Shrew Soft VPN Client

Shrew Soft VPN Client is an IPsec remote access VPN client that’s available as a Standard and as a Professional edition. The Standard edition is free for both personal and commercial use. With the Standard Edition you can connect to a wide range of open source and commercial gateways. If you want access to extra features, consider switching to the Professional edition.

Shrew Soft VPN Client is available for Microsoft’s Windows operating system, any edition from Windows 2000 onward. Shrew Soft VPN Client is also available for Linux and BSD platforms.

As mentioned above, Shrew Soft VPN Client is available as a Standard and as a Professional edition. The setup wizard that helps you install the application on a Windows PC asks you to choose an edition. It must be mentioned here that the setup wizard also asks you to choose what components will be installed on your Windows PC. The Standard edition features the following components: Auto Remove, Program Files, Network Drivers, IKE/IPsec Services, Start Menu Shortcuts, Desktop Shortcuts. The Professional edition features all these components and a couple of extras: DNS Proxy Service, Credentials Provider.

The VPN Site Configuration prompt allows you to enter several parameters for the gateway you want to connect to. Lots of parameters can be entered: host name or IP address, adapter mode, firewall options, enable DNS, pick an authentication method, and more.

Shrew Soft VPN Client Standard edition is free for personal and commercial use; there are no trial limitations or nag screens. There are limitations for the Professional Edition though: you can use the software for free for a trial period of 14 days.

No matter which edition you choose, the Standard or the Professional one, Shrew Soft VPN Client remains a very nice IPsec remote access VPN client.