vpn with two w98SE computers

I have a W98SE PC (PC1)that has a MS Access 97 Database on it. The DB is edited by different users on the network. The network has a cable connection and a Netgear RP114 router. On our second site, another W98SE PC (PC2) needs to access the DB. This PC is also on a cable connection with a RP114 router. Can PC2 access PC1 to read/write to the DB? Can W98 be set up as a VPN server (or am I stumbling blindly through the dark?) I'd be grateful if someone could point me in the right general direction to go.
Thanks a million

 

Are PC1 and PC2 on separate LAN connections? Are the two routers used as the Internet Gateways? Also, are there servers in this scenario? You say that both PC1 and PC2 are connected via cable, but what are they connected to? Is it a full-blown LAN or just a router opening a gateway to the Internet?

Need some more info to help on this...

Galdor

 

Sorry - you are right. I wan't being clear. I am talking about two netowrks on two sites. They are not physically connected. Both networks have a cable connection to the Internet and a Netgear Router is the gateway on both networks. There are no servers (yet).

 

A few more questions...

1)Are PC1 and PC2 getting their IP Addresses from the Cable Modem's DHCP Server, or are they static IP Adresses you've assigned and the Routers are doing NAT, or do the Netgear Routers have the capability of doing DHCP (not familiar with these Routers but the solution should be the same in any case) and that's how they are getting their IP addresses?

2)What are going to use for the VPN connection? Are you going to use the Microsoft VPN client that comes with the TCP/IP update from Microsoft, or do you have another client you're going to be using?

3)Do the Netgear routers have their own IP Adresses, or are they just used to obtain the IP Adresses for the PC1 & PC2?

 

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Both networks are DHCP using the routers. I haven't assigned any addresses. I guess the simplest solution would be to use Microsoft VPN (? but I'm open to suggestions ?). The routers have an address 192.168.0.1 on the LAN and a WAN address assigned by our service provider.

I hope this answers your questions - it's horrible to find oneself in the dark with the boss breathing down your neck

 

Something about that isn't right. both routers can't have the same IP address. They have to be different.

Assuming they both have IP Addresses in the 192.168.0.x range, and again each using a static IP address for the Wan assigned by the provider, than it sounds like these are "smart routers ". More than likely they have the capability of configuring and routing traffic through them with their own internal VPN client. In fact, I decided to see and visited their website, and low and behold, they had a nice article on it Here. Give that a whirl and see if you can get it working....

 

A VPN would probably be too unreliable for use with a shared file database like Access. You would need to deal with a lot of database corruption. An alternative would be to connect to PC1 using remote control software. pcAnywhere (any Windows OS) or terminal services (Win2k Server, XP Pro) offer good security and encryption if setup correctly. See Paranoid pcAnywhere

 

Thanks galdor but what I meant was that both routers have internal IP addresses of 192.168.0.1 - they have their own external ISP assigned addresses.
The routers are not that intelligent - there's no mention of VPN in the Firmware. Nice try though

I'll look into PCAnywhere AND keep trying for another VPN solution.
Cheers