VPN over PPPoE Crashes when browsing

[dwmtractor]

I use Microsoft VPN--the latest version in DUN 1.4--to establish a VPN connection to an Astaro firewall host on my T-1 at work. The remote connection is over Pacific Bell's PPPoE DSL connection; I've tried it in two locations; one using the EnterNet 400 PPPoE software installed on the machine, and the other using a Netgear router to do the PPPoE connection.

In both cases, I can establish the VPN, ping my remote network, and both telnet and run PCAnywhere connections over it. However, whenever I try to browse over the same connection with IE or Netscape (browsing to pages on an intranet at the host location), the VPN connection (but *not* the PPPoE connection) terminates. Any suggestions as to why this is happening?

Dan

 

[ShovelhEd]

Have you tried lowering the MTU settings?

 

[dwmtractor]

I'm sorry, you're talking beyond my understanding. What are MTU settings and how do you lower them?

 

[ShovelhEd]

dwmtractor,

Hey there. After thinking about it a bit I realise that your Enternet software manages MTU (maximum Trabsmission Unit - How big the frames of data are sent from your PC)and you BEFVP41 should too. Under the advanced settings of your Linksys, one of the tabs (I have forgotten which) allow you to enable MTU. Set it to 1265 and see how it behaves and work your way up. The reason I use 1265 is I saw another post on another board saying that some routers need a really low setting to ensure the connection behaves.

Have you tried enabling Keep alive? On your BEFvp41?

 

[dwmtractor]

It's a Netgear, not a Linksys. I'll check it and see whether this option is available. Remember, though, that the vpn is being established using MS VPN, not the router, and I'm *not* losing my PPPoE connection, just the MS VPN underneath it. For example, if I set up two continuous pings--one to the LAN over the VPN, and another to a public IP address on the internet--and then I try to surf over to my LAN, only the ping to the LAN goes down. . .the ping to the internet keeps right on going happy as you please.

Plus on the other system I'm testing there is no router, just a DSL modem and PPPoE software on the PC, yet the same thing happens.

Tonight I'm gonna plug my Win2K laptop into the Netgear router and see if the same thing happens under W2K; I think it may not, and I'll update the post Monday.

As for your question, what is BEFvp41?

 

[ShovelhEd]

BEFvp41 is a Linksys vpn router.

Sorry about that. I am readig too much... my mind wandered. Thought you had a Linksys router.

I don't know mucha bout M$ vpn tools.

So is your VPN PPTP or L2TP?

Perhaps try another client? The SSH people have a free vpn client for Windows. It is meant to be quite good.

 

[dwmtractor]

I'm trying SSH right now. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong but their configuration and Astaro's are nothing like each other so I think they're talking past each other. So far I'm batting zero getting them to talk to each other.

 

[dwmtractor]

I tested the network this past weekend and I can now confirm--a Windows 2000 computer connected to the same network can browse websites across the VPN without problem, but Windows 98, either first or second edition, get booted off the VPN when they try to hit a website. It must be the Windows VPN client for '98 which is defective.

If anyone knows a registry hack or other modification for W98 VPN I'd love to know about it; I doubt Microsoft would support this with any suggestion other than "upgrade to XP" which is a dumb idea. . .