BEFSX41 * 2 No Ping

[Poncherello]

I setup a VPN tunnel between 2 BEFSX41's & got the whole thing connected as per instructions on Linksys' website. However, nothing is showing up in network neighborhood on either side of the network, and when I ping accross the network, I get no response (i.e. I'm on 192.168.2.0...cant ping other network on 192.168.1.0 and vice versa). Im wondering if there is something I missed? All I setup was the VPN Tunnel under the respective tab on each router - I haven't touched static routing or anything else....appreciate any comments/advise/criticisms anyone can offer...Thanx

 

[jbotz]

You'll need to get IPs on the same subnet on both sides in order to be able to ping. Just change the starting address for the Linksys's DHCP server to account for the PCs on each side, and you should be rockin.

 

[Poncherello]

I though that the VPN Routers have to be set up on different subnets - otherwise they just won't function?

 

[jbotz]

Unsure if that is the case. I had set up a couple VPNs, although not with the Linksys product you have. I had used MultiTech's RF600VPN to connect to their RF550VPN. I ended up with a perfectly functioning tunnel but no connectivity between the machines while they were on different subnets. Once I changed the subnet, I got full connectivity. One way around that, if you don't want to change the subnet, would be to manually edit the hosts file to contain the IP address of the computers on the other end of the tunnel, although that is problematic if using DHCP.

 

[Poncherello]

Well I changed the subnets so that both routers were on the same network, and this didn't seem to make any difference. I see what you are getting at in relation to subnets - however, even if the routers are on different subnets, I should still be able to ping accross the subnets. Thanks for the tips so far - if you can think of anything else at all, I appreciate if you can post. In the meantime I tried with Linksys' online chat tech support thing....jeez and I thought I was a network amateur...anyhow..Ill keep at it.

 

[John Lewis]

First, fix your subnets back to the way they were. If the subnets are the same on both sides, the computer will think that it can reach the computers on the other side directly, so traffic will not be properly addressed to the router. Not even questionable -- the networks have to have different network addresses.

All of the computers should point to the linksys as their default gateway. If you are also accessing the internet through those, that should already be taken care of. If you are using something else for internet access, then you might need to add a static route on the other device or each of the computers on the network.

You will need to setup the routing table on the linksys. Without this, it has no way of knowing that the 192.168.2 network lives on the other side of the other linksys box. The traffic will go to the internet in general instead of being directed through the VPN connection. I don't have one of those in front of me right now, but it isn't difficult so you may be able to make it through with the manual. If not post back, I can probably get to it tomorrow if no one else comes along first.

 

[John Lewis]

Just remembered -- it's not the routing table that takes care of that. You need to configure the 'remote secure group' on each side of the tunnel, this adds routes internally and allows access from the other side.

I looked to see what I could find real quickly, see

http://www.linksys.com/support/top1... a VPN tunnel between two BEFSX41 routers.asp

Note the 'Before you begin' section explains that the network addresses must be different on both sides, as I stated. Sounds like you have most of it taken care of, you need to start at the 'local secure group' section about 1/3 of the way down the page and continue on from there.

If you have already done that, double check your entries as that is the most likely problem. Next would be the routing issue on the individual machines, if you have another router in use. Another possiblity is firewall software on the individual machines. Could be that ICMP (ping) traffic is blocked.

 

[Poncherello]

Thanks for the info Mhkwood. I already had the whole network set up as you suggest - no matter what I did, the whole thing would not allow me to ping. Then, last night, my WAN lost its IP on both routers (either side of the tunnel) - I got it reconnected after resetting the router. This prompted me to upgrade the firmware from 1.44.something to the newest version 1.45.3. Having done this, fiddled around for another 20 mins, I went to the network neighborhood, and everything was there....thanks linksys for selling me a product with duff firmware. Anyhow, thanks for the input - if anyone else is struggling with 2 BEFSX41's let me know and I'll see if I can help you out. L8R...