Anyone know how to get a VPN to work

Bear with me, non-techie explanation coming up . . .

We run Windows 2003 Server at work, and I'm on Windows XP Pro at home

I have Sonicwall software installed on my home machine, + have also setup a network connection using the 'Create New Connection' wizard

So far so good. Either of the 2 methods seems to work, ie. it connects to the server at work using my standard username and password. I've been told that you have to leave the PC at work running, ie. powered up, but not necessarily logged on.

I fail at the next hurdle, which is connecting via Remote Desktop. It either says it can't find the PC, or that it could not connect to the remote computer, please try again later.

My router at home is a Netgear DG834G v2 wireless ADSL firewall router, which according to the spec should support NAT.


The IT people (OK person as the other was made redundant last Friday ) have run out of ideas, and I really need to get this sorted before I disappear off to have my leg rebuilt at the end of the month

Any ideas greatfully received. There could even be a reward

cheers

Most common problem with VPNs is that the local and remote network uses the same network address.

Ok, guessing that the inside address of your router is either 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. Scribble down which one (or whatever it is), and also scribble down the subnet mask (likely be 255.255.255.0). A subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 is basically saying that the first three digits of any IP address define the network, and the last digit defines the computer address. So in the case of 192.168.1.1, the network address is 192.168.1 and any computer with an IP address of 192.168.1.X and a subnet of 255.255.255.0 is on the same network. This all goes pear shaped when you're VPNing because if the remote network (ie. work) also is 192.168.1.X then your computer doesn't know where to send packets - ie. it thinks that instructions that you intend to go to the remote network actually need to go to the local network (ie. your home network).

Assuming it isn't that then time to start diagnosing. Open up a DOS box (Start, Run, then type CMD & click OK). In the DOS box type PING ip address of remote computer, eg. PING 192.168.10.50 and see if you get replies or time outs. If you get replies then the basic network & VPN would appear to be up and running and something specific about Remote Desktop is causing the problem.

[TSM]

Easy, if you have a sonicwall then you can use the Sonicwall Global VPN client from their website. Speak to the tech at site or call me and ile tell you how to do it. It manages everything for you and is a realy easy.

We have a similar issue with VPN at work, because DNS doesn't work properly over our VPN solution.

Basically, my work machine name is "dave-r". If I connect via the VPN, then try to remote desktop, using "dave-r", it cannot connect, or cannot resolve the address. It makes it's mind when I hit connect.

I can ping "dave-r" sucessfully.

Most of the servers, have a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), eg, one of the servers is called "atlantic" (because it deals with client systems around the atlantic...) and that has the FQDN of atlantic.proact.net, this works, but only when you're inside the VPN. Just "atlantic" doesn't.

The solution, is to either access my machine by it's IP address (192.168.1.121 - static), or ask the IT tech to add a FDQN for me, which means about 4 years of red tape.

Might be something similar for you.

Can you RDP to your work machine from another machine in work ie throught the internal lan? If not you may not have 'allow incoming rdp' setup on your PC or your domain account might be blocked in Active Directory to prevent you running terminal server sessions.

Also is there any firewall (eg ISA) on the server end that actually blocks incoming rdp?

If you have the administrator password try using this to VPN & RDP to the server first, this should at least let you get an admin console up and will determine if the problem is with the connection or your account/work PC.

Mike.

[timwilky]

Personally, all my vpns are router to router based. I use a netgear FVS338 at home and this works well to the Nokia IP400/checkpoint NG boxes at work. and I get full bi directional vpn connectivity and use AES256 encryption etc.

The only issue I had was that I have to have a local network address range within the companies RFC1918 addressing scheme in order to route over the companies international network. We use the 10.0.0.0 range, so my home address is within this and with some firewalls it would be classed as "overlapping" and not allowed. however the Nokia and netgear work well with this arrangement.

I have also been able to set up ipsec vpns with my brothers companies and other small businesses I support etc.

So my advise. Get a proper vpn router, forget software clients.