LAN printing via TCP/IP while connected to VPN 1

[khiatt]

Windows 2000 Pro laptop uses Contivity VPN client software to connect to remote site, through a D-Link wireless DSL router.

We also have a D-Link wireless print server connected to the parallel port of our laser printer.

Disconnecting/reconnecting the VPN client to print is not practical.

Is there a workaround that will allow the laptop to print through our LAN print server via TCP/IP while connected to the VPN?

 

[1911man]

You could print while connected to the VPN if your VPN switch was set to do Split-tunneling. There may be another work around but I don't know one.

 

[khiatt]

Thanks for the response!

By VPN switch do you mean the D-Link router?

I've heard that VPN's can be configured to access a local LAN as well, but I can't find a way to do that with the Contivity VPN Client software. Can I change the router table to do this?

We got no help from Nortel, or from the company providing the VPN, since we have an "unsupported" configuration.

Thanks again...

 

[Jephph]

I've heard of folks working around this issue by using Netbeui bound to the workstation's NIC. Haven't tried it myself, but from what I've heard, it works.
Most admins won't turn on split-tunneling for you (because of valid security concerns), so that's most likely not an option for you.

 

[khiatt]

Sounds like we're narrowing this down:

The D-Link Print Server is connected to the printers parallel port, and uses TCP/IP only.

Can I bind NetBEUI to her wireless card (which is also the one used by the VPN connection), or do I need to bind NetBEUI to her built-in NIC/RJ45 connection?

Thanks for help!

khiatt

 

[Jephph]

I didn't read your first post carefully enough -- The NetBeui option would only work if you had a computer hosting the printer (via LPT1 or USB). It seems to me that the only choice that you have is to either limp thru what your doing today or probe your admin people on the possiblity of enabling split tunneling on the VPN concentrator.

 

[khiatt]

Now that we have exhausted all of the most complex options, the simplest one has been revealed...

The printer has both a parallel and USB port, but the manual stated that having both ports cabled at the same time would cause a conflict. A call to tech support reveals that this is NOT the case, so we ordered a long USB cable to try out.

Thanks anyway...

Kemp