How to Set Up a VPN for Remote Workers: Business Guide

With remote and hybrid working now the norm across UK businesses, giving your team secure access to office systems from home or on the move is essential. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the most established way to do this — creating an encrypted tunnel between your remote workers and your business network.

This guide covers what a business VPN is, how to set one up, which type is right for your team, and common pitfalls to avoid.

What Is a Business VPN?

A VPN creates a secure, encrypted connection between a remote device (a laptop, phone, or tablet) and your business network. Once connected, the remote worker can access internal resources — file servers, printers, line-of-business applications, intranets — as if they were sitting in the office.

This is different from consumer VPN services (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc.) which are designed to hide your browsing activity. A business VPN is about securely extending your office network to wherever your staff are working.

Types of Business VPN

There are two main categories:

Remote Access VPN

Each individual user connects from their device to the office network. This is the most common setup for businesses with remote workers. The user runs a VPN client application on their laptop or phone, enters their credentials, and gains access to internal resources.

Site-to-Site VPN

Connects two or more office locations together permanently. Traffic between sites flows through an encrypted tunnel without individual users needing to do anything. This is used when you have multiple offices that need to share resources.

Most small and medium businesses need a remote access VPN. For a detailed comparison of VPN solutions available to UK businesses, see our guide to business VPN options.

VPN Protocols: Which One to Use

The protocol determines how the VPN tunnel is created and encrypted. The main options:

• WireGuard — the newest option; extremely fast, lightweight, and secure. Increasingly supported on business routers and firewalls. Recommended for most new deployments
• OpenVPN — open-source, highly configurable, widely supported. Slightly more overhead than WireGuard but very mature and well-tested
• IPSec/IKEv2 — built into most operating systems (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android) so no extra client software needed. Good performance and security
• L2TP/IPSec — older protocol; works but slower than the alternatives. Use only if nothing else is available
• SSTP — Microsoft protocol; works well through restrictive firewalls since it uses HTTPS (port 443). Windows-only

For most UK businesses, WireGuard or OpenVPN is the best choice — both are secure, well-supported, and work across all major platforms.

How to Set Up a Business VPN

Option 1: Use Your Existing Router/Firewall

Many business-grade routers (Draytek, Ubiquiti, Fortinet, Cisco) have a built-in VPN server. This is often the simplest and most cost-effective approach for small businesses.

General steps:

1. Enable the VPN server on your router — choose your protocol (WireGuard or OpenVPN recommended)
2. Create user accounts — each remote worker gets their own credentials
3. Configure firewall rules — define what VPN users can access on the internal network
4. Set up port forwarding — your router needs the appropriate port open to accept incoming VPN connections (UDP 51820 for WireGuard, UDP 1194 for OpenVPN)
5. Export client configuration — generate config files or certificates for each user
6. Install VPN client software on each remote device and import the configuration
7. Test connectivity — confirm the user can connect and access internal resources

Option 2: Dedicated VPN Server

For larger businesses or those needing more control, run a dedicated VPN server on your network — either a physical server or a virtual machine. This gives you more capacity, logging, and configuration options.

Option 3: Cloud-Based VPN

Services like Perimeter 81, Twingate, or Cloudflare Access provide VPN-like secure access without on-premises hardware. These are particularly suited to businesses with fully cloud-based infrastructure and no physical office servers to access.

Security Best Practices

A VPN is only as secure as its configuration. Follow these practices:

• Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) — a password alone is not enough; require a second factor like an authenticator app
• Use strong encryption — AES-256 for data encryption, RSA-2048 or higher for key exchange
• Limit access by role — not every remote worker needs access to every resource. Use firewall rules to restrict VPN users to only what they need
• Keep software updated — patch your VPN server, router firmware, and client software regularly
• Monitor connections — log who connects, when, and from where. Set up alerts for unusual activity
• Use split tunnelling carefully — split tunnelling routes only business traffic through the VPN (internet browsing goes direct). It improves performance but means personal web traffic is not inspected by your firewall
• Revoke access immediately when someone leaves the company

Common VPN Problems and Fixes

• Slow connections — often caused by the VPN routing all traffic (including internet browsing) through the office. Enable split tunnelling or upgrade your office internet upload speed
• Cannot connect from hotels/public WiFi — some networks block VPN ports. Use a protocol that runs over HTTPS (port 443) like SSTP or OpenVPN in TCP mode
• Dropped connections — check for router firmware bugs, ensure the VPN server has enough resources, and try a different protocol
• DNS issues — remote users cannot find internal servers by hostname. Configure the VPN to push your internal DNS server to connected clients

VPN Alternatives to Consider

VPNs are proven technology, but newer approaches are gaining ground:

• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) — grants access to specific applications rather than the entire network. More granular than a VPN
• Remote Desktop / VDI — users connect to a virtual desktop rather than tunnelling into the network
• Cloud-native security — if all your applications are cloud-based (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), you may not need a traditional VPN at all. Conditional access policies and identity management handle security instead

For more on supporting remote teams securely, see our guide to IT support for remote teams.

Getting Professional Help

Setting up a VPN correctly — with proper encryption, MFA, access controls, and monitoring — is important to get right. Misconfiguration can leave your network exposed or frustrate users with connectivity problems.

A managed IT provider can design, deploy, and manage your VPN solution, ensuring it is secure, reliable, and properly maintained.