I wonder whether anyone can help, please? My problem is similar to ones raised on other threads, but none of the suggestions there are solving it.
We have a main office running SBS 2003R2 and have just opened a small branch office with 6 computers which need to be able to access files on the SBS and connect to Exchange from Outlook. VPN using the Windows XP VPN connection setup has worked well for individual access from home etc., but all the branch office computers need to be able to connect back to the server at the same time, which I understand isnt possible with the PPTP VPN method when theyre all connected through the same router and broadband connection.
The server and branch office both use Netgear DG834G v4 ADSL routers. Following advice on this site Ive been trying to setup a VPN tunnel between the two. Last week this started to work after initial problems and I could ping the server from the branch office, but couldnt connect via name etc. So, yesterday I was just starting to investigate the DNS issues when the VPN tunnel stopped working. Thinking that it might be a problem with the router after a storm overhead had caused it to lose its settings, I replaced it just in case. Still the VPN tunnel wont connect despite apparently having the same settings at both ends as when it was working last week.
The setup is as follows. The main office SBS server has 2 NICs. The internal LAN one has an IP of 192.168.16.2 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The one connected to the ADSL router has a static IP of 195.112.32.218 and the LAN port of the DG834 has a static IP of 195.112.32.217, both with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.248. The WAN static IP is as assigned by the ISP. NAT is disabled on the router.
At the branch office the router has a static WAN IP as assigned by the ISP there. All the computers are connected directly to the router via a switch box with no server. DHCP and NAT enabled. The LAN IP address of the router is 192.168.0.1. subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
The VPN tunnel is setup using the Netgear VPN wizard as follows:
Main office:
Remote VPN Endpoint : the static IP assigned to the branch office by ISP.
Remote LAN: 192.168.0.0 (initially I had put 192.168.0.1 but changed this after reading a thread on this site, which last week caused the tunnel to work). Subnet 255.255.255.0
Local LAN IP: 195.112.32.217 Subnet mask : 255.255.255.248
Branch office:
Remote VPN Endpoint: the static IP assigned to the main office by ISP
Remote LAN: 195.112.32.217. (Should this instead be 195.112.32.0?) Subnet 255.255.255.248
Local LAN: 192.168.0.1 (the LAN IP of the router).
Each router has built-in firewall configured to allow VPN-PPTP (TCP 1723) and VPN-IPSEC (UDP 500)as well as TCP/UDP 3389 and TCP 4125 for remote desktop and RWW.
Can anyone spot why the VPN tunnel isnt working? Are the DG834Gs just not up to the job?
Once Ive got the VPN tunnel working again I still have to sort out the DNS type issues of why I cant see the server folders.
Any advice would be welcomed most gratefully.
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