Troubleshooting VPN connections and home networks


& There are many potential causes to connection problems when using home networks in conjunction with VPN. Here are troubleshooting steps we recommend:

If you cannot connect to the VPN server from your home network, check:

  1. Your router. The connection to our Cisco VPN server may be having problems going through your SOHO router. (A router allows DSL, broadband or other high-speed services to go to multiple computers at your home.) To troubleshoot, make sure that IPSec passthrough is enabled and functioning on the router. If IPSec is disabled, the Cisco VPN client will report that it is unable to make a connection to the host gateway.
  2. Your firewall. Make sure your firewall allows outgoing connections via VPN.

If you cannot see computers or devices on your home network after installing VPN, try the following:

  1. Disconnect VPN (on a PC, right-click the yellow padlock icon and select Disconnect) and see if your home network then shows up.
  2. Disable the built-in “Stateful Firewall.” In the VPN window, go to the Options menu and uncheck “Stateful Firewall (Always On)”. Now, see if you can view other computers on your local network. If the Stateful Firewall will not uncheck itself, you need to manually disable it. To do so: (1) Locate the file called “vpnclient.ini” in the Cisco VPN folder under Program Files; (2) Right-click it and get Properties; (3) Uncheck the “Read Only” box and Apply; (4) Open vpnclient.ini with Notepad; (5) Change “Set StatefulFirewall=0″ (zero) instead of the default “1″; (6) Save the changes to the file; (7) Reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.
  3. Make sure that you have “Allow LAN Access” unchecked. In the VPN window, go to the Connection Entries menu and down to Modify. Click on the Transport tab and uncheck “Allow LAN Access.” See if that fixes the problem.
  4. Reset your router, if you have one, by turning it off (unplugging it) and then back on.
  5. If none of this works, uninstall the VPN client. Hopefully your local network will then be restored.

If you require further assistance, please contact the Help Desk (719-389-6449, or via email), and we’ll send you a list of our referral partners who provide fee-based home support.

Last revised on 05/28/03

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