Applications run very well over VPN
Our experience has been that speed is not an issue with applications via our VPN. We use the same T-1 on the host end that is used for mail, inside to out and web hosting. With DSL/Cable on the client end it is bearly decernable from being on the WAN and just as secure. Even with 56K ISP speeds it is very usable for telnet and client server applications. The problems have all been in negotiating ports on the firewall and VPN especially with apps that listen on one port and run on a dynamically allocated port. The cost is 25% of any RAS type soloution, scaleable and with digital certificate authentication and IPsec or DES3 MORE secure than the WAN itself. If you only need 1-2 users then maybe pcanywhere is the answer.
