VPN connections.

[bsaana]

The company I work for has a contract with the state I live in. I am remote employee and handle stuff for the western end of the state. They set up a state vpn connection so we can remotely troubleshoot the sites. All of a sudden last week I started getting error 721 - Remote computer did not respond in windows xp, but vista gave error 806. I tried everything that the state asked of me to troubleshoot it, and everything I could find online.....

Turns out it was the fault of my ISP. I called into their helpdesk and the first tier guys started a ticket and passed it up, and told me that it may be chargeable for troubleshooting. I get a call back later from another tech, and she asks for the static IP that was assigned to me. I was then informed that for vpn to work they have to assign a different IP!!! The vpn worked for over a year, and only suddenly stopped last week! How the hell had I been able to get through before this????

At least it now works.

[Plank]

Either:
1. A recent software update changed the rules

2. Gremlins have been gnawing at DNSes

3. It was less complicated for the tech to fix the problem if you changed IP and the tech was too worried about having to spend 30-60 minutes explaining why a different IP simplified things (Not that it would take 30 min to explain (idk), but some people can take a while to explain to, hence this site :-) ) so lied for convenience

[bsaana]

Yeah, as someone who does tech support I know why we have this site. With my ISP I know they have things locked down behind their own firewall, and maybe some other devices. I have already thought it might be an upgrade or system change. This company provides regular land line phones, dsl, and cable tv (no cable internet) to about 77 different communities across the state. I live right in front of their sattelite farm in this town, and can tell they are planning some sort of fiber optic upgrade. They just got in a whole bunch of underground access tubes, and a trailer loaded with those tubes that have a labeled orange top saying buried fiber optic cable.

My only major gripe is they didn't have anything documenting this, or the need for a different IP ANYWHERE on their website. But it shouldn't surprise me. This is the same company that advertised on its website that digital cable was available in my town (I was trying to sign up for their internet and tv bundle) only to be told that NO it was not available, and could not be given an estimate as to when it would be available.