Configuration of Virtual Private Network (VPN) Passthrough on RV016, RV042, RV042G and RV082 VPN Routers

Objective

VPN Passthrough helps the system behind the firewall of the router to access a remote network. A VPN Passthrough is a way to connect two secured networks over the Internet. When VPN passthrough is enabled on the network, it allows the VPN traffic that is initiated from VPN client to pass through to the Internet and allows the VPN connection to succeed.

IPSec Passthrough, PPTP Passthrough, and L2TP Passthrough are the three VPN Passthroughs available on RV016, RV042, RV042G and RV082 VPN Routers. The VPN Passthrough is needed because all the routers used recently consist of Network Address Translation (NAT - which allows several computers to share the same internet connection), and both PPTP and IPSec do not work with NAT. To allow PPTP, L2TP and IPSec in the router we use the concept of VPN Passthrough.

The objective of this document is to show you how to enable or disable VPN passthrough on RV042, RV042G and RV082 VPN Routers.

Note: No ports need opening to enable VPN passthrough, it will automatically work. Before the VPN passthrough can be configured the basic VPN setup must be done on the host and the remote side.

Applicable Devices

• RV016
• RV042
• RV042G
• RV082

Software Version

• v4.2.1.02

Enable or Disable VPN Passthrough

Step 1. Log into the web configuration utility and choose VPN > VPN Passthrough. The VPN Passthrough page opens:

The following are the VPN Passthrough types. By default, all the VPN Passthroughs are enabled.

• IPSec Passthrough — Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is a suite of protocols used to offers secure exchange of packets. IPSec Passthrough allows IPSec tunnels to pass through the router. To disable IPSec Passthrough, click the Disable radio button.

• PPTP Passthrough — Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) allows the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to be tunneled through an IP network. To disable PPTP Passthrough, click the Disable radio button..

• L2TP Passthrough — Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is used to enable Point-to-Point sessions through internet on Layer 2 level. To disable L2TP Passthrough, click the Disable radio button..

Step 2. Click Save to save the changes made on VPN Passthrough.

To configure the PPTP server refer to the article Configure Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) Server on RV016, RV042, RV042G and RV082 VPN Routers for Windows.

Note: You cannot configure the L2TP server on the RV series, but they do support the L2TP VPN.