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Subject: DNS & Offline Folder Issues with Mobile User VPN

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Simon Leigh User is Offline

United Kingdom
Member since
2/19/2008

Registered Users
Posts: 36

7/09/2008 05:32 PM
Hi I am running SBS 2003 in an office with a number of mobile users. These clients connect to the exchange server via the preconfigured VPN set up as part of the SBS network installation procedure and this works fine. However, one of the remote clients is unable to browse some websites when the VPN is connected. As soon as she disconnects the VPN she is then able to connect to these sites perfectly. I have done a trace on her DNS and found that her computer is still using the SBS server as her DNS server when she is connected via VPN. When she disconnects the VPN her computer then uses the DNS server provided by her ISP and can then resolve all websites addresses perfectly. 1) Is there any way to avoid this so that she can freely browse the Internet without having to disconnect the VPN? Possibly linked to this issue are other problems with her offline folders and the VPN connection. These are set to sync with the server on logon / logoff of both the LAN and the VPN connection for when she is in the office and connected remotely. However, with the VPN connected documents take minutes to open or freeze her laptop completely. Again, once the VPN is disconnected she can work with her offline folders as expected. This means that she has to disconnect from the VPN to browse the and then connect to send and receive mail. 1) Is there a way to prevent this so that she can keep the VPN connection open for the entire session? Many thanks Simon

Michael Patrick User is Offline

United States
Member since
10/26/2005

Platinum Membership
Posts: 1901

7/15/2008 04:47 PM
give this a shot... Edit the properties of the VPN connection... Networking tab, select Internet Protocol and click properties Select Advanced and uncheck "Use default gateway on remote network" (or check it if its not....I always forget which way is which) As for keeping the connection open...this should fix that...

Michael Patrick "Technology Interpreter Extraordinaire" CAD, BIM & SBS

Simon Leigh User is Offline

United Kingdom
Member since
2/19/2008

Registered Users
Posts: 36

8/08/2008 08:54 PM
Hi Michael Thanks, that did solve my browsing issue. However, I still have the problem of very slow offline folder response when the vpn is connected. The client now has to disconnect the vpn in order to work on any offline content as leaving it unconnected triggers a upload/download with the server every time she opens a document or file. 1) Why is this happening when the synchronise settings are set to run only at log on and log off? 2) Is there a better way to give her offline access to her files? She has around 2-3 GB of content to which she needs to have access to offline. 3) Is there an optimal solution for giving a remote user access to their Exchange mailbox and offline folders content which I should consider implementing? Many thanks Simon

Marina Roos User is Offline

The Netherlands
Member since
3/24/2005

Forum Admins
Posts: 11720

8/09/2008 02:31 AM

Hi Simon,

VPN will always be slow, no matter what, especially if the offline folders are that big. You do know about RWW, right?

Marina Roos Smallbizserver.Net Administrator

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Simon Leigh User is Offline

United Kingdom
Member since
2/19/2008

Registered Users
Posts: 36

8/11/2008 01:21 PM
Hi Marina I do know about RWW but the issue I have is that all my users are fully mobile in that they all have laptops only so there is no desktop computer to log into. They need to be able to work on their files and folders when offline but also want the security of central server backup for these important files. I was wondering if there was any better way to achieve this other than a vpn if a vpn is so slow? If not, is there anything I can do to ensure that the vpn connection is the fatsest it can be? Can Sharepoint be configured to provide offline access and synchronisation? Many thanks Simon

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Forums > Microsoft Smallbusiness Server > Remote Access > DNS & Offline Folder Issues with Mobile User VPN

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