Router Problem

[Tecpos]

Hi,

I wonder if one of the network gurus can help me out with this problem.
I've been lucky enough to have been granted access to my companys network by means of a vpn connection.
The client used is SafeNet SoftRemoteLT & I am connecting via my blueyonder cable connection.
I am also using a Linksys BEFSR81 router.

Here's the problem,

If I hook my laptop direct to my cable modem, bypassing the router then my vpn works perfectly, however, if I connect via the router I experience some difficulty.

In the main, I use 3 basic applications, MS Outlook, VNC (Remote control software) & Power Term (A microvax terminal emmulator). None of these applications work correctly when connected via the router.

MS Outlook,

The first email I try to open fails with the message that the exchange server is not responding. Subsequent emails open OK but I cannot send any email & always get the message about the exchange server being unavailable.

Power Term,

I can connect to the host at head office, then out to cusomers host, but shortly after connecting to customer the session stops responding. The application has not crashed, but the data stream seems to have stopped.

VNC

When connecting to VNC server at HO I can make the connection, & enter the password but the desktop of the remote machine never appears.

I have tried all the advise on the Linksys web site & updated Windows XP with a fix for NAT devices, however the documentation for SafeNet SoftRemoteLT says it is fully compatible with NAT's

I'm thinking that maybe specific ports need to be forwarded on the router.

Any help/advise/suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks.

[Gunnzie]

Does your router support VPN ? (e.g. IPSec Passthru, PPTP ?)

[Gunnzie]

Just asked a colleague who reckons that router you mention had quite a few VPN problems in early firmwares.

Have you tried upgrading to latest firmare for the router ?

[Gunnzie]

Also try :

1. Port forwarding port 500 + 1723
2. Changing the DHCP range on the Linksys from 192.168.X.x to 192.168.Y.x (in case there is currently a conflict when using VPN)

[Tecpos]

Thanks for your replies tridion,

The router supports & I have enabled IPSec Pass through & PPTP Pass Through.

I believe I am on the latest firmware 2.44.2z (Recently flashed)

Did the port triggering thing as suggested on Linksys web site also

Have also tried the LAN IP port range change. Linksys site suggested 192.168.254.1

I think i'll have another go & put these settings back in (I cleared them out when they didn't work first time)

I don't think I rebooted my router after I put these settings in before. Do you know if the setting changes are dynamic or should you reboot ?

[Gunnzie]

Its always recommended to reboot routers after changes even if they say its not neccessary.

[Gunnzie]

You may also need to investigate the VPN setup at your business' end. Do they allow connection via alternate clients ? which is effectively what you are doing when the router is added.

[Tecpos]

Ok thanks. i'll re enter the port forwarding settings & re-boot the router.
If that fails. I'll take it up with my I.T. manager.
I have got an e-mail querry outstanding with linksys tecsupport, so if they provide any useful info i'll post it back.

[Tecpos]

Just to let you know I've got it sorted. Spent ages reading lots of knowledge base articles on linksys site, some with only a vauge relevance to my problem.
Anyhow, lots of problems seemed to be down to the router MTU setting, so I disabled it on the filters page & Voila, works like a dream.

The default MTU is 1492 which is too high.

Does anyone know if disabling this setting will have an effect on my general internet connection ?