Configuring iPhone for VPN
For the last few days I’ve been scratching my head on a particularly knotty problem — configuring iPhone 3G to access our corporate VPN over 3G wireless. Rogers, bless their hearts, hasn’t made this easy. By reading the marvelous Howard Forums, visiting the Apple store in Toronto for help, and checking Apple’s support boards, I’ve managed to make it work with these three steps:
1. You will need the VPN option attached to your data account. Phone Rogers, speak to a CSR, and ask them to add this option. This allows you to access the Rogers vpn.com APN. You need this because internet.com, the standard iPhone APN, is behind a NAT.
2. Next you need to change the APN from internet.com to vpn.com. There is no option to do this on iPhone, because Rogers has disabled it. Nevertheless, you can visit http://www.unlockit.co.nz which is a web site that will send you a new profile that you can install on your device. Use APN vpn.com, username wapuser1 and password wap.
3. set up your VPN. You will need user names and passwords from whomever manages this stuff at your organization. AND you will need to set the “send all data” setting to off.
Now for the bad news. Having done this, you may find (as I have) that you’re no longer able to set up a VPN connection over WiFi.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Thank you so much for this!! our company has been banging heads with Rogers to explain the level of security is much higher when using VPNs than IMAP or ActiveSync… atleast this way, if the device is lost, no one can get in to the email accounts and mess around without being able to get in the VPN !
Once again a big thank you!
August 13th, 2008 at 10:22 am
You’re welcome Taz. Let me know if you figure out a fix that lets you use the VPN on WiFi AND on 3G, because I still haven’t.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Alec, I just tested the WiFi, i am able to connect to my VPN. I did nothing. Unless the iPhone is actually connected to the VPN over 3G, even though I am hooked up to a WiFi…. I’ll see if I can try to find out…. but from the looks of it, it is connected over WiFi….
August 13th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Hmmm… wonder what I am doing wrong. What carrier are you on, Taz?
August 14th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Iam on Rogers and it is confirmed, WiFi VPN is working… iphone ver 2.0.1
August 17th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Now, if someone could tell me how to keep the VPN connected after it goes into sleep mode and I would be very elated.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:43 am
[...] The VPN client will now run on both WiFi and 3G networks. [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Just called Rogers and they tell me it will cost me $10.00 a month for them to add the vpn apn to my account. I want it, but not that much. Did they charge you?
Dave…
August 28th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Yup - they charged me the same, Dave.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Ya I am around WiFi enough that I think I will live with the way it is. I also have a USB modem from Bell which works real well and I can vpn with that for work if needed. iPhone would have been a little easier for short things but.. Oh well. Rogers! Gotta love them.
Dave…
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hi,
I’m with Rogers as well, and I tried above the procedure. In the status it says “Starting”, buth then I get the response. “The VPN Server did not respond”. I’m following the same VPN settings as my laptop.
Please help.
Regards,
Ruz
September 4th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
is it the same situation for fido??? my vpn works over wifi but cannot send receive data once establishing the vpn connection on 3g.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
How did Apple let Rogers get away with this? This is absurd. I am not going to pay $10/month and jailbreak(?) my phone just so I can get functionality that should already be in place. Same with laptop tethering… if my data plan covers the data, tethering should be included! I’m really getting sick of Canadian telcos.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I don’t know if this will work for you guys but I was searching around on how to create an vpn server myself and ended up here. So I wrote an guide an post it back.
It is a guide on howto install an PPTP VPN server under linux and how to connect your iphone to it:
http://www.sharedknowhow.com/2008/09/linux-vpn-server-installation-for-use-with-iphone/
October 15th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
wow i hate rogers!!!!
is there a workaround for a jailbroken phone or did they just block port 1723 and then charge you $10 a month to unblock it?
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
for fido users
visit
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8173076�