Looking for a solution

[pjnanook]

I thought I had a solution and Zyxel recommended one of their products (I contacted them pre-purchase) and now that I have it they tell me it will not work for my situation. Now I have to eat it. A brand new NBG5715.

I hope you all are a better knowledge base than they seem to have a Zyxel.

I need to connect to my parent network to maintain two Macs. (Client on my end to their network) I need to replace the wireless router they have since the newer machine will not reliably connect. (need replacement due to age according Apple tech support; it's an old Airport Spaceship) need to be able to continue the printer sharing that they currently have. I also need it to be fairly simple once configured so I can ship to them to set up. I could possibly walk my mom through turning off the DNS and wireless features on the Airport and use it as the print server but would prefer a cleaner solution. My mom does pretty good on the computer stuff but a 72 years young, she is not really of the computer generation.

While I do have VPN set up on my end, it is currently only Client to VPN for me to use when traveling. We don't need to share resources so I don't need or want the overhead of site to site. Also, my Mac Mini server only supports site to site with static IPs. These are both basic home accounts and thus have dynamic IPs. I have set up URLs at Dyndns for both places.

Any ideas are welcome with extra points for low cost and ease of use but mostly, I want something that works as it is an $900 plane ticket to go down there to fix things.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[thiggins]

So why didn't the IPsec connection work on the ZyXEL? Did they not provide an IPsec client?

 

[pjnanook]

Evidently no client. Here is the quote from my last email from them:

"After my test and research I found that this unit will not work with a
dynamic VPN that is by design. The VPN part of the router is to connect
a site-to-site and not to a dynamic end or in your case the RW
configurations. Sorry about the mix up there, but if you have any other
questions please let me know."

It is kind of odd since the router supports Dyndns so the not supporting a dynamic end baffles me. I will play with it some more but I am not very happy with Zyxel's tech support since their "mix up" cost me money. I am looking into Logmein's Hamachi to see if it will work for me. One problem with it is it does not support G4 Macs and one of my parent's Mac is a G4 Powerbook. The Logmein free does support it. I really was looking for a true Client to network VPN solution.

Thanks for the interest

Kevin

 

[pjnanook]

So the tech I was working with passed this on to his manager. I looks as if Zyxel is trying to find me a solution with no if minimal out of pocket passed what I already have spent.

Will let you know what happens.

Kevin

 

[pjnanook]

Zyxel comes through in the end

Not really what one would expect from a router base for home use as this router only supports site-to-site. For home use, you would think that connecting to your office (via site-to-site but more probable, pass through) and client to network would be standard. As with any product, meeting a price point involves compromise. At the price point this seems like a strong product. I can find no other that offers VPN capabilities with usb printer and storage options.

The nice folks at Tech support are forwarding my recommendations to the design people for possible new products that better fit this market niche. In the End, the folks at Zyxel have taken care of me and I can now recommend the company. They are very responsive to the customer. This is a very new product and even tech support had not encountered this issue previously. Learning experience for all. I would by Zyxel again.

Kevin

 

[thiggins]

So what is the solution ZyXEL came up with?

 

[pjnanook]

Actually, I am still waiting.

Kevin

 

[claykin]

Seems like a bit of mis-information.

That wifi router will only support VPN pass-through. Thats it. If you want site to site VPN, you need an endpoint capable of such. Maybe 2 x Zyxel USG20??

Or maybe consider using www.logmein.com to address your remote support needs?

 

[pjnanook]

The 5715 will support site to site but not client to network. (Chapter 18 in the user guide) The point was that pre-purchase, tech support said it would support Client to Network. Not sure where it supports pass-through or not but I would assume it does. (didn't try it, didn't look for it)

I was in the set up screens for the VPN so I know what is there. After not being able to find the client to network set up a I contacted tech support again and, oh by the way, it does not do that. They said that they are going to make it right but I am still waiting.

Was trying to set up Hamachi but it does not support an old G4 Mac that I need to support. The 5715 would have been perfect for my application if it supported Client to network as it will support a printer and storage via the 2 USBs. Looks like a good router and a good value but not the features I needed. It seems that tech support learned something as well.


BTW 2 USG20s would be overkill since i just need the one Client to Network endpoint. I would just need the one.

Kevin

 

[pjnanook]

Now have a USG 20W. The thing keeps locking up every time I try to bridge the wlan and lan1.

I have a question into tech support. Really getting tired of inputting my data over and over.

Kevin