What is Vpn?

VPN is virtual private networking. It is for joining remote network domains. It is of no use to you if you don't know what it is.

You could have done a simple Google search and gotten the answer yourself in about 2 seconds...

Your use of the word "ignorant" is fine. Use of the word "retard", as you did in the initial post in this thread, is ignorant and immature. I have a ******** child, and am amazed by how many so-called intelligent people use this term.

If you use Wi-Fi with a very sophisticated password nobody can guess, then you don't need to use VPN. VPN is for certain businesses. If you're using the iPhone for pleasure and not work, don't bother.

JoeZinVA wrote:
If you use Wi-Fi with a very sophisticated password nobody can guess, then you don't need to use VPN. VPN is for certain businesses. If you're using the iPhone for pleasure and not work, don't bother.

That's the first actually wrong answer in a thread with incomplete but correct answers. VPN (Virtual Private Network) has nothing to do with the strength of passwords.

Most businesses and schools have Private or "internal" networks that can only be accessed by computers directly connected (or securely wirelessly connected via WiFi) to the internal network. This is called an "intranet". From within an intranet you can access other computers on the network, shared disks, applications on servers, email, etc. You can also access the Internet through a "gateway" server that may monitor what you do and that will block attempts from outside the intranet (i.e., on the Internet) to access computers or services on the intranet.

What happens if an employee needs to access services on the intranet from home or while traveling? To do this most intranets have an incoming gateway also. You must first log on to the gateway from the Internet using a very secure method (sometimes using a one time password generating device, or with a security certificate assigned to the specific computer desiring access). Microsoft is one provider of gateway services called PPTP; there are others, such as Cisco, AT&T, Nortel, etc. When you access an intranet (private) network from outside this is called a Virtual Private Network or VPN.

The VPN feature built into the iPhone allows you to connect the phone remotely to a private network. It does not support all VPN protocols, but does support the most common.

"I then just chose to carry on being ignorent to what VPN actually is."
Perfect.

"I then just chose to carry on being ignorent to what VPN actually is."
Perfect.

Maybe I can clarify what a VPN is. I happen to use a VPN daily to access my office's MS Exchange e-mail server, from my laptop, whenever I'm away from my office.

Note: because of the iPhone's support of MS ActiveSync, I do not need to use the VPN settings on my iPhone.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a way to create a secure "pipeline" between either a trusted user and a trusted network or two (2) trusted networks. This pipeline can be achieved using several methods. Two methods are over a leased dedicated line from a telephone company or by installing your own cable for one location to another. These methods while very secure are also very expensive.

Another, more commonly used method is to use the Internet to connect the trusted user to the trusted network or two trusted networks to each other. We all know that the Internet isn't secure but VPN encryption protocols create a "virtual" secure connection (Pipeline) to your secure network. These encryption protocols secure the connection between your trusted user, the untrusted Internet and your trusted network.

If you want additional information on this topic, I found this link to contain some helpful information.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/17278-42-work

I hope this gives you a better idea of what a VPN is and how it operates. That said, it is unlikely that a home user would need to use a VPN with their iPhone.

It is just as Jimmy said. It creates a tunnel thru the domain firewall that allows you to access any trusted computer remotely. Let's say that your computer at work is setup for remote access, if you are connected to the VPN within your domain you can see and use that computer as if it was your work computer.

You will have access not only to emails but applications as well. The only thing that is different is the background picture. In other words if in your computer at work you have a picture of lets say your wife, you won't see that picture when you are connected to that machine but everything else is the same. in order for this to work you need specific settings and the computer your want to access has to be setup for remote access as well.

I hope this can help you get at least an idea of what VPN means.