

Restart Your PC

You can also restart your PC to force it to reload the network settings. This will prompt you to repeat the steps described above. However, this is considered a bad practice as it will destroy all your unsaved work. Nevertheless, if this is what you need to do to make sure that your changes are taken into consideration, then restarting is a good option.

Navigate To Your VPN Interface Configuration File

Next, we will discuss how to navigate to your VPN interface configuration file to edit the network address of your VPN connections. To do this, click the Start menu and choose Devices and Printers or click on the My Computer icon and choose Tools | Connect to Enterprise to open the Computer Manager. In the Computer Manager, you can click on the Device Manager tab to open the list of your connected devices. Locate the entry for your VPN card (e.g. VPN**.NET) and click it to get the options shown below.

From here, you can either click on the Properties button to get the Properties dialog box or click on the Details button to open the Properties dialog box. In the dialog box, click on the Connections tab to view the details for the connection. Double-click on the IPv4 Settings button to open the dialog box shown below. Here, you can change the IPv4 settings for your VPN interface (e.g. IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway).

You can also change the Default gateway for all your VPN connections by selecting it and clicking the Set As Default button. To change the IP address for your VPN connection, enter the new IP address in the IP Address field, click the Set button to save your changes, and then click the OK button to close the dialog box. You can now close the Computer Manager. Restarting your PC is not required as these changes will be considered active once you have logged off or restarted your computer.

Additional Resource

If you would like, you can also download and install the My VPN client from the Microsoft Store. This app makes it easy to configure your VPN connections whenever you need them. Just launch the app from the Start menu and click on the plus symbol to add a new VPN connection. Choose whether you want to use a dedicated IP address, openVPN, or PPTP and enter the required information. You can then connect to a VPN server and use the app’s built-in Windows 10 tools to ensure that your VPN connection is always prioritized.

Summary

With the information discussed above, you should now be able to manually configure your VPN connections in Windows 7. Remember, this is a dangerous thing to do and it’s generally not recommended. Restarting your PC is the preferred way to ensure that your changes are considered active. If you want to use My VPN client, then feel free to do so, but take care when modifying the default gateways for your VPN connections.