To setup a IPsec VPN connection:

1. • Click Start then Control Panel
   • Click Network and Internet Connections (skip if not there)
   • Click Network Connections
   
2. • Under Network Tasks in the left column, click Create a new connection
   
3. • Click Next
   
4. • Select Connect to the network at my workplace
   • Click Next
   
5. • Select Virtual Private Network connection
   • Click Next
   
6. • Type ServStrong IPsec in the Company Name field
   • Click Next
   
7. • In the Host Name field, type one of the host names in the list below
   • Click Next
   • • Los Angles, California, US: us5-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Dallas, Texas, US: us1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Miami, Florida, US: us4-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Seattle, Washington, US: us6-vpn.servstrong.net
     • New York, New York, US: us2-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Chicago, Illinois, US: us3-vpn.servstrong.net
     • London, UK: uk1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Montreal, Canada: ca1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Sydney, Australia: au1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Amsterdam, Netherlands: nl1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Paris, France: fr1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Frankfort, Germany: de1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Saint Petersburg, Russia: ru1-vpn.servstrong.net
     • Tokyo, Japan: jp1-vpn.servstrong.net
   
8. • To have a VPN shortcut added to your desktop, click Add a shortcut to this connection to my desktop
   • Click Finish
   
9. • Select "Me Only" if this is only for your Windows user account, or "Anyone who use this computer" if there are other Windows accounts that should have access to this VPN account
   • Click Properties
   
10. • In Options tab make sure that the Windows logon domain is not included
    • The Redial attempts should be set to a high number
    • Check Redial if line is dropped to have your machine always trying to reestablish failed connections
    • Switch to the Security tab
    
11. • Change the Security options to Advanced
    • Click Settings
    
12. • Data encryption should be set to Maximum strength encryption (disconnect if server declines)
    • Connections to ServStrong VPN are only allowed to use Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2) for authentication
    • Click OK to close the Advanced Security Settings
    
13. • On the Security tab, click IPsec Settings
    • Check Use presharedkey for authentication
    • Enter "thisismykey" without quotes in Key field
    • Click OK to close the IPsec Settings
    • Switch to the Networking tab
    
14. • The Type of VPN needs to be set to L2TP IPSec VPN
    • Uncheck File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks as well as Client for Microsoft Networks from the list of used items
    • Click Settings
    
15. • Inside the PPP Settings, it is important to have LCP extensions enabled and to have Software compression disabled
    • Close with OK
    • Click Ok again to close the configuration
    

To Connect:

1. Double-click the VPN icon on your desktop
2. Type your VPN Username and Password in their respective fields
3. Click Connect

To switch between servers:

1. • Double-click the VPN icon on your desktop
   • Click Properties
   • 
2. • Change the Host name to another host name from the list above
   • Click Ok to close
   • Try to connect
   • 

To Disconnect:

1. Right click the Network icon on the taskbar
2. Click Disconnect in the status window that pops up