Why must a VPN Client be assigned to a 'virtual' subnet?

A user of a VPN Client connects to Safepipe from the Internet with a public IP address. But in order to access your LAN, the VPN client needs a private IP address. Thus, when configuring the VPN Client you must assign it to a 'virtual' subnet – which is a pool of private IP addresses that belong to an imagined network separate from your LAN. Safepipe gives the VPN Client a private IP address from this pool.

This 'virtual' subnet feature is also a useful tool for dividing your users of VPN Clients into practical and logical 'client groups', such as travelling salespeople or home users. Safepipe allows you to have up to five different groups/subnets of VPN Client users.

Before configuring any VPN Clients on Safepipe, you must define at least one 'virtual' subnet on the 'Options' tab in the 'Client' section. The subnets you create may not overlap with any existing subnets on your LAN.

For information on how to create network IP addresses and subnet masks, see the self-test course IP addresses & subnetting.