I Can connect...but I can't see the network!

[patch1117197]

Hello. I've been trying to set up a VPN... I got the computers to connect but I can't see any computers in Network Neighborhood. I have turned on file and print sharing for both machines. When i go to the client machine and type in 'ipconfig' i get an address of 192.168.0.101. I try to ping it and i can...but i cannot ping any other addresses....for example my printer which is 192.168.0.24...
my server machine also seems to not be able to browse the network when the client is connected to it...any suggestions? Does it matter that this connection is going through both a router and firewall?

 

[JackMH]

Using 'ipconfig' I would expect to see two (2) IP addresses. One for your LAN connection and one for the VPN connection. What is the network address and subnet mask of the VPN server.

If the address 192.168.0.101 is that assigned by the VPN server. However since you say that your LAN printer address is 192.168.0.24 it would appear that your LAN and VPN network addresses may be identical. This will create a routing problem since all traffic for that network (192.268.0.XXX, assuming a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0) will likely go to the VPN network and not your LAN.

I have a similar setup, however my local LAN network address is 192.168.0.0 and the VPN server LAN is 192.168.100.0 both with subnet masks of 255.255.255.0. As a result there is _no_ conflict when I ping, for example, 192.168.0.24 on the local LAN.

I'm not an expert but I believe that the two network address must not conflict else you will encounter the probem that you have been seeing.

Posting the output from the ipconfig/all and route print commands will help prove (or disprove) my hypothesis.

 

[patch1117197]

Here is the configurations that you asked for...Do you know what I'm doing wrong? I only used PPP dial-up as a test...I want it to work over dsl eventually...Do i just need to change the address of the machine acting as the VPN server?
I have also enable NetBIOS for the PPP Conection...
C:\>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : joe
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com EtherLink 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-01-03-E6-95-1D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.7
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.200
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 204.60.0.2
204.60.0.3

PPP adapter SNET:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 64.252.232.92
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 64.252.232.92
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 204.60.0.2
204.60.0.3
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

PPP adapter CFS:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 204.60.0.2
204.60.0.3

C:\>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x10003 ...00 01 03 e6 95 1d ...... 3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC
Management NIC (3C905C-TX) - Packet Scheduler Miniport
0x60004 ...00 53 45 00 00 00 ...... WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
0x70005 ...00 53 45 00 00 00 ...... WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.101 192.168.0.101 1
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.200 192.168.0.7 20
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 204.60.27.51 204.60.27.51 2
64.252.159.161 255.255.255.255 204.60.27.51 204.60.27.51 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.7 192.168.0.7 20
192.168.0.7 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.0.101 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 50
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.7 192.168.0.7 20
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.101 192.168.0.101 50
204.60.27.51 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 50
204.60.27.255 255.255.255.255 204.60.27.51 204.60.27.51 50
204.60.255.14 255.255.255.255 204.60.27.51 204.60.27.51 1
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.7 192.168.0.7 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.0.101 192.168.0.101 1
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 204.60.27.51 204.60.27.51 2
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.7 192.168.0.7 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.101
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

 

[patch1117197]

Hello again.
This is the configuration of the machine that is acting as the server...The last one was the connecting machine


C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TestVPN
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139(A) PCI Fast Ethernet
Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-7D-D9-D8-D5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.117
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.200
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 204.60.0.2
204.60.0.3

PPP adapter RAS Server (Dial In) Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . :

C:\>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x1000002 ...00 53 45 00 00 00 ...... WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
0x1000003 ...00 e0 7d d9 d8 d5 ...... NDIS 5.0 driver

===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.200 192.168.0.117 1
64.252.233.176 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.200 192.168.0.117 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.117 192.168.0.117 1
192.168.0.101 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.101 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.101 192.168.0.101 1
192.168.0.117 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.117 192.168.0.117 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.0.117 192.168.0.117 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.117 192.168.0.117 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.200
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

 

[JackMH]

You have a more complex setup here than I had imagined, with two PPP adapters, SNET and CFS.I will have to take a close look at the routing tables of the client machins.

I do see a situation from the ipconfig/all printout which may be the cause of the problem.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection
...
IP Address........192.168.0.7
Subnet Mask.......255.255.255.0
...

This is normal and specifies that all addresses within the range 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 belong to your local LAN.

PPP adapter CFS

IP Address........192.168.0.101
Subnet Mask.......1255.255.255.255
...

This appears to be the IP address assigned to you by the VPN server. The subnet mask 255.255.255.255 is unexpected and indicates, I think, that that is the _only_ machine that can be reached on that subnet which would explain why you cannot reach machines on the VPN LAN.

Is it possible to setup your local LAN to have, for example a network address of 192.168.100.0 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 (same as now) and your specific machine as 192.168.100.7 instead of 192.168.0.7. In addition all machines on your LAN would need to be changed to addresses within the range 192.168.100.1 to 192.168.100.254. (I hope that you don't have too many machines !. This would be much simplified if you had a DHCP server running somewhere on your LAN)
If it is possible to reconfigure your local LAN then I recommend that you try it, since there would no longer be a conflict between your local LAN which would have the 192.168.100.0 network address and the network that the VPN is a part of would retain the network address of 192.168.0.0.

 

[patch1117197]

I dont think that I can change all of my machines...We have to many of them. My layout goes like this ISP--->Firewall--->Router--->Computers.

My Firewall's LAN addresses are 192.168.1.X,
My Routers LAN addresses are 192.168.0.X,

I was thinking of putting the server between the router and firewall and assigning it an 192.168.1.X address... would it still be able to communicate with the machines which are NAT'ed behind the router? If i put it on 192.168.1.X the subnets will be the same and they should be abl;e to communicate right?

 

[patch1117197]

That didn't work...i can't see the machine through the router...

Any ideas?

 

[JackMH]

You could try it but I don't think that it will work.

I did speak with a network guru who is far more knowledgeable than I and he told me that "when a client connects to a VPN server it is quite normal, and even desirable for the LAN of which the client is always a member (local LAN) to be inaccessible" which is what you were encountering when you could not ping your printer at 192.168.0.24. (I assume that the printer is on your local LAN). To me this makes no sense from a usefulness viewpoint but I can understand that it could occur with identical network addresses since it creates a routing ambiguity. I might be possible to choose subnet masks for the two interfaces on the client machine (192.168.0.101 and 192.168.0.7) if the range of assigned IP addresses on the VPN server LAN and your local LAN do not conflict. Is it possible to let me know what those IP addresses are.


When you said that"We have to many of them" (machines) were you refering to the client or server LAN side ?

 

[patch1117197]

I connected to the Windows 2000 machine that was acting as the server again...I tried with NetBeui....I can ping it, i can use the command net send to send it information....i can do pretty much anything but see the shared files on it? Does anyone have any suggestions? i also tried mapping right to its ip and that didnt work either....