Connected Via VPN. Now what?? 2

[DoocesWild22]

Hi, My friend and I have decided to try and connect via VPN to each other to access data. We both have WindowsXP Pro and are both behind routers. My router is a D-Link Wireless router, his is a Linksys router. I have set up a virtual server (I beleive that this is forwarding) for ports 500 and 1723 to my machine's IP address.

My friend can connect to me from his computer, I see him on my connections in my Network Connections, and I see his connection in my system tray. We are both on MSHOME workgroup. How can we find each other's computers? Does he need to open any ports on his router? Why can't we see each other's computers and files? Thanks a million!

 

[MattWray]

Have you shared any files yet? Once connected, try Start-> Run-> \\<yourfriendsmachineIP>\c$ and see if you are prompted for a password...

Thanks,

Matt Wray

GFH

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[DoocesWild22]

No, I hadn't tried that yet. I didn't know that was how to connect to each other. Do I connect to his external or his internal IP address?

 

[MattWray]

If you are connected to the VPN, his internal. That above is how you connect to the default administrative share. If he shares his files or his C drive, you should be able to browse through Net Places. You may need to add his IP and hostname to your Hosts file. It can be found here, C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC. Edit it with notepad. The syntax and an example are in the file...

Thanks,

Matt Wray

GFH

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[DoocesWild22]

I don't have that directory in my system. I'm using WinXP Pro. Also, do I need to type in the \c$ from your first post?

 

[MattWray]

You may need to show hidden files and folders. From within Explorer, Tools-> Folder Options-> View, and click Show hidden files and folders...

Thanks,

Matt Wray

GFH

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[yobri]

I have a Linksys 54G connected to a Linksys B..41 and the connection always stays up and never has a problem. My problem was in the static routes on each side of the router. Make sure you set those up or you won't be able to ping anything from router to router because it doesn't know where the destination is. Make sure when you set up the static routes that you use the ISP Gateway address for the outgoing network...

Example....
Network 1
192.168.1.0
On internet IP ADDRESS xx.xx.xx.89 and internet IP gateway xx.xx.xx.94.

Network 2
192.168.2.0
On internet IP ADDRESS xx.xx.xx.200 and internet IP gateway xx.xx.xx.95.

if a PC on Network 1 wants to PING a PC on Network 2 a static route must exist on the router on Network 1 that has a Network address of 192.168.2.0 a subnet of 255.255.255.0 and a gateway of xx.xx.xx.89 (not the gateway of Network 2 but the OUTGOING gateway)

Then you would do the reverse on the router at Network 2. YOu can then ping network IP addresses (192.168.x.x) on both sides of your network.

If you want to see Netbios names then simply add the addresses and names to your LMHOSTS file in your ...system32\config\etc\ directory.

I spent like a week solid jacking around with this thing to finally get it going. IT CAN BE DONE!!!!

 

[DoocesWild22]

Thank you yobri, that is very helpful. I will try this next time I have some time.