Re: Which is better PPTP or L2PT

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Steven L Umbach (n9rou_at_nospam-comcast.net)
Date: 11/05/04


Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 10:36:50 -0600

Pptp is not as secure as l2tp but it may be secure enough. Keep in mind that
l2tp requires the use of computer certificates and will not work over a NAT
connection unless the clients have the NAT-T upgrade installed and if the
VPN server is behind a NAT device it needs to be Windows 2003 Server. If all
of your VPN clients are W2K/XP/W2003 or using mschapv2 and you enforce
strong passwords of say at least eight characters length and use password
complexity then your pptp will be very secure. L2tp main advantages are that
it uses computer certificates to authenticate computers in addition to users
and the encrypted tunnel is created before user password authentication is
done. The use of computer certificates makes sure that just not anyone on
the internet can try to hack your VPN server because computer authentication
will fail and they will never get the opportunity to try and password guess.
The link below may be helpful of which I pasted a part of. --- Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/all/deployguide/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/all/deployguide/en-us/DNSBF_VPN_OVERVIEW.asp

PPTP
PPTP uses Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) user authentication methods and
Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE) to encrypt IP traffic. When used
with MS-CHAP v2 for password-based authentication and strong passwords, PPTP
is a secure VPN technology. For stronger authentication for PPTP
connections, you can implement a PKI using smart cards or certificates and
Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Level Security (EAP-TLS).

PPTP is widely supported and easily deployed, and it works with most network
address translators (NATs).

L2TP/IPSec
The more secure of the two VPN protocols, L2TP/IPSec uses PPP user
authentication methods and IPSec encryption to encrypt IP traffic. This
combination uses certificate-based computer identity authentication to
create IPSec security associations in addition to PPP-based user
authentication. L2TP/IPSec provides data integrity, data origin
authentication, data confidentiality, and replay protection for each packet.

"PC" <paulm DOT c at iol DOT ie> wrote in message
news:uThyYPzwEHA.2624@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I have a Win2k Server configured as a VPN server using PPTP and all is
> working well. From what I understand PPTP is not as secure as L2TP and I
> was
> thinking of reconfiguring the RRAS server and allowing only L2TP
> connections
> for my remote clients.
>
> Is it true that PPTP is not as secure - i.e. what would be the arguements
> for converting to L2TP?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> ..pc
>
>



Relevant Pages

  • Re: MS-CHAPv2 encryption
    ... If you have a windows 2003 server, and if you decide to use L2TP, you can do ... it even with NAT. ... PPTP is nice, I do agree. ... Hardware+pincode authentication rather than a domain\user+password. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
  • Re: L2TP/PPTP
    ... Though pptp can be very secure if configured correctly and a complex password is used ... l2tp is more secure for a number of reasons. ... the biggest advantages is it requires certificate machine authentication in addition ... > PPTP is encrypted with Microsoft Encryption. ...
    (microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcse)
  • Re: MS-CHAPv2 encryption
    ... either pptp or l2tp. ... L2tp is more secure but more involved in setting up due to ... MSCHAPV2 for authentication. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
  • Re: VPN server
    ... PPTP is encrypted, you can use L2TP without certificates. ... You can use a pre-shared key instead of a certificate for L2TP/IPSec ... Well you have to configure the RRAS VPN service (see buiilt-in Help* or ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: PPTP, PIX firewall and Windows 2000 Server question
    ... I am not quite sure exactly how you set it up but PPTP does require user ... requires authentication for access to a share unless simple file sharing is ... At my work I have a Windows 2000 Server DC for our LAN. ... Windows authenticate the PPTP connection? ...
    (microsoft.public.security)