VPN Performance Issues

[drdon]

I setup a VPN on my firm's Windows NT 4.0 (SP6) Server. I can connect (over DSL) from my W2K workstation without a problem, however network browsing seems incredibly slow. When I map a network drive, performance improves significantly, but applications still run painfully slow. The server uses 6 channels of a T1 for data (384k), and my client has a 640k DSL connection.

The server has a private IP address behind a Netopia R5100 router. GRE and TCP port 1723 are forwarded to the server running RAS.

I am using a LMHOSTS file for name resolution.

Any advice or explaination would be greatly appreciated! I guess its not that hard to just map a network drive, but I really would like to know whats going on to make network browsing so slow.

 

[billhome]

How is your routing? Maybe some static routes would help.

 

[tpsnyder]

Don't know the whole answer. But have a similar problem and have a partial solution.

Am running a remote office and have W98 remote computers connecting to a main office W2K server via a DSL line with a W2K server running NAT and Routing at the remote office.

It can take a couple of minutes to open a large folder for browsing. Have found that the bandwidth use is much less than available but that while the folder being browsed is opened the CPU on the W98 client maxes out. The Server at the main office has all resource use showing low (CPU, memory etc) - its loafing. The work is all being done by the client CPU.

As soon as a folder opens CPU usage drops back off.

I wonder if the problem is browsing, or if it is slow encryption/decryption by VPN.

Tom

tpsnyder@xantrion.com