RV220W and iPhone VPN IPSec

[kitus_san]

Hello there,

I currently have RV042 and I can VPN (pptp though) to it with no prob. I'm considering upgrading to one of these new routers that Cisco has recently brough out.

Before I bit the bullet, I wonder whether this new model is iphone fully ipsec compatible because as of now I just can't use ipsec but pptp.

Thanks

[Alejandro Gallego]

To clarify IPSec, technically there is only one IPSec per IEEE RFC2401 but we can use AH or ESP modes and different encryption types, etc. The problem you are referencing is really the limitation of the software in the sense that we are not able to customize our settings to match what the router is expecting. The enterprise routers are looking for more than just the basics of the IPSec connection something the Small Business routers just don't do. With that said we can trick the router to do what we want but that solution is not practical when dealing with many users. (I wrote some articles on how to connect IPSec from a Mac)

When you say PPTP VPN server support I assume you are referring to wether or not the PPTP server is built in; that I do not know, hopefully a proper Cisco employee could answer that. The router does support PPTP VPN as a passthrough feature and if you are not able to get this to work you really need to contact support and do not take NO for an answer.

[djcarpenter]

i originally replaced my RV082 with the RV220W unit as i was looking for a single unit that could function as arouter and AP. i use the PPTP VPN Function from my ipad/Iphone heavily and lost that cabability when i went to the RV220w. after multiple days of troubleshooting and researching i ended up putting my old RV082 back in place.

I've tried contacting Cisco and my ticket was sent to level 2 engineering however at the end i was told that they dont certify the functionality of connecting to an iOS Device.

if anyone has heard differently i would love to know.

i have not returned my unit yet.

[Alejandro Gallego]

Are you forwarding ports for PPTP or anything like that?

And just to make sure we are on the same page, you are trying to connect iPhone to RV220W using PPTP on the router, correct?

[djcarpenter]

i dont have any port forwarding configured on the RV082 to allow for me to connect my iphone or ipad via PPTP. So i assumed i didnt have to perform any port forwarding on the RV220w. the Cisco agent i spoke with did not ask me if i had configured the RV220w with any port forward rules to enable PPTP VPN access from my iphone/ipad.

Has anyone tried this with any success?

[phil_m_casey]

I was looking at the release notes for the firmware. and say this...

Known open issue with enabling the Aggressive mode for IPSec VPN.

Use the Main mode instead as a workaround.

Maybe this is our issue as I don't think the IPhone IPsec supports Main mode only Agressive.

I also know that there is a bug in 1.0.1.0 that keeps PPTP from working downgrade to 1.0.0.26 and give it a shot.

Phil

[kitus_san]

Hi phil,

Do you own this device? You seem to suggest that pptp server should work on the rv220w, right?

Edit: I respond to myself https://supportforums.cisco.com/message/3353382 by Phil contains the answer and a workaround.

So, can I then conclude that one can VPN to the rv220w from an iPhone over pptp? It looks like, right?

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[phil_m_casey]

Yes I do own an RV220W and an IPAD and I do use PPTP to connect to my network and RDP in. Once I found that it was not myself with the issue setting up PPTP that it was a bug in the firmware I also read in the release notes of both 1.0.26.0 and it's update that there is a bug in IPsec as well. I only hope that when they fix it it also fixes my being able to connect to the IPsec VPN from my Blackberry Playbook (it does not have PPTP at all) as I got it to replace the IPAD the IPAD being a pain to take with me everyplace I go.

But to make a long story short if you use the older firmware in the RV220W and setup the PPTP VPN you will be able to connect to it with your Iphone/ Ipad

Phil

[kitus_san]

This is scary, I almost returned my rv042 intending to consolidate it and some devices with the rv220w, but what you describe is a disaster. I just dont get how old devices like rv042 rv082 do feature pptp server (the only non IPSec VPN alternative for iOS devices) and all of the sudden it looks like they dropped the this without apparent reason... I don't understand it

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Jean-Christophe Majchrzak]

Hello,

The discussion is a little bit confusing.

Finally can we connect the RV220W with VPN client from an iPhone ? An iPad ?

If yes what VPN client are you using on iPhone and iPad ? Cisco AnyConnect ?

Thanks,

[tsnguyen68]

Yes you can connect using default IOS VPN software using pptp setting and the built into the cisco pptp server. If you have not done any setting setup yet, than the easiest way is to update to the latest firmware on the router then do a factory reset from the web menu. Once you got got the router to emulate your pc mac address than you should be you be able to connect to the internet.

Next step is add to the vpn pptp account and enable the pptp sever and setup the ip range where your i-device will get assigned from the pptp server. Make sure it's in the higher range of your ip addresses. Set two or three address should be good. You should NOT have to open any ports or do further configuration to the router. Use the login that you have created for pptp and connect via i-device vpn. So far the IPSec solution is not in sight for small business router. If you want ipsec solution than you may need to get a apple lion server or upgrade to enterprise level router. Make sure you lock down the wireless settings on your router. Hope this helps.

[Jean-Christophe Majchrzak]

Hi

I've done the steps you've indicated. Latest fw.

However with iPhone built-in VPN I still cannot log into the RV220W with PPTP

I've done sniffing on the WAN interface. I can see exchanges between iPhone (over 3G) and RV220W in the Wireshark attachement.

- LCP Configuration reject from iPhone

- no reply to Echo Request from iPhone (due to rv220 fw ?)

192.168.1.2 is the WAN IP of RV220W because it's behind my DSL router.

I've set up the Microsoft VPN client on XP laptop and with same user account I was able to establish the connexion from internal WiFi.

I'm upgrading iPhone to rls 5 to check if there are any improvements...

Any idea ?

Thanks.

[ludovic167]

any news on this subject ?

I am also interrested..

Thanks..

[panos.asproulis]

Using the beta firmware version 1.0.4.6 I have successfully established a VPN PPTP connection to the router using an iPhone as well as an iPad. I don't know if the current release version which is quite old is capable of doing that but this beta firmware works properly.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPad App

[gdebroux]

Hi Marc,

I'm also trying to configure a Cisco RV042 with VPN from my iPhone.

I'm having issues to get it working. Can you share an example configuration with me that worked for you?

PPTP will be ok for me.

Thanks in advance and kind regards,

Gerald.