Need someone expereinced in VPN servers

I am trying to get a time sheet software called gradience for teachers to be able electronically clock in at their classroom. The database and software for the time sheet program is stored onto the main server in the office. It has been tested and it works fine from that standpoint as long as the computer trying to clock in is on the domain that the server is on.

Here's what doesn't work: I am trying to get the computers in the various classrooms around the county to be able to connect to the VPN server which then connects to the server and thus the transfer of information can begin. The classrooms can connect but receive constant timeouts and packet loss. Whats wrong?

I know I'm going to need to post more information so just ask me what you need and I'll get on it.

Thanks for your time,
Ruin

 

I don't know if this will solve your problem but I run a small VPN with just a few computers and have a Netopia Router that is the VPN server.

I initially had some very troubling stability problems. I found out that the incoming connections need to be on a different subnet then the server. We originally had all of our locations on 192.168.1.x and couldn't make it work. At the advice of a friend in the business, I changed my server subnet to 172.28.28.x and all of the stability problems went away. I could also have gone out and changed all of the remote locations and left the server location alone but logistically it was easier to change the server end.

 

Thanks, i'll give that a try. When changing the server subnet mask will I have to configure anything else? Also do you mean change the subnet on the VPN server(custom made tower in my case) or do you mean change it on the domain server.

 

The base subnet of the connecting network needs to be different then the network that it's connecting to. For example, the main network might be on 192.168.1.xxx and the subnet mask would be 255.255.255.0. The network that is trying to come into the main network needs to be anything except 192.168.1.xxx. Perhaps try one network on 192.168.5.xxx. The subnet mask of the second network will still be 255.255.255.0. You will be tunneling to the main network and get an IP suitable for that network on the VPN connection so the subnet mask doesn't need to be changed.

I suspect you are a little confused about what subnet means. It is simply the first three octets of the IP address. The subnet mask is a little different. It only specifies what subnets you are allowed to connect with.

I think the reason the subnets need to be different is so you don't end up with address conflicts when you connect the two. If your computer was 192.168.1.100 and you connected to a vpn that had another computer on that same IP, it would cause a conflict.