Remote Desktop Connection Closing (Cisco Any Connect VPN, Win 7)

I can connect my local laptop to a remote desktop using Cisco Any Connect VPN on windows 7. I can use the internet, send emails, work with files on the remote computer.

However if I switch back to the local laptop computer and use the internet, send emails, or open files the remote connection closes. I get the folowing error

Remote Desktop Connection has stopped working
A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program.

Does anyone have any suggestions to prevent this?

Do you create the VPN first and then the RDP session?

If so, you are probably using the VPN to get to the remote computer. Closing the VPN will shutdown the RDP Session/

Dave

I keep the VPN active at all times. In order for my email to work on my laptop I need to be on the VPN.

It used to work normally. But now when I start working on my laptop it closes the connection.

Previously we used the Cisco VPN Client. Then we switched to Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client. But when I try using the old method now it still closes the connection as soon as I start opening files on my laptop. Its wierd.

It could be a bandwidth problem when pulling files through the VPN. This is probably why they want you to RDP so that there is less strain on the connection.

Is the laptop on a domain? If so its always possible that you have redirected folders setup which again would pull documents through the connection when opened.

Do you have an IT Guy that you can check with to see how exactly you need to be opening documents?


Dave

It probably is a bandwidth problem. I should give more background:

I work from home and I connect my laptop to the work VPN to get emails. I can also connect to the work server on my laptop but it is painfully slow.

So If I need files from the server I usually connect to the remote desktop and save them to the remote desktop. From there it is usually quite fast to copy the files to my local laptop. If the files are really large I use a file transfer system.

Previously I could have the RDP open all day and work freely on my laptop. But lately even when I open a file on my laptop desktop the connection gets broken. I have tried it in another location with a different internet connection and the same thing happened.

We are getting a Fibre Optic connection to my home pretty soon so I will see if that is the issue.

You should be able to work on your laptop with the remote session open. However there is normally an idle time where it disconnects you after a period od inactivity.

See if the new connection helps. If it is a bandwidth problem then I would suggest that you keep using the RDP session and then use FTP to transfer big files if needed (Zip them first to compress them).


Dave

It is not a matter of idle time. It closes immediately after I start opening files on the laptop, sending emails, or surfing the internet. It is a weird problem that just started happening. Maybe it is the bandwidth.

There is a setting on the Cisco Any Connect that is Enable Local LAN Access. I am going to try deselecting that and give it a try.

I imagine the local LAN acess is to allow your PC to send traffic from other PC's on your network down the VPN. Acting like a site-to-site VPN?

Dave