Questions

  1. What is a VPN?
  2. Do I really need a VPN?
  3. Will the VPN Layer effect my speed?
  4. What protocol and port the VPN server is listening on?
  5. How complex is to set a VPN client?
  6. Do you offer a trial account?
  7. Do you offer a refund?
  8. Can I use Bittorrent/Emule/News and alike clients?
  9. Where can I see my bandwidth usage?

Answers

  1. VPN stand for Virtual Private Network, it primarily use to allow remote users access to their office/work space in a secured fashion. We’ll use VPN here to allow a secured connection to the Internet, all your surfing will pass securely through the server.
  2. Most users don’t need a VPN, I can split the users into two categories:
    1. Users who has their own Internet access, won’t need to bother about their privacy as they have control over the link. Only users who wish for some reason to encrypt their link should join.
    2. Users who doesn’t have their own Internet access (Public Wifis, Shared Connections), should use a method to encrypt their link, as other users who share the connection with them can eavesdrop.
  3. Yes, as it encapsulate your original packets through a secured link. The effect may differ from user to user, mostly depend on the ISP and their traffic shaping rules, while some users will see better speeds, others will find their speed degrading.
  4. The VPN server using port 1723 and protocol UDP. In the future I will add port 443 on TCP.
  5. It can be somewhat troublesome for a beginner. While I will supply you with the keys and basic configuration file, some systems will need a special configuration, mostly depend the network topology.
  6. No, as the deployment of a new user isn’t automated.
  7. Yes, you have 5 days to ask for a refund, as long as you didn’t use more then 250MB of your allocated bandwidth. Mail a request to vpn@itk98.net (subject should be ‘refund’) with your username and transaction ID.
  8. No. Don’t subscribe to this service if you intend to run a file sharing/news client, your account will be closed and you won’t get a refund.
  9. Login with your username and password (supplied with the key files) to www.itk98.net/vpn-users/, you will see hourly update of your bandwidth usage.