PublicVPN.com

System Requirements

Before setting up your VPN connection, make sure your version of Windows Vista is up to date by running Windows Update.

Be sure that you run Windows Update before setting up your VPN connection.

First, click on the Start button and click “Control Panels”. This opens up the “Control Panel Home.”

Next, click on the “Network and Internet” control panel, which is circled in red below.

Next, click on “Connect to a network.”

The next screen may not look quite like this if you have networks already defined. In any case, click on “Set up a connection or Network.”

On the next screen, click on “Connect to a workplace” then click “Next.”

Next click “Use my Internet connection (VPN).”

Now, enter the server information.

In the text box labelled ‘Internet address’ ( hilighted in blue) type ‘gateway.publicvpn.net’. This is the Internet address of the PublicVPN.com servers.

In the text box labelled ‘Destination name’ (hilighted in green) type ‘PublicVPN.com’. This is the name of the connection, and will show up in the “Connect to a network” screen when we’re done.

Lastly, make sure that the checkbox labelled “Don't connect now; just set it up so I can connect later” (hilighted in yellow) is checked.

Then click the “Next” button.

In this screen, enter your PublicVPN.com username and password. This is the same username and password that you use to log in to the PublicVPN.com website.

In the text box labelled “User name:” (hilighted in blue), enter your PublicVPN.com username.

In the text box labelled “Password:” (hilighted in yellow), enter your PublicVPN.com password.

Optionally, check the “Remember this password” checkbox (hilighted in green) and you won’t have to enter your password when you connect to PublicVPN.com.

Then, click the ”Create” button.

You should see this screen next. Click the “Close” button to return to the “Network and Internet” screen.

Now click on “Connect to a network” again.

In the “Connect to a network” screen, you should see the PublicVPN.com connection that we set just up. Right–click on the PublicVPN.com connection document (circled in red), and choose “Properties” (circled in green) from the menu.

In the property window, click the “Options” tab.

In the “Options” tab, make sure the checkbox labelled “Include Windows logon domain” (hilighted in green) is unchecked.

Then click the “PPP Settings…” button (hilighted in red).

In the “PPP Settings” dialog box, make sure the settings look like the ones in the picture below, then click the “OK” button (hilighted in red).

Next, click the “Security” tab, which is hilighted in red.

Make sure the security tab has the same settings as here. Then click the “Networking” tab, hilighted in red below.

This screen shows you the network settings. You may have different items in your list. In the list of items that you see, make sure that only the “Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4)” and “Client for Microsoft Networks” items are checked. If oher protcols are checked, uncheck them by clicking on the checkbox (the thing that looks like a ‘√’).

PublicVPN.com currently does not route anything except TCP/IP version 4.

Now, click on the “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” item in the list (hilighted in green) and click the “Properties” button (hilighted in red).

Next, set the VPN connection’s DNS server to the PublicVPN.com DNS server. Click the “Use the following DNS server addresses” radio buton in the property window (hilighted in green) and type the PublicVPN.com DNS server address in the “Preferred DNS server” text area. The PublicVPN.com DNS server is: 172.31.0.1. Then click the “OK” button.

You’re now done with your basic setup! You've set up your PublicVPN.com connection to use PPTP. Click “OK” to finish now, if you want.

However, for better security we recommend that you configure your VPN connection to use an L2TP/IPsec connection, which is more secure. To do this, keep reading.

In the “PublicVPN.com Properties”, click on the “Type of VPN” pop–up menu (hilighted in red) and select “L2TP/IPsec”.

Next, click on the “IPsec Settings…” button (hilighted in red).

In the “IPsec Settings” dialog, click the radio button labelled “Use preshared key for authentication” (hilighted in green). Then type ‘publicvpn.net’ into the textbox labelled “Key” (hilighted in blue). Then click the “OK” button (hilighted in red).

You’re finished! Click the ”OK” button to save your settings.

The first time you connect to PublicVPN.com, you might see a screen like this one. Windows is asking you if you want to automatically connect to PublicVPN.com whenever you’re at a given location. If you want to connect to PublicVPN.com automatically when you’re at a public hotspot, click “Public location.”

However, you probably should click ”Cancel”, because most public locations require you to click through an agreement before you can access the Internet — meaning that any connection you attempt will fail. Instead, you should just connect manually.

To connect to PublicVPN.com, go to the Start buton and click “Connect To”.

Then click on the PublicVPN.com entry and click “Connect”.