Remote Desktop Connection over VPN connects, then stalls

I have a customer who wants a user at one office (office A) to be able
to access an application at another (office B). I've set up Remote
Desktop over a simple VPN, and although it connects some of the time,
it's too unreliable to use.

Office B has a small network based around a Win2K server. I have no
access to the Draytek modem/router there, but the ISP has set up a
simple VPN, which I can use from home, set up by using the XP "New
Connection" wizard and supplying an IP, username and password. It's
fairly reliable from home.

Office A has no server, and a couple of Vista Business PCs. I do have
full access to the 2Wire modem/router there, and I've set myself up a
firewall rule so that I can connect using Remote Desktop to the PC
concerned. That too works fairly reliably from home.

I've set up the VPN connection on the PC at office A, and it connects
most of the time (!) but while the RDC connection succeeds, it
frequently hangs and then drops, making the whole thing unusable.

I'm no expert in networking, and I don't really have a clue about how to
troubleshoot what seems to be an intermittent fault. There have been
occasions when the end-to-end connection has run for several minutes,
enough to get into the application but not enough to do any useful work!
Mostly, though, it stalls very quickly.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions - is there anything I can
monitor/measure/check?

Phil, London

It might be worth running pings from the remote site to see how long it's
taking packets to arrive at there destination. You could also try pathping or
tracert to see the complete route taken by the packets and the steps they go
through.

Regards

--
Network Administrator


"Philip Herlihy" wrote:

> I have a customer who wants a user at one office (office A) to be able
> to access an application at another (office B). I've set up Remote
> Desktop over a simple VPN, and although it connects some of the time,
> it's too unreliable to use.
>
> Office B has a small network based around a Win2K server. I have no
> access to the Draytek modem/router there, but the ISP has set up a
> simple VPN, which I can use from home, set up by using the XP "New
> Connection" wizard and supplying an IP, username and password. It's
> fairly reliable from home.
>
> Office A has no server, and a couple of Vista Business PCs. I do have
> full access to the 2Wire modem/router there, and I've set myself up a
> firewall rule so that I can connect using Remote Desktop to the PC
> concerned. That too works fairly reliably from home.
>
> I've set up the VPN connection on the PC at office A, and it connects
> most of the time (!) but while the RDC connection succeeds, it
> frequently hangs and then drops, making the whole thing unusable.
>
> I'm no expert in networking, and I don't really have a clue about how to
> troubleshoot what seems to be an intermittent fault. There have been
> occasions when the end-to-end connection has run for several minutes,
> enough to get into the application but not enough to do any useful work!
> Mostly, though, it stalls very quickly.
>
> I'd be grateful for any suggestions - is there anything I can
> monitor/measure/check?
>
> Phil, London
>

Daniel Sutton wrote:
> It might be worth running pings from the remote site to see how long it's
> taking packets to arrive at there destination. You could also try pathping or
> tracert to see the complete route taken by the packets and the steps they go
> through.
>
> Regards
>

Thanks, Daniel - I'll look into this!

Phil

Hi Phil,

Had a similar problem which was easily resolved with Terminal
Services. Clients needed to get to their case management app
from home so I setup a terminal server. Works like a charm.


"Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ff4p7d$lac$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a customer who wants a user at one office (office A) to be able to
>access an application at another (office B). I've set up Remote Desktop
>over a simple VPN, and although it connects some of the time, it's too
>unreliable to use.
>
> Office B has a small network based around a Win2K server. I have no
> access to the Draytek modem/router there, but the ISP has set up a simple
> VPN, which I can use from home, set up by using the XP "New Connection"
> wizard and supplying an IP, username and password. It's fairly reliable
> from home.
>
> Office A has no server, and a couple of Vista Business PCs. I do have
> full access to the 2Wire modem/router there, and I've set myself up a
> firewall rule so that I can connect using Remote Desktop to the PC
> concerned. That too works fairly reliably from home.
>
> I've set up the VPN connection on the PC at office A, and it connects most
> of the time (!) but while the RDC connection succeeds, it frequently hangs
> and then drops, making the whole thing unusable.
>
> I'm no expert in networking, and I don't really have a clue about how to
> troubleshoot what seems to be an intermittent fault. There have been
> occasions when the end-to-end connection has run for several minutes,
> enough to get into the application but not enough to do any useful work!
> Mostly, though, it stalls very quickly.
>
> I'd be grateful for any suggestions - is there anything I can
> monitor/measure/check?
>
> Phil, London

I would agree with Michael. Especially if database operations are
involved, the latency of a VPN connection can be a problem. With TS, the
application is running on the same high-speed network as the database.

"Michael Giorgio" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Phil,
>
> Had a similar problem which was easily resolved with Terminal
> Services. Clients needed to get to their case management app
> from home so I setup a terminal server. Works like a charm.
>
>
> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ff4p7d$lac$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have a customer who wants a user at one office (office A) to be able to
>>access an application at another (office B). I've set up Remote Desktop
>>over a simple VPN, and although it connects some of the time, it's too
>>unreliable to use.
>>
>> Office B has a small network based around a Win2K server. I have no
>> access to the Draytek modem/router there, but the ISP has set up a simple
>> VPN, which I can use from home, set up by using the XP "New Connection"
>> wizard and supplying an IP, username and password. It's fairly reliable
>> from home.
>>
>> Office A has no server, and a couple of Vista Business PCs. I do have
>> full access to the 2Wire modem/router there, and I've set myself up a
>> firewall rule so that I can connect using Remote Desktop to the PC
>> concerned. That too works fairly reliably from home.
>>
>> I've set up the VPN connection on the PC at office A, and it connects
>> most of the time (!) but while the RDC connection succeeds, it frequently
>> hangs and then drops, making the whole thing unusable.
>>
>> I'm no expert in networking, and I don't really have a clue about how to
>> troubleshoot what seems to be an intermittent fault. There have been
>> occasions when the end-to-end connection has run for several minutes,
>> enough to get into the application but not enough to do any useful work!
>> Mostly, though, it stalls very quickly.
>>
>> I'd be grateful for any suggestions - is there anything I can
>> monitor/measure/check?
>>
>> Phil, London
>
>

Thanks Michael & Bill;

Surely Remote Desktop is simply a version of Terminal Services? It uses
the same ports to bring a view of the desktop to the remote client. I
think I'd be getting the same problems with TS. (Happy to be corrected
- I'm no expert here!).

Phil

Bill Grant wrote:
> I would agree with Michael. Especially if database operations are
> involved, the latency of a VPN connection can be a problem. With TS, the
> application is running on the same high-speed network as the database.
>
> "Michael Giorgio" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi Phil,
>>
>> Had a similar problem which was easily resolved with Terminal
>> Services. Clients needed to get to their case management app
>> from home so I setup a terminal server. Works like a charm.
>>
>>
>> "Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:ff4p7d$lac$2$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I have a customer who wants a user at one office (office A) to be
>>> able to access an application at another (office B). I've set up
>>> Remote Desktop over a simple VPN, and although it connects some of
>>> the time, it's too unreliable to use.
>>>
>>> Office B has a small network based around a Win2K server. I have no
>>> access to the Draytek modem/router there, but the ISP has set up a
>>> simple VPN, which I can use from home, set up by using the XP "New
>>> Connection" wizard and supplying an IP, username and password. It's
>>> fairly reliable from home.
>>>
>>> Office A has no server, and a couple of Vista Business PCs. I do
>>> have full access to the 2Wire modem/router there, and I've set myself
>>> up a firewall rule so that I can connect using Remote Desktop to the
>>> PC concerned. That too works fairly reliably from home.
>>>
>>> I've set up the VPN connection on the PC at office A, and it connects
>>> most of the time (!) but while the RDC connection succeeds, it
>>> frequently hangs and then drops, making the whole thing unusable.
>>>
>>> I'm no expert in networking, and I don't really have a clue about how
>>> to troubleshoot what seems to be an intermittent fault. There have
>>> been occasions when the end-to-end connection has run for several
>>> minutes, enough to get into the application but not enough to do any
>>> useful work! Mostly, though, it stalls very quickly.
>>>
>>> I'd be grateful for any suggestions - is there anything I can
>>> monitor/measure/check?
>>>
>>> Phil, London
>>
>>
>

Hi Phil,

Terminal Services is your best option, in either case it does
use the remote desktop client to connect. You say the connection
just drops without an error of any kind using the RDP connection?
There could be latency issues at the office site or your home but
troubleshooting such issues can be difficult. Have you checked the
system log of the event viewer on the computer your connecting at
office A? You say "it connects most of the time" but you didn't
mention the error you receive when it fails?

Michael

"Philip Herlihy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:
> Thanks Michael & Bill;
>
> Surely Remote Desktop is simply a version of Terminal Services? It uses
> the same ports to bring a view of the desktop to the remote client. I
> think I'd be getting the same problems with TS. (Happy to be corrected -
> I'm no expert here!).
>