VPN problem - connection not stable

[Wisi]

there are different threads for that but they are too old, no new information in here.

so the question: which firmware does support vpn connections longer than 1-2 minutes.

some said 1.7.6.5 cr2 from oleg does or the other fixed firmware from a user in here which is not available any more at his server.

and there is also the new firmware 1.8.1.9 from asus: someone tested the vpn problem with this one?

i am running official firmware 1.7.6.5 in the current location and all is workin except the vpn.

[Antiloop]

there are different threads for that but they are too old, no new information in here.

so the question: which firmware does support vpn connections longer than 1-2 minutes.

some said 1.7.6.5 cr2 from oleg does or the other fixed firmware from a user in here which is not available any more at his server.

and there is also the new firmware 1.8.1.9 from asus: someone tested the vpn problem with this one?

i am running official firmware 1.7.6.5 in the current location and all is workin except the vpn.

if you have a testserver to login for me I can test it for you with custom 1.8.1.7pre3 firmware

[Styno]

I am currently in a test phase with VPN to my company. Tonight's the last test hopefully. I will report how it's going.

[Wisi]

if you have a testserver to login for me I can test it for you with custom 1.8.1.7pre3 firmware

not the connection from a client behind an asus wl-500g is the problem. the other way round is the problem. to connect to a vpn server behind wl-500g.

so, i can test it on my own, the problem is which firmware is workin

[Wisi]

I am currently in a test phase with VPN to my company. Tonight's the last test hopefully. I will report how it's going.

some new knowledges?

[Styno]

some new knowledges?

Yes, VPN is working fine right out of the box using firmware 1.7.5.9 CR5.

I can use internal web- and mailservers of my company. Im having some problems browsing the network though.... netbios mostly. But that can be a server config problem as well.

So outbound VPN works, don't know if you can create a VPN connection to a local server behind the Asus router though.

[Wisi]

Yes, VPN is working fine right out of the box using firmware 1.7.5.9 CR5.

I can use internal web- and mailservers of my company. Im having some problems browsing the network though.... netbios mostly. But that can be a server config problem as well.

So outbound VPN works, don't know if you can create a VPN connection to a local server behind the Asus router though.

outbound was workin here, too, but the question is still if the inbound problem was solved or not

[Jeroen Vonk]

Yes, VPN is working fine right out of the box using firmware 1.7.5.9 CR5.

I can use internal web- and mailservers of my company. Im having some problems browsing the network though.... netbios mostly. But that can be a server config problem as well.

To be able to browse the network on a single segment you need a browse master. Usually the most "powerfull" Windows version is elected as the browse master. (check your event log, you will see entries about re-election a master browser after a Windows machine is switched on.)

If you also want to browse other segments, then you need a WINS server. If all computers use the same WINS server, they should all be able to browse the network. A little more complicated, but less bandwith consuming is using a WINS server on each segment. All changes are replicated to each WINS server, and local client query the local WINS server for name resolution. Although it is possible to use the Asus AP as a WINS server (nmbd is included in the customized firmware) I believe it is not possible to let a Linux WINS server replicate with a Windows WINS server. A big advantage of using WINS servers is that you can open computers on all segments using their netbios name, without WINS you should specify the FQDN or IP address to be able to access them.

So outbound VPN works, don't know if you can create a VPN connection to a local server behind the Asus router though.

It is possible to create a connection with a VPN server behind a NAT firewall, but the firewall must be able to not only redirect TCP port 1723 but also IP protocol 47. (note that this is not the same as TCP or UDP port 47!)

Which device builds the VPN connection with your company VPN server? The Asus AP or a computer behind on your local private network? And is it a tunnel or point-to-point? If it is the Asus AP in tunnel mode, could you send me your config? I was already thinking of doing this, but it's a lot easier if someone else already did this

[Styno]

Hey Jeroen, you show off some impressive network skills here

I've setup a VPN connection from my laptop Windows XP Professional SP1) on a local network behind the WL-500g and connected to my company's network by using the 'Network Connection Wizard' and then selecting 'Connect to a business network'. No special knowledge required here , the router is configured as gateway with internet firewall enabled.

I have not a clue on what you mean by tunnel of point-to-point connection...

[Styno]

outbound was workin here, too, but the question is still if the inbound problem was solved or not

I don't think inbound will work. Like Jeroen said: you need to open some ports and forward all traffic which has a specific IP protocol (not TCP/IP or UDP/IP, but H.323 I think). There are no iptables rules defined on my router which do this. Also I believe you need a special kernel module (GRE) for that. There's another topic on that matter around here in this forum...

[Jeroen Vonk]

Hey Jeroen, you show off some impressive network skills here

Thanx

I've setup a VPN connection from my laptop Windows XP Professional SP1) on a local network behind the WL-500g and connected to my company's network by using the 'Network Connection Wizard' and then selecting 'Connect to a business network'. No special knowledge required here

Too bad I was hoping someone already tried to use the Asus AP as a client like the Cisco 3002 hardware client. I already checked but unfortunaly the pppd doesn't have MPPE support, so as far as I know it's not possible with the current customized firmware. (but hey, if we are really lucky the 1.8.x version customized firmware is likely to be released this weekend, so maybe..... ) If it is not already included I think I will try to do so.

So "solve" your browsing problem, it's pretty easy to be able to browse the network if you are using a VPN client on your Windows XP machine. Can you change the network settings on your company network? If you want to I can help you to configure it so everything works....

[Styno]

Too bad I was hoping someone already tried to use the Asus AP as a client like the Cisco 3002 hardware client. I already checked but unfortunaly the pppd doesn't have MPPE support, so as far as I know it's not possible with the current customized firmware. (but hey, if we are really lucky the 1.8.x version customized firmware is likely to be released this weekend, so maybe..... ) If it is not already included I think I will try to do so.

Why do you need such a solution? The method described above by me works allready... But if you really need it, there might be a problem with the performance of the MIPS processor in the WL-500g (only 82 BogoMips) which is probably not enough for a decent VPN connection. This is, AFAIK, also the reason why a lot of other hardware routers don't have this functionality. Some of the newer, faster routers have been reported to support VPN tunnels (or was it point-to-point, ah well ) though.

So "solve" your browsing problem, it's pretty easy to be able to browse the network if you are using a VPN client on your Windows XP machine. Can you change the network settings on your company network? If you want to I can help you to configure it so everything works....

The server is a slackware Linux box with Webmin running on it. The systemadministrator is my coworker and thats why I'm testing it. I'll let him read your post and I think we can figure it out then. Otherwise I'll let you know *thumbs-up-smiley*

[Jeroen Vonk]

Why do you need such a solution? The method described above by me works allready... But if you really need it, there might be a problem with the performance of the MIPS processor in the WL-500g (only 82 BogoMips) which is probably not enough for a decent VPN connection. This is, AFAIK, also the reason why a lot of other hardware routers don't have this functionality. Some of the newer, faster routers have been reported to support VPN tunnels (or was it point-to-point, ah well ) though.

Absolutely true But I think it's fun to have it all working, that's all..... Besides it could be pretty usefull for small companies with small branch affices to have a cheap VPN solution. A Cisco PIX 501 firewall has a 133 MHz AMD SC520 (AM5x86) processor which is capable of a little more than 3 Mbps over a single tunnel. (168 bit 3DES IPsec which is more CPU hungry than MPPE) So I think the Asus WL500g will do just fine....

[Technik]

there are different threads for that but they are too old, no new information in here.

so the question: which firmware does support vpn connections longer than 1-2 minutes.

some said 1.7.6.5 cr2 from oleg does or the other fixed firmware from a user in here which is not available any more at his server.

and there is also the new firmware 1.8.1.9 from asus: someone tested the vpn problem with this one?

i am running official firmware 1.7.6.5 in the current location and all is workin except the vpn.

1.7.6.5? Suppose you mean 1.7.5.6...
No wonder you have some problems with VPN then...
FYI this problem was discussed here already 5 months ago:
http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=403
So the solution is simple - just upgrade the firmware a bit. Otherwise use Windows 95 as a client OS - then VPN works fine even with this old firmware.

[Styno]

Technik, Wisi wants to connect to a VPN server on the LAN side of WL-500g from WAN. Do you think this is possible with 1.7.5.9 CR2 and up?