When you're first connecting
to a network inside of Windows,
you could choose to perform
this connection from the Control
Panel under the Network
and Sharing Center.
There is an option
there to setup
a new connection or network,
and you have the option
to connect to the internet,
connect to a new network,
or connect to a workplace
using dial-up or VPN.
This will take you through
a step-by-step wizard that
gives you all of the
questions you need
to answer to be able to connect
to these many different kinds
of network types.
One of the network
devices you may connect to
is a VPN concentrator.
This type of network connection
creates an encrypted tunnel
between your Windows device
and a VPN concentrator that's
somewhere else on the network.
Usually, this VPN
concentrator will
be something at a corporate
office or main location,
and you'll be connecting
to that device using
a portable device or a
laptop somewhere else
out on the internet.
Normally, your
corporate resources
are on a private
internal network
that's behind a firewall.
And if you're out on the
internet at a coffee shop,
you would not normally
have direct access
to any of those resources.
But by using a VPN
connection, you
can create an encrypted tunnel
between your device and a VPN
concentrator.
This means if somebody
at the coffee shop
was able to look at
the packets going
over the wireless
network, they would
see that you're communicating
to the VPN concentrator,
but all of that information
would be encrypted
and they would have no idea
what information was being sent.
Once, that information arrives
at the VPN concentrator
the concentrator
decrypts that data
and sends it into your
corporate network.
The corporate devices are able
to communicate back to you
over this tunnel by sending
that traffic to the VPN
concentrator, which
will then encrypt it,
send it down to your
laptop, and your laptop
will then decrypt it and
make it available to you.
When you're configuring this
VPN connection in Windows,
you can use the
built-in VPN client
that comes with the
operating system.
You have options here to
add the internet address,
the destination
name, and then you
could choose to use a smart
card for authentication.
So if your desktop
or laptop computer
has a slot that you can use
to slide in a smart card,
you can provide your username
your password, and then
this multi-factor
authentication.
The password would be
something you know.
The smart card would be
something that you have.
Some laptops might even include
a fingerprint reader, which
would be something you are.
Once this VPN configuration
has been created,
you can then connect to the VPN
using the network status icon
at the bottom of the screen.
Provide your
credentials, and now you
have an encrypted tunnel
to your VPN concentrator.
If you're a traditional
computer user,
you're probably not using
a dial-up modem any longer.
But if you're a
system administrator,
these dial-up
connections can be very
convenient ways to connect
to a remote network
when the primary network
connection may not
be available.
The configuration
settings for dial-up
are relatively
straightforward, since this
is a point-to-point connection.
You would provide username
and password credentials.
You would be able to
put in the phone number
that you would
dial, and then you'd
be able to connect or disconnect
from this dial-up connection
using the network status icon
at the bottom of the screen.
A common network connection
at work and at home
is a wireless connection.
For this connection,
you would provide
a network name, which would
be the SSID, or Service Set ID
name.
You would need to provide
the security type, which
in many cases is WPA-2 or
WPA-2 Enterprise, if you're
in a business.
And then you need to provide
encryption types, such as TKIP
or AES.
If this wireless
network is at home,
you'll probably
provide a security key.
This is a pre-shared
key that is used
across all of the devices
that are on your home network.
If this is a system at work
that's using WPA-2 Enterprise,
then it's using an
authentication method called
802.1X authentication.
This integrates your
wireless access point
to the same
authentication credentials
you use for everything
else in your network.
This way you don't
have a pre-shared key
that's shared with everybody
else on the network.
Instead, each individual
uses their normal username
and password to gain access
to the wireless network.
It's also common to have wired
network connections using
an ethernet connection that
plugs directly into your laptop
or desktop computer.
Usually, you would plug-in and
use this ethernet connection,
but you might also
have simultaneously
running, a wireless connection
or wireless WAN connection.
Windows is smart
enough to know which
connection is the fastest,
and it uses that connection
by default.
Windows also provides a way to
setup an alternate connection,
in case a DHCP server
is not available.
If you look under the Properties
for the IP Version 4 Protocol,
you'll see that the general
configuration is set up
to obtain an IP address
automatically or use
the following IP
address manually.
You also, in this window, have
the Alternate Configuration
tab, which normally is setup to
provide an automatic private IP
address or an APIPA address.
Or if a DHCP server
is not available,
you could tell Windows to
configure a manual IP address
subnet mask, default gateway
and other IP Version 4
configuration details.
If you're a mobile user who
isn't often near an 802.11
wireless network, you may
choose to have connectivity
through wireless
WAN connectivity.
This works in conjunction
with a mobile phone provider
to provide internet access
over the cellular frequencies.
This is usually accomplished
by installing a wireless WAN
adapter.
You can install this into
laptops and mobile devices.
And there are
usually antenna wires
that you can connect to
that adapter as well.
If your laptop doesn't have one
of these wireless WAN adapters,
you may be able to use your
mobile phone to provide
wireless WAN connectivity.
You would commonly connect
to your phone over USB 802.11
wireless or Bluetooth to be
able to tether or use your phone
as a wireless hotspot.
If you're using a
built-in adapter,
there may be
specialized software
that you also have to install to
be able to enable that network
connection and
allow connectivity
for all of your applications.
