One of the great things about VPNs is that they can allow you to forward ports from one network to another. This means that you can make any service on your LAN accessible to computers on a remote network, without having to open up any firewall ports or configure NAT settings. All you need is an IP address on the remote network and a port number, and you’re good to go!
Of course, there are some potential pitfalls with port forwarding through a VPN. One is that it can introduce security risks, since it effectively bypasses any firewalls or NAT settings that might be in place. Another is that it can be difficult to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. But overall, port forwarding is a very powerful tool that can make life much easier when working with different networks.
Worth knowing
VPNs can also support port forwarding, although the specifics vary depending on the VPN protocol in use. For example, OpenVPN supports port forwarding via its server-bridge directive, while PPTP-based VPNs typically require manual configuration of port forwarding rules at the router level. Regardless of the approach taken, configuring port forwarding with a VPN generally involves opening up firewall ports at both the VPN server and client side in order to allow traffic to flow freely between them.
One common use case for port forwarding over a VPN is accessing remote services that are not accessible directly over the public Internet. For example, imagine you have a web server running on your home network that you want to make available to the world. Without port forwarding, anyone trying to access your server would be unable to reach it because all incoming traffic would be blocked by your router’s firewall. However, by configuring port forwarding and opening up TCP port 80 (the standard HTTP port), you can allow anyone to connect to your web server simply by entering its IP address into their browser.
Of course, this also opens up your home network to potential attacks as well since anyone with knowledge of your IP address can now attempt to force their way into your system through whatever open ports they find. As such, it’s important to take steps to secure any systems that will be accessible via port forwarding, such as setting strong passwords and keeping software up-to-date with security patches
Worth knowing
Worth knowing
Thank your for reading!