Cannot browse internet when VPN is active

go to the properties of your VPN connection
networking tab
properties of TCP/IP
advanced
Check box use default gateway

you mean UN-check the default gateway!

> you mean UN-check the default gateway!

Right. By default it is checked. By checking it again it will then be unchecked. Sorry I did not make that more clear.

JamesTX10

Yes, uncheck...... the problem is a VPN like a Cisco PIX can not send traffic out the same interface it came in on.

It all comes down to whether you want them to be able to access the internet through their own connection seperate from the VPN traffic or if you want to route the internet traffic THROUGH the vpn connection.

By default, when you create a VPN connection, your VPN connection is set up as your default gateway when it is connected unchecking the default gateway in your VPN settings, as JamesTX10 said, will keep your original default gateway (local modem dsl/cable). This means that only traffic bound for the subnet on which your VPN is a part of will go there and all other traffic will go to you normal internet connection.

This can be good or bad. If they need access to other things across the VPN that gets routed within your office, you will have a problem as all traffic will try and route out your local default gateway.

>>> the problem is a VPN like a Cisco PIX can not send traffic out the same interface it came in on

Right, but it wouldn't have to.  The home PC goes directly to the internet for internet destinations and thru the tunnel for VPN access to corporate network.  Whether or not that is allowed is determined by the PIX admin by enabling split-tunnelling or not.  WGhen

It is definately best that they get internet access from the office network. Check for issues at that point, when accessing the VPN and successfully connected to the office network, check the internal addresses they are getting from network when connected to VPN. Make sure they can contact the proxy when conected to the office network.

Thanks for the reponses, I have unchecked the default gateway option as suggested and it didn't work. Will look at the router options later when users are off.

Also what I do is to add the machines I want to access in the host file under %WINDIR%/system32/drivers/etc/hosts so that traffic is directed down the VPN and never tries to go out your cable/dsl gateway. This is good for when you have a multihomed server that resolves on the outside or reaching your exchange server.