From: velo.wrench@verizon.net.part3of2   
      
   Dear VPN Fans,   
      
   I have a fairly complex VPN issue that is dropping connections and I don't   
   know where to turn next. Any insights are greatly appreciated. Please   
   respond to the list rather than to me personally.   
      
   Short story: I can connect my two machines over a VPN, the connection will   
   only stay up for a short period of time (anywhere from 10 seconds, to 10   
   minutes.)   
      
   Scenario:   
      
   Machine A (VPN Client): Windows XP Home with wireless LAN card.   
   Machine B (VPN Server): Windows XP Pro with 100mb wired connection.   
      
   Connection Details:   
   Machine A connects to a wireless linksys firewalled broadband router.   
   Firewalled router connects to Westall DSL Modem connected to the Verizon   
   Network.   
      
   Machine B connects to a 3COM 12 port hub.   
   3COM 12 port hub connects to linksys firewalled router.   
   linksys firewalled router connects to Westall DSL moden connected to the   
   Verizon Network.   
      
   Firewalled router has the port corresponding to PPTP opened. I have also   
   opened the SQL Server listenening port and the IPSec port.   
      
   Machine B has a VPN server side connection configured with 8 IP addresses   
   reserved.   
      
   Machine B has a DNS entry maintained at DYNDNS.ORG that points to the IP   
   address of the Westall modem. So address resolution from a dynamic IP   
   address isn' a problem.   
      
   I have verified that the IP address is not changing when the drop occurs.   
      
   Machine A connects to Machine B just fine. I can map a drive using the   
   server machine VPN IP address. I can move small files between Machine A and   
   Machine B.   
      
   The connection will not stay up for more than a couple of minutes.   
      
   I have SQL Server running on machine B. I can run the client side on Machine   
   A after the connection is made and sucessfully open the data base.   
      
   Any major SQL update transaction fails with any number of timeout based   
   error messages. Any attemt to move a file of significant size fails with a   
   variety of file based error messages. In both instances, the connection is   
   always lost. Double clicking on the connection will always restore the   
   connection. However, subsequent operations will still fail.   
      
   I'm able to map a drive letter on Machine A to file share on machine B using   
   the \\ip_address\sharename convention where the ip_address is the ip_address   
   of the server side VPN connection.   
      
   I connect to the SQL database by specifying the ip_address of the server   
   side VPN connection.   
      
   If I use a different machine in the place of Machine A, I have a D-Link   
   wireless ethernet bridge connecting a 4 port hub to the wireless firewall   
   connection and have the same results.   
      
   Yet a 3rd machine at a different location is able to connect to the VPN   
   Server and maintain an active connection long enough to download a file,   
   however, if the application (Quickbooks) tries to work on the file over the   
   connection, it will drop the connection in the same manner as Machine A. In   
   this case the VPN client connects over Comcast Cable.   
      
   I've tried to simplify the entire configuration by just making the   
   connection and then pinging -t to the server side VPN IP_address and the   
   IP_address of the server side LAN IP_address.   
      
   I notice that the response time is generally in the 42ms range, however,   
   there is an occasional packet that has a reponse time of over 2000ms. These   
   happen about once every 10 seconds. About once every 30 seconds I get a   
   request timed out message, and about once every 3 minutes, the connection   
   just drops with a general failure message from ping.   
      
   Any ideas on how to proceed in debugging this drop issue? Verizon won't help   
   at all claiming that they don't support VPN unless you buya static IP and a   
   business account. I tried to point out that VPN is just a protocol running   
   over TCP/IP and that if they support TCP/IP and WindowsXP, then this is a   
   problem that they need to look at.   
      
   Is it possible that Verizon breaks the conection when they detect VPN   
   protocols on home accounts?   
      
   DIYGuy   
      
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