VPN vs. Home Network vs. File Transfer & VNC

Oooooook (deep breath)...

I work at home all the time. I have broadband and (as of tonight) a nice
router so that all of my machines get web access, as well as being able to
see each other (share files). All, except one, are on the same workgroup.
The other one, owned by the company I work for, is not.

That machine uses Cisco VPN to connect to the company network. Until it's
connected, I can VNC to it - important for me as I just don't have the room
for more than one keyboard/mouse on my desk. However (and you'll all say "of
course!") once it's connected to the company's network, it's no longer
reachable by VNC from my main machine. I'd also like to be able to transfer
files to and from it without having to disconnect from the work network just
to do so.

So... question is, is it possible to set anything up so it's still
reachable? Can I put a second NIC in it and do it that way? I'd really like
to...

Thanks!
Nick

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Nick
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>I work at home all the time. I have broadband and (as of tonight) a
>nice router so that all of my machines get web access, as well as being
>able to see each other (share files). All, except one, are on the same
>workgroup. The other one, owned by the company I work for, is not.
>
>That machine uses Cisco VPN to connect to the company network. Until
>it's connected, I can VNC to it - important for me as I just don't have
>the room for more than one keyboard/mouse on my desk. However (and
>you'll all say "of course!") once it's connected to the company's
>network, it's no longer reachable by VNC from my main machine. I'd also
>like to be able to transfer files to and from it without having to
>disconnect from the work network just to do so.
>
>So... question is, is it possible to set anything up so it's still
>reachable? Can I put a second NIC in it and do it that way? I'd really
>like to...

Have you considered a KVM switch?

--
John Blundell

"John Blundell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:SQnYNyGS2+(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Nick
> <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>>I work at home all the time. I have broadband and (as of tonight) a nice
>>router so that all of my machines get web access, as well as being able to
>>see each other (share files). All, except one, are on the same workgroup.
>>The other one, owned by the company I work for, is not.
>>
>>That machine uses Cisco VPN to connect to the company network. Until it's
>>connected, I can VNC to it - important for me as I just don't have the
>>room for more than one keyboard/mouse on my desk. However (and you'll all
>>say "of course!") once it's connected to the company's network, it's no
>>longer reachable by VNC from my main machine. I'd also like to be able to
>>transfer files to and from it without having to disconnect from the work
>>network just to do so.
>>
>>So... question is, is it possible to set anything up so it's still
>>reachable? Can I put a second NIC in it and do it that way? I'd really
>>like to...
>
> Have you considered a KVM switch?
>
> --
> John Blundell

Yes - a much more expensive option, but one that I might have to accept,
since my experiments with the 2nd NIC card don't actually work - doh! For
the time being, I guess I'm just going to have to keep disconnecting the VPN
when I want to transfer stuff to and from that machine. Shame...

On 24 Jun 2005 14:04, "Nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I'm just going to have to keep disconnecting the VPN when I want to
>transfer stuff to and from that machine. Shame...

How about USB storage devices ?

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 21:20:22 +0100, "Nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>That machine uses Cisco VPN to connect to the company network. Until it's
>connected, I can VNC to it - important for me as I just don't have the room
>for more than one keyboard/mouse on my desk. However (and you'll all say "of
>course!") once it's connected to the company's network, it's no longer
>reachable by VNC from my main machine. I'd also like to be able to transfer

Is it a Cisco VPN a hardware solution in your house (ie. a box sitting
next to that machine in your house) or is it a Windows machine with a
VPN entry in the regular Network Connections settings?

If it has a regular (VPN cloud) icon in Windows Network Connections,
right-click the icon, select Properties, Networking, TCP/IP,
Properties, Advanced and UNTICK "Use default gateway on remote
network".

By doing this, the machine only uses the VPN for those IP addresses
which are specific to the remote VPN LAN. All other IP connections
will be routed locally. VNC, file sharing and other local services
should now all work.

--
Andrew Oakley andrew/atsymbol/aoakley/stop/com

"poster" <us-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsv4ob1tulafnondc9qrq4tapdf1914funm@212.159.2. 85...
> On 24 Jun 2005 14:04, "Nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>I'm just going to have to keep disconnecting the VPN when I want to
>>transfer stuff to and from that machine. Shame...
>
> How about USB storage devices ?

Yeah, can do that (although the new machine only has USB round the back -
typical...) - it's more about controlling the machine from this one. Damn my
employer and their pointless "security" functions. ;o)

"Andrew Oakley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 21:20:22 +0100, "Nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>That machine uses Cisco VPN to connect to the company network. Until it's
>>connected, I can VNC to it - important for me as I just don't have the
>>room
>>for more than one keyboard/mouse on my desk. However (and you'll all say
>>"of
>>course!") once it's connected to the company's network, it's no longer
>>reachable by VNC from my main machine. I'd also like to be able to
>>transfer
>
> Is it a Cisco VPN a hardware solution in your house (ie. a box sitting
> next to that machine in your house) or is it a Windows machine with a
> VPN entry in the regular Network Connections settings?
>
> If it has a regular (VPN cloud) icon in Windows Network Connections,
> right-click the icon, select Properties, Networking, TCP/IP,
> Properties, Advanced and UNTICK "Use default gateway on remote
> network".
>
> By doing this, the machine only uses the VPN for those IP addresses
> which are specific to the remote VPN LAN. All other IP connections
> will be routed locally. VNC, file sharing and other local services
> should now all work.

Thanks Andrew, but I can't do that as I can't move off the "IP Settings" tab
due to the message "The combination of IP address and subnet mask is
invalid. etc."

Interesting idea though...

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 17:20:55 +0100, "Nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"Andrew Oakley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> Properties, Advanced and UNTICK "Use default gateway on remote
>> network".
>> By doing this, the machine only uses the VPN for those IP addresses
>> which are specific to the remote VPN LAN. All other IP connections
>> will be routed locally. VNC, file sharing and other local services
>> should now all work.
>Thanks Andrew, but I can't do that as I can't move off the "IP Settings" tab
>due to the message "The combination of IP address and subnet mask is
>invalid. etc."

This invalid IP/subnet is almost certainly the root of your problem.

What IP and subnet are you using on your work LAN? (If that isn't
confidential company information)

Also what is the IP and subnet of your local home network?

It is possible that your home LAN IP range and your work LAN IP range
overlap. In which case, move your home LAN IP range into a different
range.

RFC 1918 lists valid private IP ranges:
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1918.html

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

Using different subnet masks, you can divide these into smaller
seperate ranges.

--
Andrew Oakley