How to create your own personal VPN…for free
Typically, connecting remotely to your home pc requires a monthly subscription-based thin-client solution. This article will explain the steps necessary to connect from one computer to another without expensive web-based software.
Free VPN
Rather than pay for an expensive monthly solution to a thin-client why not make your own personal VPN (virtual private network). Follow these easy steps:
If you’re using a ‘Home Edition’ of Windows, you’ll need to download and install a copy of RealVNC (free edition). If you have ‘Professional’ or ‘Ultimate’ editions of Windows, you can just use Remote Desktop to remote into the pc. It should already be installed by default and can be started by going Start > Run (or search programs and files) > MSTSC > Enter.
RealVNC needs to be installed on both computers (local and remote). The thing you have to remember is to check Server, in addition to Viewer, for the pc you want to log into. Make sure you set a password and check Start program as a service. This step can be ignored if you’re using Windows XP Pro, Vista Pro/Ultimate, or Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate. It only needs to be done for Home versions of Windows. To find out additional information about Mac VPN, you’ve to check out site.
Download a personal Virtual Private Network client for free at ireview.tw. This software has been around for years and used to be located at hamachi.cc but the company was bought out by LogMeIn a while back. Make sure you download the free version of Hamachi and choose Unmanaged download.
Install the Hamachi client and follow the prompts. Launch the client and choose a name for your computer. Also, take note of the IP address you are given by hamachi: This will be input in the Computer/Server field for Remote Desktop or VNC.
Choose to Create a new network and give it a name and password.
Install the Hamachi client on your remote computer and run through the same steps, noting the new IP you are given; HOWEVER, this time you will choose Join an existing network and input the name and password you chose for your network in the previous step. Make sure you see both pc’s listed in your Hamachi clients. If not, you may want to do a restart.
You should be good to go at this point. Start Remote Desktop or RealVNC and enter the other computer’s IP address where it says Server, for RealVNC, or Computer, for Remote Desktop. Of course, you need to have/know a user account on the computer you are attempting to connect to.
That should be all you need.
