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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
October 25, 2007
WiTopia Intros PPTP Virtual Private Network Support for iPhone Users
By Mae Kowalke TMCnet Senior Editor
Online hosting company WiTopia announced Wednesday a bonus for subscribers to its virtual private networking (VPN
) service: a free account for use with iPhone (News - Alert) or other mobile devices.
) service: a free account for use with iPhone (News - Alert) or other mobile devices.
The company’s personal VPN service ($39.99/year) allows users to create an encrypted “tunnel” to protect data being transmitted over local networks, Macworld explained in a Wednesday report. To use the service, subscribers must install a software package; this means its mostly useful for laptops running Mac OS X or Windows.
Why the need for special software? It’s because the WiTopia service uses Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) protocols, which currently aren’t supported on iPhone, Macworld said.
The free account, Macworld said, has broader application for mobile devices like iPhone because it relies on a built-in VPN client. That’s because it uses another VPN method called Point-To-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), which is supported natively on iPhone.
Macworld noted that, initially, iPhone’s VPN support had some flaws, but these have since been fixed with the iPhone 1.1.1 software update that was released in September.
Want to learn more about the topic covered in this article? Check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, a collection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP communications industry. This information is free to registered users.
communications industry. This information is free to registered users. Mae Kowalke is an associate editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. She also blogs for TMCnet here.
, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. She also blogs for TMCnet here. 
