rauladan
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SBS 2003 Connection Manager uses IP of NIC as gateway
I have acquired a client who has SBS 2003. On a remote office, they have two computers connecting remotely using the SBS 2003 Connection Manager and the ip of the PPP connector only shows the NIC IP and the subnet (this was setup by someone else). I setup a new computer and used the connection manager to create a connection to the server but I am always getting the gateway to be the NIC IP. Therefore, I can't even ping the server. Find enclosed a document with the IP's on the local computer. I have tried from other two remote computers (different location) and I also tried it using a different SBS 2003 server (different location). I get the same results. I really don't know what I am doing wrong.
The PPP IP will always be the IP of the NIC or 0.0.0.0 depending how the "use default remote gateway" is set. This setting is not available with the connection manager.
Regardless the issue is likely the site from which you are connecting and the site to which you are connecting are both using 192.168.1.x as their local subnets. This will not work. All network segments between host and client must be different for routing to take place. This is why it is important to use less common subnets at the server site.
Your only option is to change the subnet used at the client or server site. If you want to change the server site please advise as this has to be done very carefully with SBS 2003
Regardless the issue is likely the site from which you are connecting and the site to which you are connecting are both using 192.168.1.x as their local subnets. This will not work. All network segments between host and client must be different for routing to take place. This is why it is important to use less common subnets at the server site.
Your only option is to change the subnet used at the client or server site. If you want to change the server site please advise as this has to be done very carefully with SBS 2003
Sorry above "the issue is likely" should read "the issue is"
For example when you try to connect to 192.168.1.3 your local router says "that is my subnet" and therefore does not forward the packet.
For example when you try to connect to 192.168.1.3 your local router says "that is my subnet" and therefore does not forward the packet.
ASKER
I wonder how the other two computers are working fine and they are also using the same connection manager. Again, I didn't set those up but they work fine and they don't show a gateway when I look at the ip configuration. My question is how were the other two computers configured that they don't show a gateway? If I could figure that out, I think that I will be OK.
ASKER
Of course I can use a VPN instead of SBS Connection Manager but from what I read, the sbs is much faster and you are able to browse folders.
The other users probably have home networks that use a different subnet such as 192.168.2.x
This is a very common problem. In order for a packet to be routed it must belong to a different subnet than your local subnet. Therefore the local and remote subnets have to be different, as does every subnet in-between, but the internet uses non private addressing so there are no conflicts. Private addresses are 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, and 172.16-31.x.x
As a result any VPN server site on which you plan to set up a VPN should use a subnet that is not similar to all the home router defaults. Thus when setting up the server you should avoid:
192.168.0.x, 192.168.1.x, 192.168.2.x, 10.0.0.x, 10.10.10.x, 172.16.0.x
Choosing a server site subnet of 192.168.1.x means no one connecting from a site using the same subnet can connect. Many hotels, internet cafe's, and homes use the defaults.
A default install of SBS will use 192.168.16.0 for this reason. Somebody changed this when setting up your SBS and network to match the existing router, rather than changing the router.
In some cases you can actually connect to the server itself, but no other device. Sometimes if the "use default remote gateway" is enabled, which is by default with the connection manager, it forces all traffic to the SBS, but only if the server uses 1 NIC, and it does not always work.
>>"Of course I can use a VPN instead of SBS Connection Manager but from what I read, the sbs is much faster and you are able to browse folders"
Connecting to the same site? The different subnet rule applies to any VPN, or routing for that matter.
I doubt the connection manager is much faster, it does however have the built-in required information to allow the client to have proper name resolution. If that is an issue with your other client you can fix that by adding to the virtual/VPN adapter the SBS as the DNS server and adding the domain suffix to the advanced DNS properties of the client.
This is a very common problem. In order for a packet to be routed it must belong to a different subnet than your local subnet. Therefore the local and remote subnets have to be different, as does every subnet in-between, but the internet uses non private addressing so there are no conflicts. Private addresses are 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, and 172.16-31.x.x
As a result any VPN server site on which you plan to set up a VPN should use a subnet that is not similar to all the home router defaults. Thus when setting up the server you should avoid:
192.168.0.x, 192.168.1.x, 192.168.2.x, 10.0.0.x, 10.10.10.x, 172.16.0.x
Choosing a server site subnet of 192.168.1.x means no one connecting from a site using the same subnet can connect. Many hotels, internet cafe's, and homes use the defaults.
A default install of SBS will use 192.168.16.0 for this reason. Somebody changed this when setting up your SBS and network to match the existing router, rather than changing the router.
In some cases you can actually connect to the server itself, but no other device. Sometimes if the "use default remote gateway" is enabled, which is by default with the connection manager, it forces all traffic to the SBS, but only if the server uses 1 NIC, and it does not always work.
>>"Of course I can use a VPN instead of SBS Connection Manager but from what I read, the sbs is much faster and you are able to browse folders"
Connecting to the same site? The different subnet rule applies to any VPN, or routing for that matter.
I doubt the connection manager is much faster, it does however have the built-in required information to allow the client to have proper name resolution. If that is an issue with your other client you can fix that by adding to the virtual/VPN adapter the SBS as the DNS server and adding the domain suffix to the advanced DNS properties of the client.
ASKER
Thank you for all of your effort and explanation. What I was referring to about the other two PC's was that in the same office where I am trying to setup this computer, we already have another two computers connecting to the server using the Sbs Connection Manager and it works perfectly fine. That is when I looked at those two PC's and I saw that they don't have a gateway or DNS (only an IP and subnet). How was that other individual able to accomplish this? Also, why my is my PPP gateway the same IP address of my NIC? I will go there today and change the subnet and get back to you. Thank you again. I appreciate it very much.
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ASKER
I totally forgot that this question was still open. Your instructions were so clear. As soon as I changed the remote location subnet IP to a different number, everything worked perfectly. Again, thank you for your help. I would have not been able to get it done without your help.
ASKER
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Netw
tion
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-D2-B0-1C-7F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.103
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.74.166
68.87.68.166
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, March 25, 2010 7:57:55 A
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 26, 2010 7:57:55 AM
PPP adapter Connect to Small Business Server:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : cpt.local
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.106
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.106
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3