Accessing device attached to VPN router

[mikemesford]

Hi.  We have a VPN router, RV180, that was installed to allow us to access data on a PLC which is physically attached to the router via ethernet cable. We are able to establish a VPN connection from a remote laptop using QuickVPN. However, we cannot figure out how to browse to the PLC using Internet Explorer. The IP address we have for the PLC is identical to an external IP address and our browser simply loads the page from the Internet. How do we browse to the PLC using the VPN connection?

Thanks

Mike

[cchamorr · Accepted solution]

Hello, 

I'm not really clear on your setup but i will tell you what are the requirements for you to be able to access anything over a VPN connection using QuickVPN.

1- The router must to have a public IP address (I think this is ok since you are already able to connect)

2- The device you are trying to reach over the VPN should have an IP address on the same subnet as the LAN of the router.

3- You need to have Default Gateway on the device you are trying to reach over the VPN set as the IP address of the RV180.

Number 3 is the most common reason for not being able to reach a device over the VPN.

If all these requirements are met you should have no issues.

I hope this helps.

[mikemesford]

I wonder if you have any ideas about connecting with a Mac computer?  The built-in VPN option wants a "shared secret" when I configure it for IPSEC. our windows users are able to connect using QuickVPN (not available for the Mac apparently) and they are never asked for the "shared secret". Any help with this would make the rest of the troubleshooting easier. 

[cchamorr]

Hello,

Thank you for checking back again.

The Cisco IPsec option on the MAC is not compatible with this router. It is only compatible with routers that support the Cisco EZ VPN software, like the RV320 and the ISA500.

Now, the router supports PPTP and the MAC does as well and they work very good together.

Maybe that's an option that you can examine?

Please let us know.

[mikemesford]

I tried connecting using PPTP but it doesn't seem to work. Does it need to be configured at the router first?

thanks

[cchamorr · Accepted solution]

Hello, 

Yes, PPTP is other type of connection and needs to be setup on the router first.

Here is a link to a document on how to configure it. The document is for a different router but the instructions are the same.

http://sbkb.cisco.com/CiscoSB/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=9fce44497ed94ae7a59ba5542d95d181_Addition_of_VPN_Users_in_RV120W_Wireless_N_VPN_Firewall_devi.xml&pid=2&respid=0&snid=4&dispid=0&cpage=search

I also found this document about configuring PPTP on a MAC.

https://helpdesk.scothosts.com/index.php?/ukp/Knowledgebase/Article/View/202/76/how-to-configure-a-vpn-via-pptp-on-a-mac-osx-109

I hope this is helpful

[mikemesford]

Finally got access to the site added the PPTP account. Works great, thanks. 

[cchamorr]

It was a pleasure.

Thanks for letting us know it worked.

[mikemesford]

Hello.  If I may reactivate an old string I have a bit of an ironic question.  The Mac connection which seemed so difficult is now the only one that works.  To be clear, The Windows folks can still create a VPN connection.  However, they cannot access the PLC on the other side.  This wasn't obvious when I last posted because we didn't have the correct login info for the PLC so none of us could get in.  Now, my VPN connection allows me to log in to the PLC.  The Windows VPN connection cannot see the PLC log in page.  Can anyone suggest some areas to check in the administration pages of the router to find the difference between the PPTP protocol which works and the QuickVPN protocol which doesn't?

Mike

[cchamorr]

Hello, 

Thank you for reaching out again.

I checked your question and I don't really have an answer.

I would like to know if, besides the connection to the PLC, the VPN is working correctly or not? Are there any other devices on the network that you can try to access with the Windows PC's when you are connected via the VPN? Do they work?

Please let us know.

[mikemesford]

Thanks, cchamorr, for your reply.  Later that day the problem seemed to magically resolve itself.  For the moment, we all seem to be able to access everything as intended.  If we have more problems I'll let you know. :)

[mikemesford]

Thanks for your answer. I won't have access to the site for a few days so I can't check settings right now. But those are helpful points to check. 

Mike

[cchamorr]

Thank you for the information.

Please let us know if you are able to resolve the issue once you are at the location.