VPN File Share

I'm having difficulty with filesharing using VPN.

My home network consists of an ethernet NAT router, a 98 machine with
ZoneAlarm free edition and an XP Home laptop also with ZA free edition.

Fileshare between these machines no problem.

When my daughter connects using VPN (XP Home and ZA free edition) she
gets assigned an IP address correctly, I can ping her machine, her
computer shows up on the workgroup list but neither she nor I can view
each other's files. We have tried turning ZA's zones off with no effect.

Strangely, whilst the VPN connection is established, I can connect to
her machine using VNC.

I have tried turning ZA off on all machines but this does not remedy the
problem.

Geoff Lane


Geoff Lane

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> I'm having difficulty with filesharing using VPN.
>
> My home network consists of an ethernet NAT router, a 98 machine with
> ZoneAlarm free edition and an XP Home laptop also with ZA free edition.
>
> Fileshare between these machines no problem.
>
> When my daughter connects using VPN (XP Home and ZA free edition) she
> gets assigned an IP address correctly, I can ping her machine, her
> computer shows up on the workgroup list but neither she nor I can view
> each other's files. We have tried turning ZA's zones off with no effect.
>
> Strangely, whilst the VPN connection is established, I can connect to
> her machine using VNC.
>
> I have tried turning ZA off on all machines but this does not remedy the
> problem.

Get rid of windows firewall (for diagnostics of course) on the XC
machine. Also, you may find somewhere that your router has a feature
like "block file sharing" so check for that.

Other things to try, when connected to the VPN try opening up a command
prompt on the remote machine and typing \\192.168.1.2 replacing the IP
address with the LAN IP of the machine with the shared drives on it.
This should open up a windows explorer window of the target machine
listing all of the shared drives.

If that doesn't work then something is blocking it somewhere.

What are you using as the VPN server? The XP machine behind the router?
--
Regards
Jon

Jon wrote:

> Get rid of windows firewall (for diagnostics of course) on the XC
> machine.

Haven't got the Windows FW working, use ZoneAlarm

> Also, you may find somewhere that your router has a feature
> like "block file sharing" so check for that.

No, that is OK; I do have some IP rules but my router appears to filter
only traffic coming inbound or going out, doesn't appear to filter internal.

I entered a 'trusted' zone in the Firewall, putting
192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0 seems to work whereas I initially had 192.168.1.1.

For some obscure reason changing the final part of the IP address from 1
to 0 makes it work.

Having said that I do have to use the find computer feature and then
explore as it still doesn't appear in my workgroup list.

Geffers