VPN - what am I missing?

[RiverCityBuilder]

Hello, expert Builders. Experienced networker here, but a newb with this router. I hope you'll have the answer to my question.

I recently upgraded to the RT-N66U, primarily for the smokin' WAN speeds and Gigabit LAN ports. That part is great: streaming media is a dream now.

I also hoped to use the VPN connection by connecting remotely to browse the web via my private tunnel and home connection instead of publicly exposing all my traffic over a public hotspot.

That part isn't so great: I can connect, but no web traffic will flow. The remote browser just hangs without displaying a page (but also not displaying an error, such as a 404).

My cablemodem is in bridge mode. The router negotiates a PPTP connection with the remote device. There's just nothing I can do after that.

Thoughts?

 

[RMerlin]

Hello, expert Builders. Experienced networker here, but a newb with this router. I hope you'll have the answer to my question.

I recently upgraded to the RT-N66U, primarily for the smokin' WAN speeds and Gigabit LAN ports. That part is great: streaming media is a dream now.

I also hoped to use the VPN connection by connecting remotely to browse the web via my private tunnel and home connection instead of publicly exposing all my traffic over a public hotspot.

That part isn't so great: I can connect, but no web traffic will flow. The remote browser just hangs without displaying a page (but also not displaying an error, such as a 404).

My cablemodem is in bridge mode. The router negotiates a PPTP connection with the remote device. There's just nothing I can do after that.

Thoughts?

In your PPTP client, make sure to check "Use default gateway on remote network" on the Networking / TCP/IP - Advanced section.

 

[RiverCityBuilder]

Thanks for the fast answer...RMerlin you got me headed in the right direction to solve this!

Your reply assumed that I was using my ISP's DNS and Win hardware. Neither is the case, but the tip about the gateway led me to discover that if you're using "outside" DNS servers, you need to set those in the VPN panel *in addition to* the WAN panel of router admin.

Did that, and all is well now in VPNville. Thanks again!

 

[kfmfe04]

Thanks for the fast answer...RMerlin you got me headed in the right direction to solve this!

Your reply assumed that I was using my ISP's DNS and Win hardware. Neither is the case, but the tip about the gateway led me to discover that if you're using "outside" DNS servers, you need to set those in the VPN panel *in addition to* the WAN panel of router admin.

Did that, and all is well now in VPNville. Thanks again!

This saved me! I couldn't figure out why my VPN client was using the wrong DNS server - no duh - the default setting on the client side was pointing to the wrong server! Thanks for the tip.