Secret timeout parameter on Telnet after SP2 ?

[Guest]

Has Microsoft introduced a secret timeout parameter for Telnet sessions in
SP2 ? My experience is that Telnet sessions kind of time out after 20
minutes. The Telnet host (an AS/400) then notice the client doesn't answer
and closes the connection. The client (my WinXP SP2 computer) doesn't notice
anything before I try to use it again.

 

[Chuck]

Has Microsoft introduced a secret timeout parameter for Telnet sessions in
SP2 ? My experience is that Telnet sessions kind of time out after 20
minutes. The Telnet host (an AS/400) then notice the client doesn't answer
and closes the connection. The client (my WinXP SP2 computer) doesn't notice
anything before I try to use it again.

Gert,

If the client (your computer) hasn't noticed the timeout, it's maybe being
initiated by the AS/400. A timeout after 20 minutes of inactivity is not
unreasonable, from the host viewpoint. Why not ask the owners of the AS/400
about this?

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Guest]

Chuck, thanks for your answer. The timeout is surely initiated by the
AS/400, because (it tells me) the client was powered off or had a device
error. But PCs with Win2K or WinXP SP1 can have idle Telnet sessions for
hours and days without causing the AS/400 to drop the connection. Thus the
challenge is to figure out what was changed with SP2 to make the Telnet
client look as if it is powered off after 20 minutes.

Regards from Gert

 

[Guest]

SOLVED ! The timeout problem was caused by a Cisco VPN client with a
"Stateful Firewall (Always On)" option checked. I have not tested it but
maybe the option is checked by default with SP2 ? The option itself causes
the same problems with and without SP2: Timeout in Telnet sessions and
preventing Port mode FTP.