VPN ... an iditos guide please

[Tx2]

An idiots guide to VPN please!

I have 2 machines and 2 Draytek routers in 2 different locations.

I want to set up VPN between the two, and can see how to configure the
routers for VPN, but what do i need to do in Windows XP to be able to
access each PC via the VPN?

In a LAN, you can obviously see the networked computers in My Network
Places, but how does this all come together with VPN?

I need only simple file sharing type access.

Any url's of tutorials for VPN on the web would also be greatly
appreciated.

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

1. Make sure that the IP addresses for each machine are on different
subnets. You will have no connectivity at all unless this is the case - eg.
one machine could be 192.168.0.x and the other could be 192.168.1.x.

2. You may never be able to browse across this kind of connection with My
Network Places because NetBIOS broadcasts cannot cross a WAN link. However,
you should be able to connect to shares using \\computername\sharename or
\\IPaddressofremotecomputer\sharename.

3. To provide name resolution, create an Lmhosts file on each computer with
the IP address and name of the other computer - eg. 192.168.1.3
Nameofremote computer. There is a sample lmhosts file in
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc called lmhosts.sam. Open this file in
NotePad, edit it to add the above entry, and save it without the .sam
extention. After saving, double check to make sure the file was not saved
as lmhosts.txt - it must be just lmhosts.

4. You might get browsing capability by adding another lmhosts entry on one
of the computers telling it that the other computer is a domain master
browser. Here's how:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;180094

Substitute the workgroup name for domain-name and the remote computer name
for PDCNAME. Reboot the computer.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Tx2]

1. Make sure that the IP addresses for each machine are on different
subnets. You will have no connectivity at all unless this is the case - eg.
one machine could be 192.168.0.x and the other could be 192.168.1.x.

Yup ...

2. You may never be able to browse across this kind of connection with My
Network Places because NetBIOS broadcasts cannot cross a WAN link. However,
you should be able to connect to shares using \\computername\sharename or
\\IPaddressofremotecomputer\sharename.

Getting complicated ...

3. To provide name resolution, create an Lmhosts file on each computer with
the IP address and name of the other computer - eg. 192.168.1.3
Nameofremote computer. There is a sample lmhosts file in
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc called lmhosts.sam. Open this file in
NotePad, edit it to add the above entry, and save it without the .sam
extention. After saving, double check to make sure the file was not saved
as lmhosts.txt - it must be just lmhosts.

Now i'm really lost.

4. You might get browsing capability by adding another lmhosts entry on one
of the computers telling it that the other computer is a domain master
browser. Here's how:

Nope, don't worry ..... this is making my head hurt.
Clearly, VPN is not for idiots.

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

If your Draytek router to router VPN is working, do this:

1. On one computer, click Start/Run \\IPaddressofothercomputer ENTER.

2. If #1 gives you an explorer window with a list of shares on the remote
computer, right click on the computer icon in the explorer window and select
create shortcut - this will create a shortcut on your Desktop. You can
rename the shortcut to anything you like.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP