Remote Desktop issue

david11596 · 08-12-2008, 01:53 PM

I was asked to help out a friend who is having issues with his Remote desktop. This all started when he changed computers a few weeks ago and I wanted to see if I could help him resolve it. Essentially, he has two offices and computers in both offices. One computer has a VPN connection to the main office through a windows vpn connection (I haven't even seen the other office and I am not sure what kind of VPN hardware he is using - based on what I know of the office, I am assuming a basic router with VPN Tunneling). He generally leaves this VPN connection on all the time to allow for Outlook access, etc.

The issue that has arisen is his ability to connect to his office computer from a third computer (like his home computer) through Remote Desktop when the VPN connection between the two office computers is active. Apparently, he had no problem doing this on his old computer, but his new computer is struggling. The ip address of this machine is a static public address that is publicly accessible. I am assuming that the VPN dynamically assigned address is somehow conflicting with it. Is there a setting to make the Local Area Connection "dominant". Or is there something else that I am missing?

Thanks,

David

johnwill · 08-13-2008, 01:12 PM

Normally, a VPN will block any other network activity to the machine in question. In addition, he only has one public IP address, so a connection from another computer to the office when the VPN tunnel is active would probably show up as an attempt to bypass the VPN, which I doubt the company IT folks would allow.

We'd have to know a lot more about the exact setup to be sure.

08-12-2008, 01:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
david11596 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Windows XP	Remote Desktop issue I was asked to help out a friend who is having issues with his Remote desktop. This all started when he changed computers a few weeks ago and I wanted to see if I could help him resolve it. Essentially, he has two offices and computers in both offices. One computer has a VPN connection to the main office through a windows vpn connection (I haven't even seen the other office and I am not sure what kind of VPN hardware he is using - based on what I know of the office, I am assuming a basic router with VPN Tunneling). He generally leaves this VPN connection on all the time to allow for Outlook access, etc. The issue that has arisen is his ability to connect to his office computer from a third computer (like his home computer) through Remote Desktop when the VPN connection between the two office computers is active. Apparently, he had no problem doing this on his old computer, but his new computer is struggling. The ip address of this machine is a static public address that is publicly accessible. I am assuming that the VPN dynamically assigned address is somehow conflicting with it. Is there a setting to make the Local Area Connection "dominant". Or is there something else that I am missing? Thanks, David Last edited by david11596 : 08-12-2008 at 02:07 PM.

08-13-2008, 01:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 32,947 OS: XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Remote Desktop issue Normally, a VPN will block any other network activity to the machine in question. In addition, he only has one public IP address, so a connection from another computer to the office when the VPN tunnel is active would probably show up as an attempt to bypass the VPN, which I doubt the company IT folks would allow. We'd have to know a lot more about the exact setup to be sure. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience