Newbie VPN Q

[jmone]

Hi,
Couple of Newbie Q on VPN, my setup is:
- AC68U running Merlin 378.55
- Home Network with mix of Static and DHCP assigned Devices
- Windows PC (mostly Win10), No Domain, No local Wins or DNS server, Using Homegroup to provide access on folders between PCs

I want to
1) take my laptop on the road and connect using a VPN so that it looks and behaves the same as if on my home network
2) provide a friend access to one folder from their home
3) not open my NW up to any overt security issues

So far, I've enabled the PPTP Server on the AC68U and can connect over the VPN to my home network on my Laptop but
1) From my Laptop, I don't get name resolution so can not "see" my PC's in Windows Explorer etc as when you are on the LAN. I can manually browse shared folders just fine but have to first use the IP address of the particular device (eg \\192.168.1.xx\sharename).
2) If I can not see the details of the friends VPN connected PC how do I set secuirty on a particular local folder?

My preference would be to use inbuilt Windows (and ASUS) features if that is possible or do I have to use and install OpenVPN to do what I need?

Thanks
Nathan

 

[Calisro]

If you want security, PPTP is not good. MSCHAP v1 and v2 are not good choices. You really should switch to openvpn.

PPTP could use EAP-TLS which is secure but that cant be done without a public key infrastructure.

 

[ColinTaylor]

1) From my Laptop, I don't get name resolution so can not "see" my PC's in Windows Explorer etc as when you are on the LAN. I can manually browse shared folders just fine but have to first use the IP address of the particular device (eg \\192.168.1.xx\sharename).

Have you tried enabling "Broadcast Support" in the VPN Details?

 

[jmone]

Have you tried enabling "Broadcast Support" in the VPN Details?

Yes - It was enabled by Default (ASUS Router)

 

[jmone]

I've gone down the OpenVPN option (using TAP) and after a bit of reading and config have my Laptop connected just fine and both with name resolution and shares working fine between it and the other PCs on my network.

I am having an issue however with my the connection from my friends PC from his network. He can VPN and we get Name resolution just fine (can see each others PC in Windows Explorer for example) but he can not access any Shares on my PCs (even though one is setup as "Everyone" on my Win10 box). He just gets a "Windows cannot access error 0x80070035". I'm wondering if it could be a IP Conflict between the two networks or something more obvious?

Thanks
Nathan

 

[john9527]

Try having your friend temporarily disable his firewall and see if that allows access.