Re: VPN fails over dial-up after 4 minutes

From: Bryan L (blinton_at_connellinsurance.nospam.com)
Date: 06/14/04 

Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:12:07 -0500

Thanks for the suggestions, although most of them I haven't had a chance to
try yet. I brought the boss's laptop home with me for the weekend to do
further testing. I think I've determined that it's a software issue, but
haven't yet had time to narrow it down further. I did a parallel, clean
install of XP Pro on it, alongside his existing 2k Pro installation. Before
applying any critical updates or installing any software, I established a
VPN connection to the SBS over both broadband and dial-up connections. Both
tested fine with continuous pings for an extended period of time without
problems. The parallell, existing installation of 2k Pro on the same laptop
failed the same test over both broadband and dial-up.

Now all I have to do is apply updates and install applications one at a time
on the clean XP Pro install, testing after each change. Or alternatively, I
could throw msconfig.exe on the 2k installation and selectively disable
startup items to see if that gets me anywhere. Either way, it's
time-consuming to be sure, but it's the only way I'll find the problem. I
hope to god it isn't our mission-critical agency-management database app.

To answer David's question, we aren't running firewall software...just
antivirus software. We'll see if that's involved at all.

I'll post results here.

"David Jones [MSFT]" <dajones@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:OiQ0NZAUEHA.808@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Are there any common networking or firewall/security applications
installed
> on all the machines showing this problem?
> Do any event log errors show up on either the client or the server?
> Also, try doing an "ipconfig /all" on the server - you should see an entry
> called PPP Dial-in adapter. Try running a continuous ping to that IP
> address, and see if you get the same behavior.
>
> One final test to try - if you put one of these laptops on the local LAN,
> and make a manual VPN connection over the internal network, do you see the
> same problem with continuous pings and the eventual unresponsive
connection?
>
> David Jones
> SBS Product Team
>
> --
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
>
>
> "Bryan Linton" <blinton@nospam.connellinsurance.com> wrote in message
> news:%23SPs1QAUEHA.3420@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > We're running SBS 2003 in a domain environment with about 30 users. We
> > began testing VPN access to our network over dial-up for our laptop
users.
> > Our testing methodology:
> >
> > - Boot the laptop while disconnected from the network.
> > - Log the user into his domain user account using cached credentials.
> > - Initiate a dial-up connection to the internet.
> > - Initiate the VPN connection using the shortcut called "Connect to
Small
> > Business Server" (placed on the user's desktop by the client
configuration
> > wizard)
> >
> > So far, all works well. The VPN connection functions as it should, but
> > slowly, of course, since it's dial-up. But about four minutes into the
> > connection, it suddenly becomes unresponsive. The connection does not
> drop
> > (at least, not within the next few minutes; we haven't tested beyond
> that).
> > If we disconnect and reestablish the VPN connection -- using either the
> same
> > dial-up connection or a freshly estabished one; it doesn't seem to make
a
> > difference -- we get another four minutes before it stops responding
> again.
> > I have varied the connection load from almost none to constant, full
> > bandwidth usage, with no difference. If I set a continuous ping to a
node
> > on the internal lan, it replies fine up until four minutes is reached
> (give
> > or take 5-10 seconds). Then, the ping suddenly says, "request timed
out"
> > (note that it does not say, "destination host unreachable".
> >
> > We have tried the same thing from other laptops and desktops within our
> > organization using the same testing methodology. The client OS in all
> cases
> > is either 2000 Pro or XP Pro. We've even wiped a new laptop and done a
> > clean, manual install of XP Pro, freshly installed with the applications
> we
> > use, and no extra fluff. The results are identical.
> >
> > Here's the kicker...if I go home and establish a VPN connection over my
> > broadband connection, it works fine. I used it for a couple of hours
last
> > night and the connection never went south. So at this point, I can only
> > imagine one of two things: either it occurs only with dial-up
connections;
> > or, some common software or service used in our office is contributing
to
> > the problem (I don't have any of the agency software installed at home).
> I
> > plan to test further this weekend by using a dial-up connection at home
to
> > connect.
> >
> > Incidentally, from home I used the "Connect to Small Business Server"
> > method, and a manually configured VPN using XPs built-in VPN
capabilities.
> > No difference.
> >
> > Our network is protected by a SonicWall firewall with 1:1 NAT going to
our
> > SBS.
> >
> > Any help is appreciated...our NT4 Terminal Server is recently no more,
and
> > the owner is NOT happy that our new solution isn't working for him.
Heh,
> > and I'm stumped.
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
> >
> > Bryan
> >
> >
>
>

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