Remote Desktop Connection from Outside

[rshendrix]

General setup - Cisco PIX firewall configured for VPN access from the outside & Windows XP workstation that is not a member of the AD/domain.

I can connect to our network via the VPN and make an RDC to several PCs located on our network. Some PCs are a member of the AD/domain and some are just regular workgroup members.

I am having a problem with one particular Windows XP computer that is not in AD/domain. I can connect to it via RDC from within the network but have been unable to coming in over the VPN. The message "not accepting connections or network busy..." comes up after 10-20 seconds. I can connect to my desktop over the VPN using RDC and then connect to the computer in question via RDC and it works.

I have tried many things in troubleshooting this. I have even turned OFF the Windows Firewall on the PC and still no luck.

I sure hope someone has some suggestions or has seen this issue before.

 

[gavm99]

Have you tried using the computers IP?

Have you tried its full DNS name?

Have you checked within the Remote Tab on the PC to make sure it set to accept RDP requests and has the right users there?

Thanks.

 

[rshendrix]

The computer IP is all I ever try. The VPN connection does not configure DNS or anything for my home computer.

The remote tab is checked because I am able to RDC to it from other computers on the internal network. It just does not work when trying to connect from outside.

However, I will recheck all settings again!

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[gavm99]

Ok, if you can't get it from IP it has to be either a security issue at home - like ZoneAlarm, Norton Security Center etc or a firewall issue on the network which is now forwarding the request on?

 

[rshendrix]

I can rule out the security issue at home because I can RDC to other computers over the VPN.

The PIX firewall is what I suspect but I do not see any rules that would be preventing it. We use the 10.x.x.x private network addressing scheme. The computer in question has an IP of 10.0.71.25. I am able to connect without problems to computers in the 10.0.10.x, 10.0.39.x, 10.0.63.x, and 10.0.200.x subnets.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Can you connect to anything else in the 10.0.71.xx range? Can you ping the machine in question via your VPN connection?

CCNA, CCDP, Net+, A+
Work Smarter, Not Harder....
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[rshendrix]

Have not tried to connect to anything else in the 10.0.71.x range.

Cannot ping the machine in question.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Try to at least ping something else in the .71.xx range. If you can't do that, i'd say that something on your Pix is the snaffu. You may have better luck narrowing that one down in the pix forum (be prepared to post your config!).

CCNA, CCDP, Net+, A+
Work Smarter, Not Harder....
This was supposed to be the future.....Where is my JetPack?!

 

[rshendrix]

Solved the problem.

There was no default gateway specified in the tcp/ip settings on the network card and therefore the computer in question could not find its way back to the remote connection from outside the firewall over the VPN.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.