The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a method for
implementing virtual private networks. PPTP uses a control channel over
TCP and a GRE tunnel operating to encapsulate PPP packets.
The PPTP specification does not describe encryption or authentication features and relies on the PPP protocol being tunneled to implement security functionality. However the most common PPTP implementation, shipping with the Microsoft Windows product families, implements various levels of authentication and encryption natively as standard features of the Windows PPTP stack. The intended use of this protocol is to provide similar levels of security and remote access as typical VPN products.
Encryption: The PPP payload is encrypted using Microsoft's Point-to-Point Encryption protocol (MPPE). MPPE implements the RSA RC4 encryption algorithm with a maximum of 128 bit session keys.
Ports used: PPTP uses TCP port 1723 and GRE (Protocol 47). PPTP can be easily blocked by restricting the GRE protocol.
Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, DD-WRT
For a comparison between the VPN protocols OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP please refer to the article: VPN protocol comparison
Windows
If you're unable to connect via PPTP protocol with our HMA Pro VPN client, the first thing you should do is to uninstall our client, reboot your computer and reinstall our client. This will revert all settings back to default and often solves the problem.
If the problem remains, or if you're using a manual PPTP connection (WinXP: newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-create-pptp-connection-on.html - Win Vista / 7: http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/7.html), your problem may be caused by non-activated services.
This PPTP issue may occur if the following windows services are disabled:
• Telephony
• Remote Access Connection Manager
• Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
To resolve this issue, enable the disabled services, then start the services, and set them to automatic.
Either do it manually as described below, or let a batch script do it for you: startservices.bat
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. Double-click Services and Applications, and then double-click Services.
3. Right-click Telephony, and then click Properties.
4. On the General tab, click Manual next to Startup type.
5. On the General tab, click Start under Service status, and then click OK.
6. Repeat steps 3 - 5 for the Remote Access Connection Manager service and for the Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service.
This applies to:
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
With Windows Vista and Win7 configuring services may be a little different. In your start menu type in the search field: "Component Services". Run it. Find "Services" and make sure you enable the services mentioned.
The PPTP specification does not describe encryption or authentication features and relies on the PPP protocol being tunneled to implement security functionality. However the most common PPTP implementation, shipping with the Microsoft Windows product families, implements various levels of authentication and encryption natively as standard features of the Windows PPTP stack. The intended use of this protocol is to provide similar levels of security and remote access as typical VPN products.
Encryption: The PPP payload is encrypted using Microsoft's Point-to-Point Encryption protocol (MPPE). MPPE implements the RSA RC4 encryption algorithm with a maximum of 128 bit session keys.
Ports used: PPTP uses TCP port 1723 and GRE (Protocol 47). PPTP can be easily blocked by restricting the GRE protocol.
Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, DD-WRT
Also supported: OpenWRT, Tomato, Mikrotik, DrayTek, BoxeeBox, Touchpad...
Comparison to other VPN protocols
PPTP often seems to be slower than OpenVPN and it's security is mainly estimated to be lower than with other protocols. However, the feeling of speed is subjective; there are many factors that determine the connection speed, like network, ISP, ethernet adapter, operating system, etc. If you're having speed issues, check this page: SpeedFor a comparison between the VPN protocols OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP please refer to the article: VPN protocol comparison
Guides for setting up PPTP-connections
- Windows:
- Dialer with all VPN servers included (all windows versions): PPTP and L2TP Dialer for Windows
- Manual connection on Windows XP: newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-create-pptp-connection-on.html
- Mac: Mac PPTP Connection Setup (Tutorial)
- iPhone/iPad: newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-setup-pptp-connection-for-iphone.html
- Android: http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/android.html
- HP Touchpad: http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/hptouchpad.html
More PPTP guides, L2TP and OpenVPN instructions and tutorials for other operating systems and devices can be found @ Connection Instructions
Troubleshooting
Windows
If you're unable to connect via PPTP protocol with our HMA Pro VPN client, the first thing you should do is to uninstall our client, reboot your computer and reinstall our client. This will revert all settings back to default and often solves the problem.
If the problem remains, or if you're using a manual PPTP connection (WinXP: newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-create-pptp-connection-on.html - Win Vista / 7: http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/7.html), your problem may be caused by non-activated services.
This PPTP issue may occur if the following windows services are disabled:
• Telephony
• Remote Access Connection Manager
• Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
To resolve this issue, enable the disabled services, then start the services, and set them to automatic.
Either do it manually as described below, or let a batch script do it for you: startservices.bat
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. Double-click Services and Applications, and then double-click Services.
3. Right-click Telephony, and then click Properties.
4. On the General tab, click Manual next to Startup type.
5. On the General tab, click Start under Service status, and then click OK.
6. Repeat steps 3 - 5 for the Remote Access Connection Manager service and for the Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service.
This applies to:
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
With Windows Vista and Win7 configuring services may be a little different. In your start menu type in the search field: "Component Services". Run it. Find "Services" and make sure you enable the services mentioned.
