[SGVLUG] Networking question

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Claude,

The Internet connection is fine when the VPN fails, but I have been having
trouble recently with the Internet connection also.  The VPN has been a
problem for closing on 18 months, but it is so bad now I can't get my work
done.

I don't think it is a problem with my equipment.  I checked last month and a
spider had built a web completely covering the heating vents for the router,
but I swapped out routers with a new one and the same problem persists.

The problems do not seem to be dependent on the humidity.  We have a history
here of water in the lines, and I can tell that one of the lines is
currently misbehaving, but the problem is consistent even after weeks of
drought.  The tech people were always very cagy, the said they saw a
problem, but each time I try to find out what it is they clam up.

It is probably something along the lines of your friend's experiences, but I
assume these happened before the current economic climate.  Now it is like
pulling teeth to even get them to answer the phone.  Getting a tech out to
fix things is right out.

Thanks again for your ideas, let me know if anything else comes to mind.
I'm going to try swapping out the modem, then if that fails just switch to
cable.  I know I'm trading one set of bad problems for another, but at this
point I'm so frustrated at least I'll have something different to complain
about.

Matt

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net [mailto:sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net] On
> Behalf Of Claude Felizardo
> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:35 PM
> To: SGVLUG Discussion List.
> Subject: Re: [SGVLUG] Networking question
> 
> Do most people here top post now?
> 
> I assume your regular Internet connections are fine when the VPN dies?
>  It's not a heat problem with your equipment?
> 
> Is there any chance that your problems might be related to when it
> rains or does it happen periodically like every couple of days?   When
> you talked to the tech people, did they say what they thought the
> problem might be?
> 
> A friend of a friend works for Pacbell/SBC/AT&T and does DSL
> installations.  He had a bunch of stories about what could go wrong.
> One was about a customer who after years of no problems suddenly
> started having intermittent problems.  He'd call tech support but by
> the time they made it out, everything was fine.  Don't recall how many
> times this happened but they eventually tracked it down to the
> neighborhood box on the street.  Seems there was a leaky seal on the
> door that was allowing water from a sprinkler to get in but would it
> would dry enough after day or so.  The fix was to move his connection
> up to an unused terminal and mark the bottom terminals as bad (there
> was a specific term he used which I forget).
> 
> A former coworker had a reverse problem.  Everything worked fine until
> she had DSL installed and then weeks later people asked here why she
> stopped answering the phone.  Turned out the circuit they put her on
> was not capable of generating a strong enough ring voltage for the
> relatively older phones she had in the house.  She wasn't exceeding
> the REN allowance for her house but I think she did have at least one
> phone with a real electromagnetic ringer.  The initial techs couldn't
> figure it out but SHE was able to determine that if she plugged in a
> relatively new phone, then it could ring but if she plugged in the
> others then nada.  DSL worked fine.  I think it was several visits
> before they were able to resolve things.  Don't recall if they just
> moved her line to another card in the box or if it was a config
> setting to output more current or what.
> 
> As usual it took several calls and it was usually the experienced tech
> that figured it out.
> 
> Anyway, I don't use VPN too often at home but haven't had any problems
> when i tried.  The sessions were usually several hours.  I'm still
> using the original DSL modem I got ages ago and still use my original
> router.  There are no specific settings for VPN.  Hey,  I just checked
> the router, it's approaching 26 months of uptime.  Yeeha Netgear!
> 
> 
> claude
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 9:18 PM, Matt Campbell <dvdmatt at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hmmm,
> >
> > I'm finding something odd.  It's an MS thing so not really on topic
> for this
> > list, but it may be related to my ISP problem.
> >
> > When I am connected to the Internet I sometimes get kicked out of my
> work's
> > VPN connection.  (The MS exchange server box doesn't show anything in
> the
> > logs, it still thinks I'm dialed in.)  When I try and reconnect I get
> > 'connecting - authenticating - (hang)'.  The logs on the server show
> that I
> > have been authenticated.  My computer says the server never answered
> back.
> >
> > I've heard there may be problems with routers not allowing VPN pass-
> through
> > properly.  Has anyone experience this problem?
> >
> > This problem happens on both my Linksys WRT300N and now on the new
> Linksys
> > WRTU54G-TM.  The Security->VPN_Passthrough settings are wide open:
> IPSec,
> > PPTP and L2TP Passthrough are enabled.
> >
> > I find that if I power cycle the modem, then power cycle the router,
> then
> > disable and re-enable my network connection that I can sometimes
> connect.
> >
> > The ongoing problem of the modem dropping connection can be resolved
> by
> > power cycling the modem.  Does anyone have a spare DSL modem I can
> borrow to
> > see if this is the source of all my problems?
> >
> > Matti, I like your suggestion, but it seems a bit heavy handed just
> to limit
> > the amount of finger pointing.  In that it is not a sure I'll save
> that for
> > the last option.  Changing to a cable modem would at least change my
> problem
> > set. ;)  You suggest a service monitoring tool... I can tell when it
> goes
> > down.  What specifically did you have in mind?
> >
> > Michael,  I have the modem and router plugged into a good UPS so I
> don't
> > think it is power dropout or fluctuations.  I can try a different UPS
> if you
> > think it's a good idea just to eliminate this as a possibility.
> EarthLink
> > has run performance on the line/device a number of times, and all but
> the
> > last claim to have discovered the problem on their end.  This last
> time they
> > noted that the device was running a little slow.
> >
> > Has the person who picked up my spare DSL modem at the LUG swap
> meeting last
> > year found a use for it yet?  If it's just sitting in a closet I
> would love
> > to buy it back from you.
> >
> > Matt