Connect a desktop to a SoftEther VPN server

In this documentation lesson, we will teach you how to establish a connection between your desktop and a VPN server, which is running on the SoftEther protocol. The process is relatively easy, however, you do need to download and install the SoftEther client manager. Let’s get started!

Downloading the SoftEther client manager

Before you can connect your desktop to your VPN server, you have to download the user client first. To do this, navigate to the SoftEther downloads page by typing ‘SoftEther VPN Client’ into your web browser or use the following link to get to the SoftEther VPN download page directly.

Once you land on the page, make sure to select the following options from the dropdown menus, as illustrated by the image below:

• From ‘Select Software’ choose ‘SoftEther VPN (freeware)’
• From ‘Select Component’ click on ‘SoftEther VPN Client’
• From ‘Platform’ choose your desktop’s operating system
• From ‘Select CPU’, choose the appropriate option to accommodate your desktop specifications

When you have completed these steps, click on ‘SoftEther VPN Client’ (displayed with a blue-purplish font) in the ‘Download Files’ section and the client will begin downloading to your system as highlighted in the image above.

Once the download process finishes, double click on the installation and proceed to set up your user client. In terms of the installation, keep the settings to their default values and options unless you have prior experience and are acquainted with the software.

Setting up the connection to your VPN server

As soon as the installation is complete, your SoftEther client will open up, looking similar to the following image (the interface will look the same, regardless of your operating system):

From here you want to double click on ‘Add VPN Connection’ or alternatively you can go to the ‘Connect’ menu in the top left of the screen and choose ‘New VPN Connection Setting’ (you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N on Windows or Command+N on macOS).

This will bring up a configuration window, where you will need to input your VPN server’s data in order to establish the connection. Your provider should have given you this information. This means that you will just need to copy and paste it into the required fields of your SoftEther client.

The fields in question are marked in red on the following image:

• ‘Setting name’ is how you want to name your connection and it is entirely up to you to decide.
• ‘Host Name’ is your server’s IP address.
• Finally, input your username and password credentials into the corresponding ‘User Name’ and ‘Password’ fields under the ‘User Authentication Settings’.

Once you have successfully entered these details, click on ‘OK’ and your connection will be securely made - it’s as simple as that.

Whenever you want to connect or disconnect from the VPN server, simply right-click on your connection and select the corresponding option from the menu that appears.

We also have an entry in our documentation which you can check out if you want to connect a mobile device. Additionally, if you want to connect even more devices, you can have a look at our tutorial on creating more user profiles.

Checking the connection

If you want to ensure that the connection is working as intended you can double-check your IP address while and without being connected to the VPN server. To do so, you can simply go into your preferred browser and type in ‘What is my IP?’. If your IP appears different prior to and after connecting, you can rest assured that everything is working correctly.