A VPN allows two separated local networks to directly connect to each other over potentially unsafe networks such as the Internet. All the network traffic through the VPN connection is securely transmitted inside an encrypted tunnel, hidden from prying eyes. Such a configuration is called a Gateway-to-Gateway VPN, or Gw2Gw VPN for short. Similarly, a single remote computer somewhere on the Internet can use a VPN tunnel to connect to a local trusted LAN. The remote computer, sometimes called a Road Warrior, appears to be directly connected to the trusted LAN while the VPN tunnel is active.
The Endian Hotspot Appliance supports the creation of VPNs based either on OpenVPN.
A user friendly OpenVPN client for Microsoft Windows and MacOS X can be downloaded from the Endian Network.
The Endian Hotspot Appliance can be set up either as an OpenVPN server or as a client, and even play both roles at the same time, in order to create a network of OpenVPN-connected appliances. The menu items available in the sub-menu are the following:
OpenVPN server - set up the OpenVPN server so that clients (both roadwarriors and other Endian Hotspot Appliances in a Gateway-to-Gateway setup) can connect to one of the local zones.
OpenVPN client (Gw2Gw) - set up the client-side of a Gateway-to-Gateway setup between two or more Endian Hotspot Appliances
Authentication - manage users of VPN connections.