How to set up L2TP VPN on Windows 10

In this tutorial we will show you how to set up L2TP VPN on Windows 10 but first let’s see what are our requirements and recommendations.

Requirements

In order to set up the L2TP VPN you will need:

A CactusVPN account. If you don’t have one you can try our services for free.
Your VPN username, password and VPN server address. You can find them in your account on our website, by going to Settings.

Recommendations

To skip the manual setup and for more features we recommend to use the CactusVPN App for Windows.
L2TP is not the best option for online security and privacy. We recommend using OpenVPN, IKEv2 or SoftEther.

If you still want to set up L2TP VPN manually, go step-by-step through following instructions:

L2TP VPN Setup Instructions

From the lower right corner click on Action Center icon (1). Then press on VPN (2).
This will open Network & Internet settings window. Click on Add a VPN connection (3).
On the next page fill the fields with the following settings:

VPN provider – Select Windows (built-in) (4).

Connection name (5) – Give a memorable name to this connection. For example name it CactusVPN L2TP.

Server name or address (6) – type server name or address you want to connect.

You can find IP addresses of all our servers in your account on our website, by going to Settings.

VPN type (7) – select Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPSec (L2TP/IPSec).

Type of sign-in info (8) – select User name and password.

In the User name (9) and Password (10) fields type your VPN username and password.

You can find your VPN username and password in your account on our website, by going to Settings -> VPN Username & Password. Make sure you use your VPN username and password and NOT the website account credentials (What is the difference?).

Check all selected data once again and press Save (11).
Now you can see your VPN connection (12) was created.
After that you have to set up Key for Authentication.

Right-Click on the monitor or Wi-Fi icon on the bottom right-hand corner. Then Click on Open Network and Sharing Center (13).
Click on Change adapter settings (14).
Right click on the VPN connection and go to Properties (15).
Go to Security tab (16).

Here select Allow these protocols (17) and check Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2) (18).

After that go to Advanced settings (19).
In the following window select Use preshared key for authentication (20) and in the Key field (21) type: cactusvpn.

Click OK (22).

Also click OK in the next window.

Now your L2TP VPN connection is created and all traffic will be encrypted.
To connect to L2TP protocol click ok Network icon (Wi-Fi or wired) and click on the desired VPN connection.
This will open your Network and Internet settings.

Click on desired VPN connection and press on Connect button (23).