What is a tunnel in networking?

How does the VPN Concentrator work?

You may have heard about a device called VPN Concentrator in connection with setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which allows safe access to your home or business network remotely by the users of your network while they are away.

The Concentrator VPN creates a virtual private network by establishing a secure connection called a tunnel. Many of us may not know what is a tunnel in networking.

Before I go to explain what is a VPN Concentrator and what does it do, I am going to give an overview of the use of VPN Technology to ensure the fastest and safest possible connection to the internet through a VPN service.

Let’s first see what is a VPN and how does VPN works.

What is a VPN?

A VPN protocol is the technology that provides one of the most reliable and resilient advanced network services. It is a service that enables users to access the internet safely and privately by routing their connections through a server that helps to shield their identity and location to remain anonymous on the net. Thus VPN enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices are directly connected to a safe private network.

How does a VPN work?

VPN creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, between the device and the network so that the users who need to access their home or business network can simply log into their VPN from anywhere in the world and use the network as if they are physically present in their home or office.

A VPN establishes a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of tunneling protocols over the existing networks to encrypt data at the sending end and decrypt it at the receiving end. Thus through VPN service all sensitive data can be safely accessed or transmitted remotely and no unauthorized person, including the hackers, can see your activities. Because of this increased security VPN service is widely used in a business/corporate environment. Two leading types of Secure VPN technology are IPsec and SSL.

To set up a VPN, you can either go for a VPN Concentrator or go for a VPN Router having VPN functionality included in it.

What is a tunnel in networking?

Tunneling is a protocol for transferring data securely from one network to another. Network tunnels provide a direct connection between a remote server and the local network, and the transmission of data is undetectable by the public network. Network tunneling works by wrapping data in encapsulated packets that look like normal traffic on the public network.

What is a VPN Concentrator?

Now what is VPN Concentrator? A Concentrator VPN is a networking device that allows people to access a network remotely from anywhere in the world through multiple encrypted VPN tunnels between the user’s device and the network. It provides a secure and encrypted connection between different VPN nodes. VPN concentrators are used by large businesses that operate multiple systems that are connected using a network.

What is a VPN Router?

A VPN router is a WiFi router with VPN client software installed on it. The router encrypts all of the traffic sent or received over your WiFi network.

With a standard WiFi router, you need to install the VPN app on every device before you can use it to connect to your VPN network. Whereas a VPN router has VPN client software already installed on it and you can connect all your devices to the VPN network without installing VPN software on each device. The router provides privacy and security for all your devices without any hassle. VPN router is meant to be used in home networks or small networks with few users.

Difference between VPN Concentrator and VPN Router

Though both VPN Concentrator and VPN router operate in the same way they also differ in several other ways.

The Concentrator can handle thousands of users at the same time and create a VPN tunnel for each of them making it ideal for corporate environments where the employees can safely connect to their company network remotely from anywhere in the world.

Whereas, a VPN router has certain limitations to the number of people it can handle. A VPN router is meant to be used for small businesses where only a few users have access to the private network. VPN Concentrator may be described as an improved VPN router, which is more suited for large businesses rather than a home network or small businesses.

Apart from supporting more users, VPN concentrators have other advantages over VPN routers. The modern Concentrator VPN has a highly effective firewall, uses advanced encryption techniques, provides data encryption, allows the creation of VPN tunnels, authenticates multiple users, and also assigns tunnels for each of the connected users.

What is a VPN tunnel?

The VPN Concentrator creates a virtual private network by establishing a secure connection called a tunnel, across the Internet that users see as a private connection. The device transmits or receives plain data packets in an encapsulating form through the above VPN tunnels for delivery to their final destination. The main functions of this networking device are,

 1. Establishes VPN tunnels for multiple remote users;

2. Authenticates multiple end-users;

3. Assign tunnels to the connected users;

4. Encrypts connection for secure data transfer;

5. Manages Security key;

6. Manages data transfer across the tunnel to ensure data delivery;

When do you need a VPN concentrator?

Here is an example of when you may need this networking device.

Suppose you have a business where you have employed people online from various parts of the world. There may be occasions when your people may need to access their work files as if they are physically present in your office. This is when a VPN concentrator comes in. The Concentrator VPN establishes a secure connection across the Internet to enable your workers to connect to your company’s network remotely from different points and get access to their desired work files in the office.

Frequently asked questions

Now that I have explained in detail what is VPN Concentrator and how it works let me also address some of the related questions often asked by the people.

What is a VPN tunnel?

A VPN tunnel is an encrypted connection across the Internet between the user’s device and the home or company’s private network. The users see it as a private connection.

How do I set up a VPN in Windows 10?

Follow the steps below to setup VPN in Windows 10:

>Click on the Windows button;

>Go to Settings > Network & Internet > VPN;

>Click on Add a VPN connection;

>Select Windows for your VPN provider (built-in);

>Give your VPN a name under Connection;

Does a VPN slow down your internet?

Yes, using a VPN does slow down your internet speed. It depends on a few factors such as the distance of the server to which you are connected, the level of encryption of traffic, server load, and the internet speed.

You may also like to read: How to get free internet on Android using built-in VPN client

Conclusion

To sum up, if you are running a small business where there are not too many users to access your private network or if you want to set up a small VPN to allow users to access your home network remotely, a VPN router would perhaps be a good option for you.

On the other hand, if you need a larger solution for your business that needs to handle considerable loads requiring a much higher number of people to connect to your company network at the same time, a VPN Concentrator would be the way to go.

As already explained in the post under ‘What is a VPN Concentrator’, Concentrator VPN is used by large businesses that operate multiple systems that are connected using a network.