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Well, recently at work we have setup VPN in order to connect transcriptionist to our network. Here's the problem. The users who use AOL to connect to the internet are having problems staying connected to the VPN. Once AOL is connected then the VPN is connected. The VPN will stay connected until the terminial emulator program starts to run. It will stay up for about 10 seconds and then AOL will disconnect. So, basically AOL doesn't have a problem staying connected while the VPN itself is connected, but when you start running a terminal session over the AOL connection it drops. Everything works fine for other users on Cable, DSL, and other dial-ups(netzero). It just seems to be AOL specifically. Just wondering if anyone has encountered this problem before or if anyone has any ideas. I am hesitant in trying to contact AOL for obvious reasons and I thought I might try my luck here and some other places. Thanks alot.
What emulation program (there are many) are you using since that seems to be the source of your problem? What are the obvious reasons for not contacting AOL tech support? I don't use AOL myself but understand they have a quality support system. You might also want to contact the emulator vendor.
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We are using JSB muliview 2000 32-bit terminal emulation suite. As far as AOL goes, I just don't want to spend 45 minutes on the phone with someone who has no idea what I am talking about. But, I am making assumptions based on previous experiences with other ISPs. Thanks for your input.
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Yes, the setup works fine with cable, DSL, and other dial up services. We have several AOL users (5) who have this problem. It seems when you throw AOL into the mix something goes sour.
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So , your telling me that all your AOL users are having this same problem...hummmmmm are they all using the same OS? it's sounds like this program is killing AOL some how. I can tell you one thing AOL is not going to help you with this issues, because AOL works okay by it self , right?
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"The VPN will stay connected until the
terminial emulator program starts to run".Is it out of the question to try a different emulator with these five users? I would try with at least one to see if it isn't the emulator software and/or contact their tech support. Visit their web page for FAQ's or known bugs.
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I wish I could move them of AOL, but these transcriptionist are contracted and don't directly work for the company. I can only tell them it doesn't work.
These people are running windows 98SE.
AOL disconnects first. Either the Terminal emulation software is doing something or AOL doesn't like what's going on. I have heard talk about AOL limiting VPN connections somehow, don't know if that's true. I appreciate everyone's feedback, thanks.
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"try another emulator"
unfortunately, this is the only one at our disposal. I am currently contacting the vendor
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Go to the Rumba/NetManage web page or try this link:
http://www.networkbuyersguide.com/search/105331.htmSee if any vendors have demos available for download.
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why don't you setup a modem on YOUR NW and let them dial directly in to your setup and leave AOL out of it?
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I don't think AOL is not limiting VPN connections, I think this program is killing AOL dialup some how. Without this Terminal emulation program , AOL works fine.
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becuase our RAS server is having problems and this is why we implemented the VPN. They are currently still connecting to the problematic RAS server.
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Setting up a "receiving" modem as mike suggests will probably take too much time even though it sounds like a wise solution.
In the mean time, can you have them use Telnet since you already have security with VPN.
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Without starting this Terminal emulation program , for the AOL users only can you map a drive and execute a program across the VPN without being disconnected?
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I am thinking only, that this Ter emu program might not be the problem here, but not having enough bandwidth could be the issue here. are all the AOL users in that same area and using the same modem bank?
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Brain: I am kind of thinking the same thing about bandwidth, the users are in the same area, and we have one who can use setup on AOL fine.
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This is what I would do:
I would send ping packets with bigger payloads, like 1024 bytes and >
too see at what point where the modem will disconnect.ping 10.1.1.1 -l 1024 -t == > [enter]
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"Everything works fine for other users on Cable, DSL, and other dial-ups(netzero)."
If net zero dial-up works then it might not be a bandwidth problem.
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Well, Netzero works fine in another location, I have not tried it on the PC's that are using AOL. That might be something to try as well.
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What do you think the most limiting factor would be (a) the actual phone lines, most of these are located in suburbs of Asheville, NC. or (b) AOL's network.
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If the problem was bandwith, the applications would likely just stop responding/timeout. After the emulator is launched AOL drops which points me to a software conflict, not the capacity of the pipe, in my opinion.
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That not true, if the line is taking errors or bit over runs the line would drop. I would still try mapping a drive across the VPN and execute a program to see if the line drops.
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Here is something else , try using another provider in that area and see if the problem still exists. That would tell you if it's the phone lines or AOL modem banks...
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If I rember correctly, While I was at someones house, I was able to run the Multiview emulator fine until I actually logged on to it, then it dropped. So it appears that the software (client side) doesn't cause a problem until the user logs into the the server and starts sending/recieving.
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I am getting ready to setup a box with AOL at our office to try and see what happens. I had to commandere a phone/fax line. I appreciate everyones input. Hopefully I will have a little more info in a bit.
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Rather than continuing to "best guess" the root cause, let's wait to see what happens with the test box. I would still try a Telnet session, if one can be configured for this.
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as it stands right now, i have tried pinging AOL to death, I can get to disconnect with pings of around 10000 bytes, that might be excessive. While watching the command prompt when pinging i get "general error" right before AOL disconnects. Unfortunately I can not map a drive as the server we are connecting to is an AIX box. Either way, it looks like AOL is crapping out regardless of if I am running the terminal session or not. I do, however, have the VPN up while doing this, just not the actual treminal session application. Any thoughts?
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10000 bytes is nothing, if anything it should give you time-out requests ,It should not be disconnecting you. It now sounding like the PPTP over AOL is the problem and I am now thinking bandwidth again. I would download a bandwidth meter to see how much bandwidth it using.
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mike's idea to use your own access modem doesn't sound bad or you can have these folks try a different ISP.
Whatever you decide, I wish you luck and ultimately success!
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Someone suggested to me that when a VPN connection is established it may make it so that AOL can no longer ping it's gateway thus causing the disconnect. what do you think?
oh, I DLed a bandwidth monitor, but here's the stupid part. This in an XP machine (the only thing I have at my disposal at the moment), the AOL connectoid doesn't show it self as connected when AOL is connected and the Bandwidth Monitor does not recognize the AOL adapter, so it can't monitor it. I can only monitor the VPN and Ethernet adapters. :P
All it takes to get disconnected is to leave the VPN up idlely and in about 6-10 minutes it will drop the AOL connection. Either way, I am begining to think there is nothing I can do to make this work through AOL. Thanks for your help guys, i appreciate it. Let me know if you have anymore insight.
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You should be pinging your PPTP VPN gateway not AOL.
That is what you want the VPN connection
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yeah, I would rather not have to change anything as far as the server goes. once again thanks.
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James,
One additional item you might want to investigate is possible port conflicts. Changing from Multiview 2000 or to a different ISP might help with this effort.
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You may want to check the AOL version - the older software had tons of conflicts. They would pretty much hijack the whole network stack but the last few releases seem to behave.
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I am having the same issues with MS VPN and AOL. I can replicate the problem on AOL 7 and AOL 8 on Windows 2000 and XP. The situation is similar but not the same. My AOL users connect to AOL, launch the VPN client (created with MS CMAK), connect to our network, and then Launch Outlook. Outlook opens fine and they can read email. However, if they try to send an email, it times out looking for the Exchange server. Very weird but this problem is ONLY experienced with AOL. I can reproduce the issue with AOL 7 and AOL 8 and on two different OS's. Any Clues?
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I found this thread searching for info about AOL hanging up on my office VPN connection -- exact same problem you all are talking about. Tech support at AOL told me that the reason is because AOL DSL connects using a VPN, and you can only have one instance of the VPN connection open at any one time. Opening another with PPTP creates a conflict. Does that make sense?
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I have been battling this problem for some time with AOL DSL. I set a vpn connection to work center and it drops after a while. I have resolved it by setting up ICS host, starting AOL DSL on one machine and hitting the work center with VPN from another machine; however, I just found out that I screwed myself by going to XP pro. ICS worked great with AOL on ME and 98SE but AOL may be blocking it on AOL 7 and 8 according to Google search for XP Pro AND ICS AND AOL. I have wasted many hours trying to get AOL 8 and XP set up on ICS with no luck. I have sent in a query to AOL to see if they are blocking it.
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