Network Protocols Glossary
What is a network protocol? Protocols are the rules of the road for how data exists and moves on the network. They allow many different systems and computers to communicate.
Point-to-Point Tunneling (PPTP) Protocol
What is Point-to-Point Tunneling (PPTP) Protocol?
PPTP is used to establish VPN connections. It creates a virtual private network by encapsulating Point-to-Point (PPP) packets within IP packets. PPTP is a legacy protocol, and is less secure and performant than more modern tunneling protocols like OpenVPN or Wireguard.
What is the purpose of PPTP
PPTP uses a TCP as a control channel to set up a session on port 1723 between the client and server. The client and server then exchange authentication credentials, and a GRE tunnel is created. Data is encapsulated within the GRE tunnel and sent over the public internet.