Nerwin Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 Hey guys,Is there a way to set up a VPN so That I could connect to my friends network Via The Internet, Is that Possible? if so what kinda software can i use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prx984 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 (edited) The best software that I have seen for doing this, is Hamachi. It's great software, and it's free. Edited January 14, 2007 by prx984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerwin Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 Thanks, My friend needs this software as well right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prx984 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 Yup. Just install on both machines, create a network on one machine, then join it on the other machine. Make sure you use a good password, this makes it more secure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerwin Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 Awesome, What will we be able to do? Can we share files or can he see my network here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prx984 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 (edited) IIRC you can either share files, or you can bridge the two networks and he can see your full network. Even use your internet if you configure it with ICS.Your basically creating a small network between the two computers, so whatever you can do on a real network, you can do with Hamachi. Edited January 14, 2007 by prx984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerwin Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 WOW! that is awesome! and this is for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prx984 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 Yup, totally free. There is a paid version, but don't worry about that.Check this out to compare the 2 versions.linky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 It's NOT totally free. There are many restrictions and features missing on the totally free version.Personally, I dislike Hamachi. It looks simple and good enough at first, until you try it.Want to use it as a service (so you don't have to be logged in for it to work)? Paid version only (or install service manually with 3rd part apps, copy stuff manually, etc)Want it to do routing (have access to full network at the other end, w/o installing Hamachi on every PC)? Gotta make a hamachi-override.ini file by hand.Tons of little things that add up quickly. It's as much work as setting up any other VPN in the end. And the the crippled features and limitations are annoying (a VPN not installed as a service, you gotta be kidding!), trying to force people to pay for something that's essentially free if you use competitor's products.I far prefer to use a more standard, fully free and uncripppled VPN such as OpenVPN, even if that requires me know hot to open the ports in my firewall (vs auto firewall hole punching). Right now I use Windows' built in VPN (PPTP and L2TP/IPSec), and couldn't be happier.Hamachi is VERY overrated, except perhaps for the auto firewall hole punching (more n00b-friendly). I suggest you also look into other VPN solutions and not blindly pick Hamachi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prx984 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I don't think any of those features the average user will miss. For instance, the run as a service? I have no use for that as I only use Hamachi once in a while to connect to my computer from school. And needing to have it installed on every computer doesn't bother me much either, it's only about 5mb to install. So I don't care about that.I realize there's other people, but I'm just saying that what you said sounds like its trying to start some kind flame war. Hamachi is good software thats actively developed. It's simple for the average person to use too. Thats why I and so many other people like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I don't think any of those features the average user will miss. For instance, the run as a service? I have no use for that as I only use Hamachi once in a while to connect to my computer from school. And needing to have it installed on every computer doesn't bother me much either, it's only about 5mb to install. So I don't care about that.Well, someone has to be logged in at home while you're at school trying to connect to it. Nobody logged in? No VPN. That's a VERY significant problem by me. I just went away for a couple weeks, and I wanted access. Not only did I want to be forced to be loggged in on every PC before leaving, but things like having to reboot (or power bump or anything) would leave you with no way to reconnect. All VPNs should be services and do routing IMO. I do think this would affect most people a lot.I'm not starting a flame war at all. But realize their business model revolves around crippling their VPN product enough to force people to pay for it so it's usable. So I wouldn't call this totally free. Perhaps you never looked at other VPN solutions. Many are better, unrestricted/non-crippled, secure, and TOTALLY free (gratos) & Free (open source, under GPL v2), such as OpenVPN. And most of these ARE using well established industry standards that work on any platform and using almost any 3rd party products, unlike Hamachi. Theres lots of documentation, support, guides and all too.Hamachi surely isn't the worst product out there, but it's not the end all be all application that everyone says it is. It's main advantage is being n00b friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamehead200 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I don't think any of those features the average user will miss. For instance, the run as a service? I have no use for that as I only use Hamachi once in a while to connect to my computer from school. And needing to have it installed on every computer doesn't bother me much either, it's only about 5mb to install. So I don't care about that.Well, someone has to be logged in at home while you're at school trying to connect to it. Nobody logged in? No VPN. That's a VERY significant problem by me. I just went away for a couple weeks, and I wanted access. Not only did I want to be forced to be loggged in on every PC before leaving, but things like having to reboot (or power bump or anything) would leave you with no way to reconnect. All VPNs should be services and do routing IMO. I do think this would affect most people a lot.Or you can do what I do:- Setup your computer to auto-boot every morning at 7AM.- Set it up to auto logon once it has finished booting.- Run Hamachi at startup.Bam! No problems connecting, restarting, and reconnecting! The hell with this, I'm so tired of people always s***ting on my answers.computerMan as long as your happy, I'm happy myself.prx984, no need to get mad. crahak said he didn't want a flame war. He's not starting one. He's only listing the downsides of using Hamachi and suggesting others that computerMan might be interested in taking a look at. If it doesn't fit his needs, he'll go on to the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Or you can do what I do:- Setup your computer to auto-boot every morning at 7AM.- Set it up to auto logon once it has finished booting.- Run Hamachi at startup.Bam! No problems connecting, restarting, and reconnecting! That works well, as long as you're the only user of that system, and that you're not afraid of people just walking by and have fun with your PC while it's already loggged in Either ways, I'm sure Hamachi works just fine for a lot of people (especially being user friendly). But all I'm saying is that someone should evaluate other alternatives (which are very good) before settling on a proprietary/closed-source/not totally free solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamehead200 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Or you can do what I do:- Setup your computer to auto-boot every morning at 7AM.- Set it up to auto logon once it has finished booting.- Run Hamachi at startup.Bam! No problems connecting, restarting, and reconnecting! That works well, as long as you're the only user of that system, and that you're not afraid of people just walking by and have fun with your PC while it's already loggged in Oh, I forgot to mention... It locks itself after a minute! And I'm usually present during that one minute, so no one can touch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeFiend Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Oh, I forgot to mention... It locks itself after a minute! And I'm usually present during that one minute, so no one can touch it. Good call, but it still has to be a single user system Otherwise people will reboot it (and kick you off) to login...I don't know... Perhaps it just seems more natural to me to have a VPN starting as a service on my server (along with everything else server related - IIS, SQL Server, RRAS, VMWare Server, etc), and not have to deal with an app like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now