SoftEther and Vista hide.me notes
For Windows Vista you can check this article here: https://hide.me/en/knowledgebase/hid...dows-xp-vista/
As mentioned in the article, if you are using free membership you can set up VPN connection using SoftEther protocol and this setup guide here:
The OpenVPN protocol is only available to our Free members through our own VPN client apps here and we no longer provide our native VPN client for Windows XP and Vista.
You can check this article here: https://hide.me/en/knowledgebase/where-can-i-download-openvpn-configuration-files/
We also recommend to upgrade to newer version of the operating system to be able to receive security patches and regular updates from Microsoft and also to use our latest VPN app.
When you will have time please check these articles and with free membership you can continue using SoftEther setup on your Windows XP and Vista devices and for Windows 7 you can download our VPN client from here.
_2) I am not sure how to "get started" , for example , with a computer with Vista Operating system: You mention "SoftEther setup" . I have been able to Google some information on SoftEther. But I am rather confused as to how
that fits in with a VPN from hide.me. In other words, I have no idea how to "get started" with a computer with
Vista Operating system: What do I download and from where. I am basically looking for a "computer idiots guide" to getting started with your VPN on a Vista computer.
Can you tell me what my first step or steps would be try out a VPN connection on a Vista operating system machine?
(I think I would prefer to get the more difficult option of Vista ( or XP ) working first: It would not be so helpful if I practiced on the simpler Windows 7, and then, after taking full membership option found that I had difficulty getting a VPN on one of my older machines… )
_3) "VPN client" ..???
_3) (i) You have used the term "our VPN client" in your last Email….. On the internet this term, "VPN client", is used very imprecisely and vaguely, and appears to mean many different things depending on who uses it and in what context. Could you please elaborate on what you are referring to by "our VPN client"
_3) (ii) I have read that my "Router"###, "does not have the VPN client feature", and so "cannot connect directly to a VPN service". ( https://vpn-anbieter-vergleich-test....d-vpnanbieter/ ). Is this relevant?
_.__________________
We have our own VPN clients on our website here: https://hide.me/en/software
However there are alternative ways of setting up a VPN connection, you can find all our setup tutorials that do not require our software on https://hide.me/en/vpnsetup/
You can establish VPN connection manually using your operating systems built-in VPN client and one of our setup guides from our tutorial section.
For example, for Windows 7 you can use this guide here: https://hide.me/en/vpnsetup/windows7/ikev2/
Our own VPN client means our own VPN application that is solely our product and it was developed by us.
Please note that SoftEther standalone client/application is not our own product, OpenVPN and SoftEther standalone clients which are still viable for Windows XP/Vista are third party products - none of those are developed by us.
OpenVPN and SoftEther are open source projects and you can check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVPN
And more information on SoftEther project you can find here https://www.softether.org/
Both OpenVPN and SoftEther security wise are one of the best protocols available and you can check this article here: https://hide.me/en/blog/best-vpn-protocol/
________________________________________
As mentioned in Step 1 of the setup guide you need to download SoftEther standalone client from their website here: http://www.softether-download.com/en...duct=softether
have made changes in the meantime since the hide me notes and tutorials were written.
SoftEther VPN
Following the hide me notes and tutorials choosing the SoftEther Option, ( which you also noted in your last Email ) , I have more success. The tutorial form hide me ties up exactly with what one finds at the softether-download site.
The hide me notes for getting the SoftEther VPN "Client" are very clear and easy to follow…
I followed all the steps and I seem to have success!!
( I did get some extra info appear as well , which I am not sure what it
means, .. yet.. : https://imgur.com/hhyGYKf )
_b) This morning , I occasionally had an error after connection using my Vista laptop connection. The error occurred a few times, usually after connecting. But after a few minutes it sorted itself out by itself, and all was well. So it was not a major problem, just an occasional short term inconvenience. https://imgur.com/oLfSlA1
_c) regarding those German screenshots from yesterday.. That is not too important. I think I know what is _d) This morning when connecting my Vista laptop I consistently get told that my assigned IP address will be this: https://imgur.com/K3VUGN4
I disconnected and reconnected a few times and consistently I see as in that last screenshot
But on inspection I see a different IP address being used: https://imgur.com/EeuJ04F
I expect this is not too important for now, and as you mentioned, I may have more control of the IP address used with the premium version
Regarding the Softether error, it could be a temporary issue with the route between your ISP and our VPN server, there are many interconnecting links and you can reconnect again or try to connect to a VPN server closest to your real location, because that will provide you with the best internet speed and connection quality.
Regarding the notification about your assigned IP address, our DHCP server gives you a different internal IP address when you connect and the one that you see on the IP check is the external (public) IP address of our VPN server.
IP address in 10.x.x.x private range belongs to our internal range, which is used for internal routing. the ip address you see on hide.me/check is an external IP address available on the internet. This is called Network Address Translation (NAT for short) For more information about NAT, please check out this article.
On my Vista machine, I continually kept getting any of these , making it impossible to use any connection for more than a short period of time.: https://imgur.com/V1LEGbe https://imgur.com/B282Nei
So this is the results from my experiments today, Sunday.
_ My Vista Operating System Lap top ACER Aspire 4810TZG
Initially I did not change anything on my Vista machine, ( which still was/ is set up to use hide.me via the "SoftEther way".
Today, Sunday, it only seemed to have the problems mentioned from yesterday, Saturday, a few time initially. After that it had settled down.
So, initially I have not made the adjustments that you mentioned in your second screenshot in your last Email. For this machine. But I may look at them later on this machine.
.... regarding the OpenVPN client files for Vista and XP ..
… could these be a possible source for them? ( I found them after a short
Google search for "OpenVPN client download" )
http://www.frostvpn.com/downloads/Openvpn_ALL_32.exe
http://www.frostvpn.com/downloads/Openvpn_XP_32.exe
I have not attempted to download them myself yet, as I am a bit apprehensive of downloading when I do not have any information about the source.
On my Vista and Win 7 machines all the VPN stuff is working OK
Regarding connection issues on your XP computer, perhaps something is interfering with your connection, maybe security software if you're using it but you can try restarting your router and your computer to check if it resolves these issues.
You mentioned if you need to add a new connection and then change the Advanced setting, that is not necessary- you only need to press OK to confirm it, first on the Advanced section and then on the main screen of SoftEther client.
Make sure that your firewall is not blocking the following ports or turn off the router's firewall:
SSTP / SoftEther require port 443
IKEv2 requires UDP ports 500 and 4500
PPTP requires TCP port 1723
L2TP requires UDP 1701, 500 and 4500
OpenVPN requires TCP/UDP 4000-4100
To connect to VPN, you have to allow ports through firewall for each respective protocol.
Forgive me for being stupid or missing the obvious again , but I am not seeing any mentioned download for Vista
TCP based protocols such as SSTP and SoftEther might work better for you.
________________________________________
OpenVPN client doesn't have a separate installer for Vista, you can use the one for Windows 7 - you can check this article here: https://openvpn.net/vpn-server-resou...-with-windows/