Remote Desktop disconnected when restoring minimized window

[PPettit]

My users keep experiencing a problem with their Remote Desktop clients. They will lose connection to the server in as little as a minute after minimizing the client. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen every single time and it doesn't happen after a specific period of time. Sometimes, the connection is automatically restored when they switch back to the client. However, they usually just get the following error message and have to log in again:

The connection to the remote computer was broken. This may have been caused by a network error. Please try connecting to the remote computer again.

I'm running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Terminal Server. My router is a Xincom DPG-503 dual WAN router with cable and DSL connections. The problem is experienced no matter which WAN port they connect to.

My workstations are a mix of WinXP and Win2k. The users with the problem are at remote offices in other cities and reach the server via DSL and various wireless Internet connections. If I remember correctly, all of their routers are Linksys BEFSX41's. The users on the same LAN as the server don't experience this broken connection problem. I can connect from my house over my DSL line and the connection will never die no matter how long I keep the client minimized.

I've tried using the info provided at this link:

http://terminal.servebeer.com/php/flaky_connections.php

Nothing has changed so far.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[D2C]

Check the connection timeout in your router.
Did you connect through port 3389 and application ts?

 

[PPettit]

On the NAT configuration screen, I have the following line:
TCP Timeout 300 seconds UDP Timeout 120 seconds
Is this what you're referring to?

I have TCP port 3389 forwarded to my server.

 

[defekt]

I've seen this problem happen for some of our users that remote out to other TS locations not controlled by us. Sorry I don't have an answer for you, but just an FYI, you are not the only person that has this issue.

 

[PPettit]

Yeah, I've been able to find a few other similar posts around the Internet. I just keep hoping that someone has figured out what's going on.

One thing I've been thinking about is this "keepalive" stuff. Every post I've read usually suggests configuring "keepalive" settings on the server. Why not configure keepalive settings on the client as well? If the minimized Remote Desktop client could send something like a ping to the server on a regular basis, maybe the connection would keep working.

Another thing I've been wondering about is why you never find out that the connection is broken until you restore the client window. It's seems like the server and minimized client don't bother trying to communicate until the client requests a screen refresh.

One of these days, I'm going to have to set up a traffic monitor/packet sniffer on one of those remote machines and see if I can come up with anything new.