VPN Connection Problems

I am trying to connect to my work LAN via VPN with my home computer. I got connected once, but could not share any resources. I made some adjustments (added passwords to the user account at home) and now can't connect at all.

The LAN at my office consists of three pcs with WinXP Pro, all behind a LinkSys WRT54G router. I have configured one pc to accept VPN incoming, with the same user name and password to match what I have at home.

At home I have a pc running WinXP Home. The attempt to connect gives an error that the remote computer did not respond.

The client computer is configured for XP Pro as described in howtonetworking.com and the home computer is too. My concern is the router settings - if I have vpn pass thru enabled, are the correct ports opened? If not how do I do that? Also, why did adding a password to the user account at home prevent me from connecting?

There's lots of information about VPN out there, but what I've found doesn't include information on connecting through routers. I imagine that is my problem. I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

 

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The problem with VPN going over a router is the NAT. The encryption system relies on the parent IP packet remaining unchanged from start to end of tunnel. NAT alters the parameters in the IP packet such as IP addresses and Port numbers. This throws many VPN systems.

Basic routers that are VPN enabled often simply pass on the packets without altering them. They are a glorified port forwarding system.

The problem in my experience is almost always at the server end. You usually need to forward port 500 to the VPN server. However, I've always found getting a VPN server to work behind a NAT router to be hard work.

Here is a VPN guide that may get you started as it describes setting up a VPN through a Linksys router.

Also note that there are two main types of VPN: PPTP and IPSec. They use different ports. You may find that the reason you initially got success is because your VPN was using the simpler and less secure PPTP.

In my opinion the simple solution is to get a device that will both provide your NAT and be your VPN server. Routers that will do both are not much more expensive than a standard routers. For a small business, I am confident that investing in a gateway device that will provide the VPN service will save you money in the medium to long term due to less required maintenance.

Here are some devices at the budget end:

Netgear Prosafe VPN Firewall Routers

Draytek routers

The Draytek are a good choice if you need to combine the firewall/router with a broadband modem. Very nice option in SOHO IMHO.

However, if you have more that half a dozen users to protect, I'd recommend investing in a dedicated hardware, from the likes of Cisco, , Watchguard, or SonicWall. All of which are available with VPN options.