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PPTP VPN or IPSEC for Android and iPAD

Gronaldo1
Level 1
Level 1

Being new to the RV180 (and VPN routers for that matter) I have been struggling to get a VPN going, supporting both my Android and iPad devices. However, I understand a IPSEC connection would be a more secure sollution. Unfortunatly I cannot find a clear instruction anywhere to do this.

I found the settings/descriptions in the RV180 quite different from the (few) settings in the mobile platforms. So far no success in getting it setup.

Some help to get started would be great!

Many thanks.

Ronald

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

chrebert
Level 4
Level 4

Hello Robert.

My name is Chris and I work at the Cisco Small Business Support Center.

The PPTP option will be much easier to setup, and most devices have a built-in PPTP ability.

The RV180 does support IPSEC tunnels, but only for site-to-site links or a remote user with client software.  Some of our other devices also support SSL VPN connections, which would allow you to use the Cisco Anyconnect client which is available for android, but SSL VPN is not a feature of the RV180.

On my Android phone (Droid X running Android 2.3.4) it has a built in VPN client, for both PPTP and IPSEC.  Yours probably does as well, however if it doesn't there should be some apps available.

If you decide to go with PPTP you can set it up like this on the RV180:

1. Go to the admin page of the router and click on  VPN > IPsec > VPN Users.

2.  Check the box to enable the PPTP server.

3. FIll in the internal address range for your PPTP clients to use (192.168.1.200 - 192.168.1.210 for example)

4. Click save.

5. Once you click save you should be able to edit the VPN client settings table.

6. Click add, check enabled, enter a username and password for the PPTP user to use, and for protocol type select PPTP.

7. Click save to add the user.

Once that is done you should be able to go into your Android device's settings and add a VPN connection for PPTP.   Fill out all the same info you setup the RV180 with and you should be able to connect.

The server address will be the WAN IP of your RV180.

As far as IPSEC goes, the process is similair but a bit more involved.

1. On the admin page of the router go to  VPN > IPsec > Basic VPN Setup.

2. Choose VPN client for peer type.

3. Name you connection (this is only used on the router)

4. Choose a preshared key to use with this connection.

5. For remote WANs IP address you can leave the default remote.com

6. For Local Gateway Type you'll want to chose IP

7. For Local WAN IP select IP and enter the RV180's IP address (the WAN IP)

8. For Local LAN enter the local network ID for the RV180 (by default it is 192.168.1.0)

9. For Local LAN subnet mask enter 255.255.255.0

10. Click on save.

The above steps create a IPSec VPN tunnel using the router's defaults, which you can review by clicking Default settings under VPN > IPSEC.

Now you just need to configure your phone.  On my phone I have an option for Advanced IPSEC VPNs, but yours may be different, or you may have to use an app as a client if your phone doesn't have IPSEC VPN built-in.

On my Droid X I would go to Wireless and Networks, VPN Settings, Advanced IPSEC VPN, Add a new VPN.

My phone uses connection templates, so make sure to select the one that matches the settings of your tunnel on the RV180. 

Enter the RV180's WAN IP address as the VPN server, as well as the Pre-Shared Key you setup on the RV180.

Make sure all of the connection settings match what you have setup on the RV180.

It will also ask you for an internal subnet IP, and for this you would enter the Local LAN and subnet mask you configured on the RV180 in steps 8 and 9 above.

I wish I could be more specific but it looks like there are several different menus and options depending on which Android phone your using.

I hope some of this helps, but if not feel free to reply and I will try to explain.

View solution in original post

8 Replies 8

chrebert
Level 4
Level 4

Hello Robert.

My name is Chris and I work at the Cisco Small Business Support Center.

The PPTP option will be much easier to setup, and most devices have a built-in PPTP ability.

The RV180 does support IPSEC tunnels, but only for site-to-site links or a remote user with client software.  Some of our other devices also support SSL VPN connections, which would allow you to use the Cisco Anyconnect client which is available for android, but SSL VPN is not a feature of the RV180.

On my Android phone (Droid X running Android 2.3.4) it has a built in VPN client, for both PPTP and IPSEC.  Yours probably does as well, however if it doesn't there should be some apps available.

If you decide to go with PPTP you can set it up like this on the RV180:

1. Go to the admin page of the router and click on  VPN > IPsec > VPN Users.

2.  Check the box to enable the PPTP server.

3. FIll in the internal address range for your PPTP clients to use (192.168.1.200 - 192.168.1.210 for example)

4. Click save.

5. Once you click save you should be able to edit the VPN client settings table.

6. Click add, check enabled, enter a username and password for the PPTP user to use, and for protocol type select PPTP.

7. Click save to add the user.

Once that is done you should be able to go into your Android device's settings and add a VPN connection for PPTP.   Fill out all the same info you setup the RV180 with and you should be able to connect.

The server address will be the WAN IP of your RV180.

As far as IPSEC goes, the process is similair but a bit more involved.

1. On the admin page of the router go to  VPN > IPsec > Basic VPN Setup.

2. Choose VPN client for peer type.

3. Name you connection (this is only used on the router)

4. Choose a preshared key to use with this connection.

5. For remote WANs IP address you can leave the default remote.com

6. For Local Gateway Type you'll want to chose IP

7. For Local WAN IP select IP and enter the RV180's IP address (the WAN IP)

8. For Local LAN enter the local network ID for the RV180 (by default it is 192.168.1.0)

9. For Local LAN subnet mask enter 255.255.255.0

10. Click on save.

The above steps create a IPSec VPN tunnel using the router's defaults, which you can review by clicking Default settings under VPN > IPSEC.

Now you just need to configure your phone.  On my phone I have an option for Advanced IPSEC VPNs, but yours may be different, or you may have to use an app as a client if your phone doesn't have IPSEC VPN built-in.

On my Droid X I would go to Wireless and Networks, VPN Settings, Advanced IPSEC VPN, Add a new VPN.

My phone uses connection templates, so make sure to select the one that matches the settings of your tunnel on the RV180. 

Enter the RV180's WAN IP address as the VPN server, as well as the Pre-Shared Key you setup on the RV180.

Make sure all of the connection settings match what you have setup on the RV180.

It will also ask you for an internal subnet IP, and for this you would enter the Local LAN and subnet mask you configured on the RV180 in steps 8 and 9 above.

I wish I could be more specific but it looks like there are several different menus and options depending on which Android phone your using.

I hope some of this helps, but if not feel free to reply and I will try to explain.

Thanks, clear explanation

Rgds Ronald

Hey Chris,

I have followed these insturctions, to the letter, and can get PPTP working no problem. But cannot get the connection to work on IPSEC from my iPas / iPhone.

Is there any other advice you can give please?

regards

Ian

RV180 - running the latest firmware.

Same problem here. PPTP works just fine from the iPad but can not connect using IPsec. Which is a shame because of the recent news of PPTP being hackable now.

Sure could use a QuickVPN equivalent for the iPad.

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has a way forward for the ipsec VPN on apple devices? ive read that the stock Apple IOS ipsec VPN uses cisco Ipsec and not l2tp over ipsec (quickVPN) and there doesnt appear to be a quickvpn application for apple IOS.

also whats everyones overall opinion on the RV180W, im looking at ordering one this week.

thanks in advance

Cisco is misleading with their ipsec support. The RV180W will only work with PPTP connections. It has a lot of ipsec setup options but they are useless. Cisco seems to support ipsec only on their Enterprise products, not the RV180.

They say the QuickVPN connection is an ipsec connection and it probably is. It works fine for PCs. For an iPad, I had to enable and set up PPTP.

It's kind of like the per-app VPN that was supposed to be in iOS7. Sure it's there, but you can't use it.

I have purchased an rv180 two months ago and i use it to show an incompetent product. I think it will never go online. Spec about this product use a fuzzy language. This is NOT full SSL IPSEC. And... Surprise! If yor have ip servers behind it, you will need a dns server to resolve internal requests. It does not have a fu***ng /etc/hosts file as any basic linux distro.

This is my first and last cisco on my work.

Hey! I'm falling in love wirh this little creature: ubnt EdgaMax Lite.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPad App

But don't forget that PPTP is considered broken and shouldn't be used as a VPN-technology any more!

-- 
Don't stop after you've improved your network! Improve the world by lending money to the working poor:
http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/karsteni

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