Windows 7: Vpn hell

Hi there,

I’ve been trying for weeks to establish a VPN connection and I keep getting the dreaded 800 error. I’m desperate; any help would be appreciated…

(1) I’m trying to establish an outgoing VPN connection from Computer A to Computer B
(2) A is running Windows XP
(3) B is running Windows 7
(4) A is overseas using an ISP in another country
(5) B has a static external ip address assigned by the ISP
(6) B has a static internal ip address in the LAN
(7) On B’s router I’ve opened TCP port 1723 and UDP port 500
(8) Both the above ports have been assigned to B by using its internal static ip address
(9) A can ping B with no lost packages
(10) On B I have set up the incoming ip (I think) correctly
(11) On A I have set up the outgoing connection with
Username: the username provided by B i.e. the Computer Name
Password: the password I set up on B
Hostname: the external ip address of B
(12) The router on A has the firewall disabled
(13) The router on B has the firewall enabled
(14) I have disabled the software firewalls and antivirus on both machines
(15) On my B I have "allowed callers to access my local area network"
(16) On B I have also selected "assign IP addresses automatically using DHCP" and have NOT selected "allow calling computer to specify its own address"
(17) On B’s router I have enabled UPnP

I’ve tried a million times but I keep getting the 800 error. The only things I can suggest are:

(a) In step (10) above I’m supposed to enter the name of the new User to set up. I have used the Computer Name of A. Is this right? Does it even make a difference? (see here: http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/u...atuX/VPN/3.jpg)
(b) There is some inconsistency in security used by XP vs. Windows 7, e.g. Windows 7 requires stronger security for incoming connections than the outgoing connection from A

Any ideas, as I’m running out of ideas?

Many thanks

Nosferatu rofl.

Switch the computer on Windows 7 to workgroup instead of homegroup and disable IPv6:

Here's how to do it:


Tell me if that works, because it usually does. Windows XP uses workgroup. There's some incompatibility between homegroup and workgroup.

Thanks for your prompt reply Fred.
Tried that and unfortunately no luck, I still get the 800 error.

(1) Could be anything to do with the new user name I use when I set up the incoming connection on machine B?

(2) Perhaps some of the other security settings on the XP machine A? e.g. encryption etc?

(3) Anything else?

Any help, really appreciated; I'm pulling my hair out here...

As an update I can now establish an incoming VPN connection from a machine on the same LAN as B (i.e. the VPN server).

However, the remote machine, A, still cannot connect to B, using identical settings. Again, to clarify, A can telnet to other machines' port 1723, but NOT to B.

Any ideas welcome...

Not having so much knowledge on the subject, may i ask since B has specific internal IP why NOT "allow calling computer to specify its own address" ?

If it's a stupid question just ignore it.

hope u find the solution soon.

Thanks,

I actually tried it both with and without and made no difference....

If you are using ICS on any of those machines it's been known to cause a conflict with VPN connections. Disabling ICS fixes the problem.

The Norton firewall, and the Norton worm and spyware blocker have also been known to cause the error 800.

Also, the router being used may need a firmware update to get it to work with the Win 7 VPN client, this has also been known to fix this type of problem.

You may also get this error if the subnet is the same on both ends.
I.E 192.168.1.xxx on the remote network you are trying to connect to via VPN and 192.168.1.xxx on the local network you are connecting from.

For this reason it is a good idea NOT to use 192.168.1.xxx on your business network which you will be VPNing to, especially if you use SBS 2003 as a VPN server.

This post from Msoft about pass through GRE Protocol traffic and routers might be helpful.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...b-5acc96dced24
The links below might also help.
http://blogs.technet.com/rrasblog/ar...ed-errors.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb877965.aspx

This has now been resolved by disabling ZoneAlarm on the server which then however gave error 733.

This was then resolved by specifying a range of ip addresses for the client to connect to.

Thanks to everyone for their help.