VPNs have many uses, whether for regular home users or professionals. In general, VPNs provide a private and secure connection between your computer and the Internet. In the process of a VPN connection, your existing network is hidden and encrypted. This means that VPNs offer you anonymity and privacy.
Some of the main use cases for using a VPN include creating a secure and private connection between computers, accessing geo-restricted websites, avoiding online censorship, preventing online tracking, and increasing privacy through anonymity.
For example, most companies and organizations require you to use a specific VPN connection to connect and access their servers when working from home. Normally, your system administrator will provide you with the VPN connection details to configure a VPN in Windows 11.
For the most part, VPN services for Windows provide their own application to connect to the VPN. However, if the VPN service doesn't have its own application or it doesn't work for some reason, you can manually configure a VPN in Windows 11 with just a few clicks.
All you have to do is fill in the VPN details. Windows 11 will configure the VPN for you. Then you can connect to the VPN with a single click whenever you need to. For example, most companies provide the VPN details and ask you to configure the built-in VPN functionality to create a new VPN connection in Windows 11.
There are many VPN protocols. Each protocol has its own way of encrypting and establishing a VPN connection. Windows 11 supports all major VPN protocols by default. Depending on the protocol that the VPN service uses, the VPN data may need to be configured slightly differently.
The good thing is that you don't have to manually configure any protocol-related settings. All you have to do is select the protocol type from a predefined list, and Windows will do the rest.
Here is a list of all VPN protocols that Windows 11 currently supports.
IKEv2, SSTP (Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol), L2TP/IPsec (with a certificate or pre-shared security key) and PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol)
If a VPN service does not support one of these VPN protocols, you can use a third-party app to create a VPN connection. For example, if your VPN uses the OpenVPN or WireGuard protocols, you will need to use a third-party app. Windows 11 does not currently support OpenVPN or WireGuard protocols by default.
Before you start creating a VPN connection in Windows 11, you will need some information. You need a VPN domain or an IP address, the protocol with which you can connect and the login details.
Right-click on the start button. Click on Settings in the menu. Click on Network and Internet on the left and then on “VPN”.
Click on the “Add VPN” button.
Since we are using the built-in VPN functionality, select “Windows (built-in)” from the “VPN provider” drop-down menu.
Then set a name for the new VPN connection in the “Connection Name” field. You can name the connection anything you want. This name will appear in both the Settings app and the Quick Settings panel.
Enter the domain name or IP address of the server in the “Server name or address” field. You can get this information from the VPN provider. This is how Windows knows which VPN to connect to.
Now select the protocol supported by your VPN service in the “VPN type” menu. You also set it to “Automatic” as long as the VPN supports the protocols listed above. You can get the protocol details from your VPN provider. Remember that Windows 11 must support the protocol.
Then choose the type of authentication method indicated by your VPN provider. In general, almost all VPN providers use the username and password login method. So, select the “Username and Password” option from the drop-down menu.
If you choose a different login method, the following fields will be different. Follow the wizard to configure the login information.
Enter the username and password in the appropriate fields.
(Optional) Then select the “Remember my login information” checkbox. That way, you don't have to re-enter the login information every time you connect.
Finally, click the “Save” button to save the VPN connection details. After you have created the VPN connection, you must connect to it.
You can connect to the newly created VPN via the VPN settings as known from the beginning of this article. You can connect even faster via the Quick Settings.
Click on the Quick Settings at the bottom right taskbar to the left of the time and date. Then click on the “VPN” tile.
Then click “Connect” and your configured VPN will automatically connect to the VPN server. If you wish to disconnect, return to the “VPN” tile and click “Disconnect”.
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
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