The odd-musings of Jared, the Director of Network Security for IAPS Security Services.

Folks, I’ve created new VPN instructions for Mac’s newest creation: Snow Leopard. If you are an IAPS VPN client and you cannot make our system work on your Snow Leopard system, drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you with new and updated instructions.

Resellers – You should have received the new set of instructions by now. If not, get in touch and we’ll get them to you.

The following items affect VPN performance on the client side:

1.) CPU processing power of the client computer.
2.) Bandwidth (speed) of the Internet connection.

Techniques to increase VPN tunnel performance:

1.) Increase CPU processing power.
2.) Eliminate or stop nonessential processes that use CPU time.
3.) Increase the bandwidth of the Internet connection by using direct access (cable/DSL) in place of dial-up connections, if possible.

Error 806: a connection between your computer and the VPN server has been established but the VPN connection cannot be completed. The most common cause for this is that there is at least one internet device between your computer and the VPN server is not configured to allow GRE protocol packets Verify that protocol 47 GRE is allowed on all personal firewall devices or routers.

Resolutions:

1) if you have a router/firewall, make sure you open TCP Port 1723, IP Protocol 47 (GRE).
2) make sure you can reach the VPN server by using ping. Sometimes, poor connection can cause this issue too.
3) You may need to updated firmware on a router or firewall.
4) The VPN server may not be able to get IP from DHCP for the VPN client. So, you may want to re-configure VPN host networking settings. For XP pro VPN host, go to the Properties of the VPN>Network, check Specify TCP/IP address and Allow calling computer to specify its own IP address, and uncheck Assign TCP/IP addresses automatically using DHCP.
5) Make sure other secure software blocks your access, for example, if you use Norton secure software, you may need to add the remote client’s IP so that the client can access.
6) If your VPN running on a Windows RRAS with NAT enabled, you may want to check the NAT settings.

Error 800: Unable to establish the VPN connection. The VPN server may be un-reachable, or security parameters may not be configured properly for this connection.

Resolutions:

1) if you have firewall, open TCP Port 1723, IP Protocol 47 (GRE).
2) make sure you can reach the VPN server by using ping. Sometimes, poor connection can cause this issue too.
3) You may need to updated firmware on a router or firewall if other OS (win9x/nt/me/w2k) works except XP.
4) The VPN server may not be able to get IP from DHCP for the VPN client. So, you may want to re-configure VPN host networking settings. For XP pro VPN host, go to the Properties of the VPN>Network, check Specify TCP/IP address and Allow calling computer to specify its own IP address, and uncheck Assign TCP/IP addresses automatically using DHCP.
5) Make sure no other secure software blocks your access, for example, if you use Norton secure software, you may need to add the remote client’s IP so that the client can access.
6) If your VPN running on a Windows RRAS with NAT enabled, you may want to check the NAT settings.
7) If you can establish the VPN from the desktop at home but not from the laptop. Make sure no security software like Microsoft OneCare software that blocks the GRE.