OT - DSL, Routers & VPNs

[PBBPaul]

I've had DSL for a couple of years now. I have a cheap Belkin router, three wired PCs, a wireless access point and 2 wireless PCs.

 

I've had no problem with any of this at all until recently. My wife is working out of our home and when she accesses her corporate HQ via VPN, she gets dropped after about 10 min. She has to totally disconnect and reconnect to reestablish the connection. I've had a similar problem when accessing my own office through a Citrix VPN but mine will reconnect automatically. We can connect to the internet with no problems.

 

I've pretty much narrowed it down to my router. It only has problems when using VPNs.

 

Anybody have any suggestions? I'm willing to replace the router with a better one. Anybody have any recommendations for a good home office router? Anybody experienced with VPNs?

[Dylan]

Check Belkin for a Firmware update. I've seen tons of VPN issues that were fixed by firmware updates including the exact issue you are having.

[PBBPaul]

There have been no firmware updates. I wish it was that easy.

 

I'm looking at a Linksys VPN router BEFSX41. Any opinions?

[Dylan]

The Linksys stuff is topnotch! Ever since Cisco bought them up the quality of their products has been fantastic. They also provide steady firmware updates. The BEFSX41 is a nice non-wireless router, but for the same price you can get a Wireless G router with a 4-port switch and have an all-in-one setup. Technically, this is not a VPN router since it is only supporting VPN pass thru. This product is a true VPN router, FWIW.

[Jon Doe]

Just for giggles, you do have the "keep alive" turned on, right?

[PBBPaul]

Originally posted by Jon Doe:

Just for giggles, you do have the "keep alive" turned on, right?

Yes I do.

[PBBPaul]

Originally posted by Dylan:

The Linksys stuff is topnotch! Ever since Cisco bought them up the quality of their products has been fantastic. They also provide steady firmware updates. The BEFSX41 is a nice non-wireless router, but for the same price you can get a Wireless G router with a 4-port switch and have an all-in-one setup. Technically, this is not a VPN router since it is only supporting VPN pass thru. This product is a true VPN router, FWIW.

I shouldn't need a true VPN router since my wife has the VPN client software on her PC, right?. VPN pass-through should, I think, be OK. Otherwise, Linksys has the BEFVP41.

 

Thank you for your help BTW, it's much appreciated.

[Dylan]

Originally posted by PBBPaul:

I shouldn't need a true VPN router since my wife has the VPN client software on her PC, right?

Exactly! I have no issues staying on my company's VPN from home for hours on end using my standard Wireless B Linksys Router.

[AudioMaverick]

I seem to recall an issue with the AT&T VPN software (can't remember who bought them). The 10-minute timeout is suspicious of the VPN Tunnel server not tracking your time. IP address of 192.168.x.x are not internet routable. Even though you've tunneled in, your system is going to report the IP address given by your router.

 

Just for a test, I'd try to use another IP address scheme reserved for NAT -- 172.1.x.x or 10.x.x.x. But, make sure the IP scheme you pick does not overlap that of your office! You may need to talk with your IT department on this.

 

Hope this is helpful...

[theblue1]

My problem with my Belkin router was somewhat parallel... although it might be entirely different behind the scenes.

 

I had a simpler setup, just a desktop and a laptop.

 

And, at first, I had no problems.

 

Then, fairly suddenly, I noticed a recurring drop out problem with my subscription music streaming service. Sometimes it was once every hour or two -- sometimes it was every 10 or 15 minutes. Sometimes it would start back up on its own, sometimes I had to hit the play button again or reposition the play-position pointer.

 

At first, I thought it was isolated to my subscription music service and I blamed them, since it seemed to coincide precisely with one of their many updates (I foolishly agreed to be a beta tester for a new version! Never again.)

 

But then I noticed that I had the same problem with streams from online radio stations.

 

Then I got seroius about isolating the prob and found laptop was also having interruption in music 'streaming' from my local desktop machine and that my desktop was also having problems with continuity in streams from the net.

 

So the vector ended up with just my Belkin router in it.

 

I solicited opinions on new routers here. Linksys and Netgear were the two main faves, so I cheaped out and went with Netgear.

 

I haven't had any problems since. (Well, strictly speaking, my subscription service seems to drop for a second or two. It's very sporadic, certainly no more often on average than once ever 8 or 10 hours. And it always starts back up again on its own in a few moments. On rare occasions, radio streams will be dropped, too. But that mostly happens on one, perhaps underfunded NPR station. And it's rare.)

 

Anyhow, that's highly anecdotal, I know, but I hope it helps.

[PBBPaul]

Last night I stopped off and picked up a Linksys BEFSX41. It took me about 2 minutes to set up and no problems. We both stay connected. $80 later, problem solved (so far)!