VPN connects, but cannot access remote server

[admin_2]

Hello,

I am an end user that needs help accessing my corporate server. I was given the VPN Client software and installed it successfuly. I connect fine at home, but cannot access any remote resources.

The Novell Client signon doesn't work, nor does bypassing the signon and then manually signing on later in Windows. I was told by the tech guys here at work that since it works for other people, that it's on my end which they won't support.

That said, I do have a home network with 3 pcs and my corporate laptop connected to an Alcatel 530 adsl/router. I haven't touched any of the settings on the router other than what it took to connect to the ISP. My knowledge of router commands is very limited, so please bear with me. The router does have a built-in firewall and I've been told to turn it off. If I do that, that exposes my network to any and everything.

What options do I have??

Thanks,

Patrick

[ehirsel]

Assuming that your home router's firewall is turned back on, and you try to connect from home, do you successfully authenticate yourself over the vpn to the corp. network? Is that what you mean by connecting fine from home?

If you cannot establish the vpn connection from home, then it could be that the home router's firewall rules are blocking udp port 500 and the esp protocol. Before we go too far, let me know if the vpn authen succeeds.

[#3]

Yes it does authenticate and I can access the corporate network drives, but nothing else. I cannot access the mainframe via Attachmate Extra 3280 emulator software, email server, cannot ping any corporate servers other than to recognize the address, and cannot ping DB2.

To access the network drives, I removed the Novell login software and signed on using Microsoft login.

[ehirsel]

I am thinking that the Novell client was not bound to the virtual adapter that is installed as part of the vpn client program. Also look if microsoft client and the microsoft file and print sharing are enabled for the virutal adapter. If they are not, bind them and then run this test after connecting to the vpn gateway: open a command window and run nslookup ibm-mainframe-ip hostname and see what the response is. Don't enter your domain name - just the hostname. If you fail to get a response then rerun the nslookup using the fully-qualified hostname.domainname and see what you get.

What version of the vpn client are you using? I assume that your workstaion is running ms win 2000, or ms win nt 4.0 - is that correct?

Let me know how the nslookup tests proceed.

[#5]

They were already enabled for the VPN adapter. I'll try the nslookup tonight when I get home. The laptop is using Windows 2000 sp4.

[ehirsel]

Were you able to try again after you read my prior post?

[#7]

I haven't tried turning off the firewall on the router. I read up on it and to do so requires me to manually turn it off via the command line interface. I connect to our corporate server using VPN at home, but nothing but the network drives are visable. I've talked with a number of associates who do login from home using a home network and they have no issues. That leaves me with the only culprit being my dsl router. The question is, how can I setup my router? The router is basic, Alcaltel 530. It allows multiple computers to share an internet connection with a built-in firewall. There isn't any mention of a DMZ. Where would I look to open up UDP port 500? The only place I found requires to and from ports and addresses, most likely for IP routing. I'm green when it comes to routers:-)