Linksys 2.4 GHz 802.11g Wireless-G ADSL Gateway with 2 Ports WAG54GP2 - Manual (Page 12)

3 Chapter 1: Planning Your Network
What is a VPN?
Wireless-G ADSL Gateway with 2 Phone Ports
There are two basic ways to create a VPN connection:
• VPN Gateway to VPN Gateway
• Computer (using VPN client software that supports IPSec) to VPN Gateway
The VPN Gateway creates a “tunnel” or channel between two endpoints, so that data transmissions between
them are secure. A computer with VPN client software that supports IPSec can be one of the two endpoints. Any
computer with the built-in IPSec Security Manager (Microsoft 2000 and XP) allows the VPN Gateway to create a
VPN tunnel using IPSec (refer to Appendix C: Configuring IPSec between a Windows 2000 or XP computer and the
VPN Gateway). Other versions of Microsoft operating systems require additional, third-party VPN client software
applications that support IPSec to be installed.
Computer (using VPN client software that supports IPSec) to VPN Gateway
The following is an example of a computer-to-VPN Gateway VPN. In her hotel room, a traveling businesswoman
dials up her ISP. Her notebook computer has VPN client software that is configured with her office's VPN settings.
She accesses the VPN client software that supports IPSec and connects to the VPN Gateway at the central office.
As VPNs utilize the Internet, distance is not a factor. Using the VPN, the businesswoman now has a secure con-
nection to the central office's network, as if she were physically connected.
IMPORTANT: You must have at least one VPN Gateway
on one end of the VPN tunnel. At the other end of the
VPN tunnel, you must have a second VPN Gateway or a
computer with VPN client software that supports IPSec.
Figure 1-2: Computer-to-VPN Gateway