Newbie VPN to XP peer-to-peer questions

[Steve Mayman]

Greetings,

I have established a VPN connection from an XP client to an XP server on a
peer-to-peer network connected to the internet through a wireless router. I
have successfully established a connection with the server, and even printed
to a printer attached directly to the network, but I can't other workgroup
computers. All machines except the VPN server are dynamically assigned IP
addresses by the router. Is this an inherent limitation of VPN? Am I doing
something wrong? Is there an way to browse the workgroup and see network
resources as if you were attached directly to the network. Sorry for all the
stupid questions, but these answers have been surprisingly difficult to
find.

Thanks!

Steve

 

[Jeffrey Randow (MVP)]

The problem is related to name resolution.. Windows has no way of
reliably browsing or figuring out how to determine the private IP for
a particular computer without either a WINS or DNS server, which isn't
available in XP.

If you can statically assign IP addresses, you can access these other
machines by using their IP address (i.e., \\ipaddress\share).

Jeffrey Randow (Windows Networking & Smart Display MVP)
(e-mail address removed)

Please post all responses to the newsgroups for the benefit
of all USENET users. Messages sent via email may or may not
be answered depending on time availability....

Remote Networking Technology Support Site -
http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
Windows XP Expert Zone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

 

[Steve Mayman]

Wow, pretty cool. You in speak the truth! When I substituted the local IP
address for the computer name, it could actually find the resources. I was
even able to access our intranet web server by entering
http://ipaddress/webname. Two follow-up questions:

1) Your response started with "If you can statically assign IP addresses."
We don't currently. Other than the added maintenance factor, are there any
disadvantages (or advantages!) to static IP assignment?

2) How does printer access work?

Thanks!

Steve

 

[Bill Sanderson]

You may be able to modify the properties of IP on the incoming connection
on the VPN host, to give out static IP addresses on the local subnet, but
outside the range currently given out by whatever address-distribution
mechanism is currently in place. This may not require any modification to
your current stuff--just pick numbers high enough to be unlikely to ever by
used--although it'd be better to check the range in whatever router or DHCP
mechanism is in place and restrict its range so that the two can never
conflict.

If I understand your question 2 correctly, the answer is complicated.

The VPN connection is a network connection. So--you can do peer-to-peer
printing or server-centric printing, just as you would on site. Connect to
the printer, via NET USE LPT1: //servername/printersharename or via
browsing mechanisms, have the correct driver installed locally, and print.

However, this forum also supports Remote Desktop, which you may also be
using, or considering using. RD has a different paradigm for printing. If
you are sitting at an RD client, connected to an RD host, over a VPN, or
not, the PORT for your local primary printer is redirected to the host. If
a driver for that printer is available at the host, the printer will be set
as the default printer for the RD session, and if you just hit print on an
app running on the host, the result should print on the local client printer
near you.

What can go wrong? Some USB ports are not redirected by default. There's a
Registry edit to work around this, if necessary:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q302361

This edit is done at the client, and the client must be rebooted before it
takes effect.

The driver may not be available at the host. If this is the case, there
will be a log entry in the system event log at the host machine. Install an
appropriate driver at the host. You can install as though the printer is on
LPT1 at the host, and you can, after installing, remove the "printer"
created, but tell the OS to leave the files in place. This will leave the
driver files available for use when RD sessions connect. Note that if the
host is a Server OS--Windows 2000 Server, or Windows Server 2003, you need
to take great care to use signed and certified drivers for that OS.

So--between Remote Desktop, and VPN, there are two different mechanisms for
printing--and you can use either or both in the same connection.