Afternoon Hexens,

I've got a few questions, and I'd appreciate some insight if anyone about could help.

Basically, I run a little one man business helping small businesses get access to the internet. My clients are generally so disinterested in IT that when you click Start > Programs, only one program has been used, Word or Outlook Express.

Technical support occasionally veers upon agony, so I've set them up with broadband connectivity - and I connect to them using VNC on a non standard port (for security). With more thought into this, the framebuffer and keyboard commands are probably being sent unencrypted - so I'm getting a little scared about this.

VPN's have always interested me, but slightly scared me too, and I've noticed Windows has its own VPN stuff in the box. I was interested in what peoples experiences are with it - and whether it would be practical to use in a business environment.

I've looked through some documents and seen how easy it is to setup... so...

1) Is Windows XP VPN Secure and Reliable?

2) How does it deal with connections on Dynamic IP?

3) Is it very simple to use once set up (i.e. Double click a connection, presto, site-to-site linkage)?

4) Is site-to-site-to-site connection possible?

5) Am I right in assuming that VPN once connected adds the newer PC's to My Network Places?

6) Are there any showstopping issues with VPN?

7) I see there are a number of software / hardware alternatives - what are the advantages with these?

8) In regards to routers - when they say they support VPN - do they just put this on the box as a "duh!" feature or do they work some kind of magic?

9) Can anyone recommend a thoroughly reliable adsl modem router for 24/7 use - stable, non-crashing, auto reconnecting, VPN friendly and including the facility to map ports (e.g. allow any tcp/ip tcp packets on port 5999 to forward to local IP 192.168.0.9 port 590)? Perhaps there is some well reputed "Router Of Gods!"

Kind Regards,


Ruairi