If your employees work from home, travel, or access company systems from outside the office, your business needs a VPN — and more importantly, it needs one that’s properly configured.
VPN setup for Edmonton businesses has become a baseline requirement rather than an optional extra since hybrid and remote work became permanent across most industries. However, a surprising number of Alberta businesses either have no VPN at all, are still relying on outdated consumer VPN tools that weren’t designed for business use, or have VPNs that were set up years ago and never properly maintained. This post breaks down what a business VPN actually does, why it matters, and how to get it set up correctly.
What a VPN Actually Does for Your Business
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates an encrypted tunnel between a remote device and your business network. When an employee connects through a VPN, their traffic flows through that encrypted tunnel — making it appear as if they’re physically in the office, with the same access to internal systems, file servers, printers, and applications they’d have sitting at their desk.
The two main functions of a business VPN are:
Secure remote access — Employees working from home, a hotel, or a client site can connect to internal systems securely without exposing those systems directly to the internet. Without a VPN, accessing an on-premises file server or internal application remotely typically means either opening that system to the public internet (a significant security risk) or having no remote access at all.
Encrypted communications — Traffic between the remote device and the office is encrypted, preventing anyone on the network between them — a coffee shop WiFi, a hotel network, or an ISP — from intercepting or reading business data.
What a VPN does not do is replace other security controls. A VPN secures the connection — it doesn’t protect against phishing attacks, ransomware, or credential theft. It’s one layer in a complete security strategy, working alongside MFA, endpoint protection, and proper network segmentation.
Business VPN vs Consumer VPN — An Important Distinction
Consumer VPN services like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and similar products are designed for individual privacy — hiding browsing activity and bypassing geographic restrictions on streaming services. These are not appropriate for business use and should not be used as a business VPN solution.
The key differences:
Purpose — Consumer VPNs route traffic through a third-party server to mask the user’s identity. Business VPNs connect remote employees directly to your company network, giving them access to internal resources.
Security model — A consumer VPN means your business traffic flows through servers owned and operated by a third party. For any business handling sensitive client data, financial information, or personal information under Alberta’s PIPA, this creates significant data handling concerns.
Management — Consumer VPNs provide no centralized management, no visibility into who is connected or what they’re accessing, and no integration with your business security policies. Business VPN solutions integrate with your firewall and allow IT to control access, monitor connections, and revoke access immediately when an employee leaves.
Authentication — Business VPNs integrate with your existing identity management — including MFA — so that VPN access requires the same strong authentication as your Microsoft 365 accounts. Consumer VPNs have no such integration.
Types of Business VPN for Edmonton Businesses
Site-to-Site VPN
Connects two fixed network locations — for example, a main office and a branch office or data centre — through a permanent encrypted tunnel. Both networks see each other as directly connected. This is the right solution for businesses with multiple physical locations that need seamless connectivity between them. As we saw with our work at Sturgeon Valley Fertilizers, businesses operating across multiple sites have specific connectivity requirements that a site-to-site VPN addresses directly.
Remote Access VPN (SSL/TLS VPN)
The most common type for Edmonton SMBs. Employees install a VPN client on their laptop or mobile device and connect to the office network on demand. Access is authenticated — typically with username, password, and MFA — and the connection is established through the business firewall.
This is the right solution for employees working from home, traveling, or connecting from client sites. Most business-grade firewalls — FortiGate, Cisco ASA, Palo Alto — include SSL VPN capabilities that GuidePost configures regularly for Edmonton clients.
Always-On VPN
A configuration where company-owned devices automatically connect to the VPN whenever they’re outside the office network, without requiring the employee to manually initiate the connection. Always-on VPN is particularly useful for businesses that want to ensure all device traffic passes through company security controls regardless of where the employee is working.
What VPN Not Working From Home Actually Means
“VPN not working from home” is one of the most common IT support requests for Edmonton businesses with remote workers. The specific problem matters for diagnosing the fix:
Can’t connect at all — Usually indicates a firewall configuration issue, a certificate problem, or the VPN service not running on the office firewall. Also worth checking whether the employee’s home router is blocking VPN protocols — some consumer routers block GRE, ESP, or other VPN-related protocols by default.
Connects but can’t access internal systems — A split tunnelling or routing issue. The VPN connection is established, but traffic to internal IP addresses isn’t being routed through the tunnel correctly. This requires firewall configuration changes.
Connection drops after a few minutes — Timeout settings on the firewall or the employee’s home router are terminating what looks like an idle session. Similar to the VoIP call drop issue we covered in our VoIP guide.
Very slow when connected to VPN — Often indicates the VPN is in full-tunnel mode (all traffic routes through the office connection) and the office internet connection doesn’t have sufficient bandwidth to handle multiple remote workers simultaneously. Split tunnelling — routing only internal traffic through the VPN while internet traffic goes directly — addresses this.
Works for some employees but not others — Usually a user account or certificate issue affecting specific users, or device-specific problems with the VPN client software.
Setting Up Secure Remote Work: Beyond Just the VPN
A VPN is the foundation of secure remote access, but a complete setup for Edmonton businesses working remotely involves several additional components:
MFA on VPN access — VPN credentials are a high-value target for attackers. Requiring MFA for VPN connections means a stolen password alone can’t grant remote access to your network. We covered MFA setup in detail in our MFA guide.
Endpoint security on remote devices — A VPN creates a secure tunnel, but if the device connecting through it is compromised, the tunnel just gives the attacker a direct path to your network. Remote devices need the same endpoint protection as office devices.
Split tunnelling decisions — Deciding whether all traffic routes through the VPN or only internal traffic. Full tunnelling is more secure but creates bandwidth constraints. Split tunnelling is more efficient but means internet traffic from remote devices doesn’t pass through company security controls.
Access controls — Not every remote employee needs access to every internal system. Properly configured VPN access controls limit what each user can reach based on their role, reducing risk if a remote account is compromised.
Monitoring and logging — Business VPN solutions log connection attempts, successful connections, and unusual activity. This visibility is important for both security monitoring and troubleshooting.
Frequently Asked Questions
VPN not working from home — what should I do? First, confirm whether you can reach the VPN server at all (connection attempt timing out vs receiving an authentication prompt). If you can’t connect at all, the issue is likely a firewall or routing problem. If you connect but can’t reach internal resources, it’s a split tunnelling or routing configuration issue. Contact your IT provider with the specific error message you’re seeing.
How do I set up secure remote work for my Edmonton business? The core components are a properly configured business VPN on your firewall, MFA on VPN and Microsoft 365 accounts, endpoint protection on all remote devices, and clear policies on what remote access is permitted. A managed IT provider can assess your current setup and implement what’s missing.
Is using a consumer VPN like NordVPN okay for business? No. Consumer VPNs route your traffic through third-party servers and provide no centralized management, no MFA integration, and no visibility for your IT team. They’re designed for personal privacy, not business remote access.
How many people can use a business VPN simultaneously? This depends on your firewall’s capacity and your internet connection’s bandwidth. Most small business firewalls handle 10-50 concurrent VPN connections without issue. If you have more remote employees than that, your firewall sizing and internet bandwidth both need to be assessed.
Does having a VPN mean our business is secure? A VPN secures the connection between remote devices and your network. It doesn’t protect against phishing, malware, or credential theft. Complete security for remote work requires VPN plus MFA, endpoint protection, proper access controls, and employee security training working together.
GuidePost Can Help
GuidePost Technologies configures and manages VPN solutions for Edmonton and Sherwood Park businesses — including remote access VPN setup on FortiGate and other business-grade firewalls, MFA integration, split tunnelling configuration, and ongoing monitoring as part of our network installation services and managed IT services.
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Call us at 780-851-5000 to book a free network assessment for your Edmonton business.
GuidePost Technologies — Managed IT Services, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Network Support for Edmonton and Alberta Businesses.