- Creating Your Windows XP VPN Server
- Configuring Your Client
- Connecting to Your VPN
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Connecting to Your VPN
You're now ready to connect to your VPN and share your printer remotely, as shown in Figure 18. To do this, go to your Control Panel and double-click on the Network Connections icon. Double-click on the icon representing the VPN connection that you created on your client. Provide the user name and password for the user that you gave the VPN connection privileges when you configured your server and then click Connect.
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Figure 18 Connecting to Your VPN
After you connect to your home network VPN, you can use the Add Printer Wizard on your client machine to share your Printer across the internet. You'll need to specify that you want to use a network printer, as shown in Figure 19.
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Figure 19 Launching the Add Printer Wizard and Specifying Use of a Network Printer
Next, specify the "Browse for a printer option" in the subsequent window (Figure 20) and then click Next.
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Figure 20 Browsing for a Printer
In the very next screen you should see the printer(s) that you shared on your workstation back home. Go ahead and choose the printer that you shared on your workstation earlier, as shown in Figure 21, and then click the Next button.
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Figure 21 Selecting the Remote Printer You Want to Connect To
After choosing the printer you want to share, you might see a warning window, like Figure 22, telling you that the printer drivers will automatically be installed onto your machine. Since you already know that the computer you are sharing to is trustworthy (it's yours!), go ahead and click Yes.
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Figure 22 Specifying that the Computer You Are Connecting to is Trustworthy
After downloading the appropriate drivers to your VPN client machine, you will be asked if you would like to set your shared printer as the default workstation printer. Go ahead and choose your preference and then click Next.
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Figure 23 Opting to Use the Remote Printer as Your Default Printer
And that's it! You've just set up your shared printer across your VPN connection. You can now print documents across the Internet.