Sharing printers over VPN

[srp336]

I've got a user for whom I've given access to the VPN at the company we
work for. She wants to access a machine at work from home over VNC, and
then be able to print from the work machine and have it go to her local
home printer.

I've had her share the home printer, and then try to add it to the work
machine, but we can't seem to see it. She's running XP at home, and I
don't have much experience with XP or the builtin firewall (which I
believe is enabled). Do I need to make changes to the XP firewall for
her to get to the printer?

Thanks!

 

[Kurt]

If by "can't seem to see it" you mean it doesn't show up in My Network
Places, you are correct, it won't. There are several ways you can do this,
but the simplest is to set up the RAS server to allow the client to specify
her own IP address, then set her up with a static entry for the virtual
(VPN) adapter. Or, if you're using the company DHCP server rather than a
local pool on the RAS server, reserve an IP address for her. Then, from the
box at work that she's trying to print from, go to the start bar -> run
command and type \\<her-vpn-adapter-ip-address>. You must use the IP address
unless you have some kind of name resolution that would include remote
clients (i.e. WINS). That should open a window with her shares. You can just
right-click the printer and connect. Remember, you'll need a matching
account on both boxes, and permissions to print for that account on the home
machine.

....kurt

 

[srp336]

She actually already has a static IP assigned to her. I've tried the
\\<ip address> from the command line and it can't get to it.

Does she have to open anything in the XP firewall for this to work?

Thanks!

 

[Kurt]

Turn off any kind of firewall long enough to get the connection working.

I've tried the
\\<ip address> from the command line and it can't get to it.

You mean from the "run" dialog rather than the command line, right? Can you
ping the IP address?