Why You Should Setup a VPN for Your Home Office

For many businesses, working remotely has been a new adjustment, requiring employees and business owners to learn new skills and utilize new technologies. One of the most important of these technologies is virtual private networks, or VPNs.

Let’s discuss VPNs, what they are, how they work, and how users can set up a VPN to establish a secure connection from home to work.

Table of Contents

About VPNs

A VPN, or virtual private network, is essentially a connection between your home office internet network to the network at your office or place of work. VPNs are encrypted so that everything that goes through this connection is safe and secure. When you utilize a VPN, you can work from anywhere while gaining access to all of the data, documents, programs, and other tools available at your office workstation.

VPNs can be used for many different things and have often been used by IT companies and tech-based businesses, however, the general public has become increasingly interested in VPNs since the popularity of working from home has grown. This is because a VPNS can simulate an in-office environment by allowing all of the team members who are working from home establish safe, secure connections to their in-office workstations, servers, and more. With a VPN, it can appear as if you’re working from your office computer even if you’re not physically there.

How to Set Up a VPN

There are many ways to establish a VPN and a variety of services and providers who can help facilitate this connection. To begin setting up a VPN, you’ll need to set up two connections. The first is the connection to the office or workstation. The second is the remote workstation, or wherever you’ll be accessing that office connection from. For companies with an in-house IT department, this can be easier because there are professionals there to assist in setting up these connections. However, for those without an in-house team of IT experts, setting up the VPN will require some research on the process. You’ll want to make sure you have the right routers with VPN capability and understand how to configure the connections.

Common VPN Protocols

VPN protocols are various ways you can set up a VPN. There are a handful of different technologies out there that support this, but to keep things simple we’ll go over two of the most common.

OpenVPN

OpenVPN is a VPN protocol that has been around for a very long time. This software is open-source, which means it should be supported by most routers. The set up process is fairly simple, requiring the user to choose some configuration settings, download the configuration file, and establish the connection with any remote computer or device using the available apps through OpenVPN’s site. It can be a little complicated for those unfamiliar with tech, so many business owners choose to partner with an IT provider to help establish the connection.

IPsec

Internet Protocol Security, or IPsec, is another common technology used to set up VPNs. It’s supported by low-cost routers and has a similar setup process to OpenVPN. One of the main differences, however, is that instead of using an app to access the connection, IPsec uses built-in support that is available on most computers and devices.

Some users find OpenVPN easier to use, but others trust the simplicity of IPsec. If you’re unsure about which VPN technology is right for you or if you’re overwhelmed at the thought of establishing a VPN connection on your own, it’s best to enlist the help of an IT provider who can guide you through the process.