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LiquidHappyRDM

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Issues with Exchange

I am having an issue with Exchange where remote people connect to our VPN and then try to get into their mailbox and get the error message saying that networking problems are prohibiting connection to exchange server.  When they try to get to their mailbox through webmail the page just hangs and never comes up.  They are able to ping the exchange server with success.  They are also able to connect to all their shares and pull files from the server.  None of the people on site are having the issue either.  I looked at the server and everything seems to be green light.  I am now thinking it is issues with our parent company's VPN that we use.  Could someone please point me in the right direction?
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dumbo2569

Sounds to me like a firewall is blocking your traffic. This might help you.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q310298&
If one of the remote user's computers is brought in to the LAN, do these problems still occur?  
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ASKER

no, I had one guy ship his machine back and when I bring it on the LAN it works just fine.  I checked the machine for firewall software and there is none and windows firewall was disabled as well.
Well, it's definitely something being blocked on the VPN then.  What handle the VPN?  i.e. is it directly into a Windows server, or via a security router, or what?
unfortunately that I do not know.  It is our parent company's vpn that we are using.  I just really wanted to know if I should call them and let them know there is a problem with their VPN or if I should start doing some more troubleshooting on this end.
I agree with purplepomegranite that all the signs point to your VPN. Make sure the users are on an ACL that has full access to your exchange server.

Try to run the portquery tool from an affected machine through the VPN. Check for TCP Ports 135, 139 and UDP ports 137, 138. Those are the main ports that MS Exchange uses.

Check out this site. It has a listing of more ports that Exchange might use.
http://www.petri.co.il/ports_used_by_exchange.htm



I would call them and explain the problem, certainly.  If they control the VPN, they should be able to help isolate the problem.

Once you have proved that it is the VPN that is the deciding factor (which by bringing the remote computer in you have done), you need to look into that.
Sorry. I'm doing too many things at once and I've ended up confusing myself. Disregard the information I posted about TCP ports 135-139. Those are RPC and NetBIOS ports..
It actually turned out to be a problem with the windows hotfix KB893066.  After uninstalling the hotfix it worked like a champ again. Yay for Microsoft!
Wow, that's one for the record.  Now you've got to accept your own answer ;)
LiquidHappyRDM found the solution himself, so points should be refunded.
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modulo

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