Database Users

GPRS and Static IP with VPN

HI guys,
Does anyone know how to get a static IP address when using the GPRS connection to the internet. The reason being is because our corporate firewall has to recognise the device through it's IP. Is there any other possible methods for recognising the user?
Also does a VPN work well over GPRS and is there any extra configuration involved on the VPN server
Cheers
Any answers would be great.

Unfortunately there is no simple answer to your question. AFAIK you cant get a fixed ip on gprs, but if your using the right firewall and the right vpn host you dont need to.
I use and supply windows sbs 2003 servers and vpn into them regularly. I have also used citrix to achieve similar results. Might be a bit difficult to persuade your firms it dept to set up something like that for 1 person though.
PM me if youd like any advice.

BillyB said:
HI guys,
Does anyone know how to get a static IP address when using the GPRS connection to the internet. The reason being is because our corporate firewall has to recognise the device through it's IP. Is there any other possible methods for recognising the user?
Also does a VPN work well over GPRS and is there any extra configuration involved on the VPN server
Cheers
Any answers would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Billy,
You ask a good question, but the answer isn't simple. Most carriers do have two types of APN (Access Point Name) provision for your SIM: "private" APN (which provides a non-routable IP assignment from behind a NAT, for basic browsing and e-mail functionality) and "public" APN (that provides a routable IP assignment, which is the Minimum Requirement for a more sophisticated connection type, such as VPN, etc). However, both of them are assigned by a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Server on a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) of your particular GPRS network operator. In either case, the end result will obviously be a DYNAMIC IP address on your GPRS terminal (be it a laptop PC, a PDA, or phone)
Some carriers do offer what is called a "dedicated APN" provision, which gives the subscriber their own IP range to choose from (almost like a small subnet), but it is only available to corporate giants like Pepsi (for example).
Now, to sum it up, you must have the proper APN provisioned on your Mobile SIM account (which the provider will normally call something like a "VPN data package" in billing terms). Then, you must obviously establish a GPRS session before you can connect your VPN client (but remember that most basic VPN clients work the best). It is pretty sad to say, but Microsoft Windows-embedded VPN client on Win2k/XP Pro so far has performed the best with no quirks whatsoever. It has to be via PPTP...L2TP has also worked for me..otherwise, the fancier (and more secure) the VPN tunneling protocol, the more its likely to fail. Normally all you need for a basic MS WIndows VPN client config is the Server name (or IP address), the user name, and the password.
Hope this helps,
Let me know how it goes,
Alex
PS. PM me if you have further questions.

VPN and TS Its like pulling teeth
hi all this has got to be the most anoying problem ever. i can connect to O2 vpn access point and hence i can connect to my work vpn server. however as soon as i try to open a TS connection to my desktop (through the vpn) the VPN connection is dropped and i never connect. Can anybody tell me why? if i have a vpn connection to my work server why does TS try to make another connection and bomb out the original. Is there a fix or another way of doing this i.e. does a external IP have to be nat'd to my desktop IP on port 3389? all help greatly appreciated. Ian

Help with Messaging thru ISA proxy

Hello
I have an HTC P3600 and I need to know if messaging could be tweaked like the weather with proxy connection.
The problem is I can’t sync Gmail messages when the PDA is connected vía WiFi with a proxy server configured. I had the same problem with the weather in the Today screen but found a solution modifying the registry.
Thanks

coldiak said:
Hello
I have an HTC P3600 and I need to know if messaging could be tweaked like the weather with proxy connection.
The problem is I can’t sync Gmail messages when the PDA is connected vía WiFi with a proxy server configured. I had the same problem with the weather in the Today screen but found a solution modifying the registry.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My office LAN has a ISA2004 FW. I simply locked the phones IP/MAC ADDRESS via my DHCP server (so it will always have the same ip address - reserved lease). Then setup a firewall rule on the ISA to allow all outgoing TCP traffic from the phones ip address to the internet. Works perfectly. I have 5 external email accounts on my phone (gmail, hotmail, etc.). Even YOUTUBE videos work fine (RTSP or HTTP).
Hope this helps.
C

the problem is not the ISA server. it´s all open the range of IP of the WiFi
is the HTC, dont go to the proxy to try go out to internet.
sorry for my english

WM 6.1 ActiveSync Exchange Sync over PPTP VPN WORKING ON FIXED SCHEDULE

I'm an IT guy and I just got into smartphone PPCs for the first time after a long-time hiatus from PDAs when I used to be a Palm owner. After my last palm, a LifeDrive, got stolen I moved to a Moto Q wich was a big dissapointment OS wise, and I never really got into modding it or anything, just set my POP3 e-mail server and used it like that for 2 years (draw back was that I didn't have contact sync nore internal e-mail sync that got handled by my exchange server). My contract with that Q expired and I made the move to a Sprint Mogul with WM 6.1 Pro and I'm NEVER LOOKING BACK!!!
Anyways, enough about me, this is my first contribution so I wanted to do the little intro.
I had searched around a bit about how to get ActiveSync to sync my company's Exchange server through PPTP VPN (we don't have it published with a certificate for an actual push config) but all I found was info on how to setup the VPN itself, being an IT guy that was like pointing out the obvious to me as I had already got that running and connecting but couldn't get anything but the OWA site opening in IE and Opera.
Basically what I figured out was that I had to program a work URL exception in the Connections control panel under the Advanced tab. There I added my exchange server's IP address as a URL and used that IP to program the server under ActiveSync with all the usual credentials. I can't configure it to receive as items arrive, instead I had to let the configuration run on a 10 minute schedule. Every time the schedule is up I see the VPN connecting pop up and it syncs PERFECTLY and disconnects the VPN. (It doesn't turn on my screen each time, it just pops up if I'm using it; but that pop up can be turned off if it gets to annoying).
I don't know if anyone else knew about this but I though I'd share this info as I searched for a few days and found nothing, ended up figuring this out myself. If this is new info I'll post more detailed configuration information for those who desire it.

BTW, this is working over the Data Plan and WiFi as well.

Wow. your a god...
I been trying to figure why it kept disconnecting the vpn when it synced up.
Adding the work url exception works perfect...
(Im using WM6.1 on a Samsung Omnia)
Many Many thanks!

No problem dude! I'm surprised no one else has really found this helpful. Glad I could help!
BTW, those exceptions work very well for internal web sites as well. I use it to log in to web-based management consoles such as Symantec's Mail Security for Exchange, Symantec Endpoint, basically if you got an internal website of some sort you can access it through VPN using a Work URL Exception.

I was looking for this info too, i would like more detailed configuration information about this.
Thanx in advance...
Roland hendriks

What part of the configuration are you having trouble with? Configuring the VPN, the Exchange Server or the URL Exception?

Thanks
I personally am thankful for your information. Even if none of the other 1000s of readers out there say anything...
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Tim

Glad I could help! I know I broke my head over this one during the first week of me having a WM phone. I figured it out thanks to the Fdc Soft Task Manager using the Netstat utility. It let me know exactly what the network stack of the phone was trying to do and the URL exclussion I just stumbled upon and reading what the page said it lead me to believe that it might be a routing table for configured "WORK" connections. And it worked.
During the past month or two of using my exchange like this and switching around ROMs and cooking my own ones now I've noticed that having TCP Data Reconnect and Transmission Retry settings in your registry set to high will cause Active Sync to take a long ass time for it to actually route communications through the VPN connection. I noticed this after using custom ROMs wich some have these settings increased to ensure communications go through but they raise connection timeouts way to much. On my own custom ROM I've set these to defaults (2 and 4 respectively) and Active Sync only takes about 1 minute to start syncing onces you hit sync while you wait for it to dial the cellular line and the VPN.

you talk about the vpn..
i think you are in the very small percentage of ppl who can get that to work.
i have the activesync set to manual and have tried the vpn type to both IPSec/L2TP and PPTP
w/o success..i always get a UN PW error which i know cant be so..
i set the host ip to what was shown from "whatsmyip"..
searching for quite awhile, i see thousands of ppl who cant get it to work and have
never found a reliable method that works for anyone but the person who posted it.
if you could back track a little and post how to do it, there are probly
thousands of ppl who would find it very useful and really appreciate it.
thanx

Well one thing is how to setup a WM device's VPN client to connect to your VPN server and another is actually configuring your VPN server. Do you have a working VPN setup in your corporate network already? This usually is setup by having a static IP assigned to your corporate internet connection and a firewall configured to allow VPN access with all the necessary traffic and authentication routes.
If you don't have a static IP in your office and use a lower cost DSL or Cable connection you aren't SOL, for these types of connections you can use a service like dyndns.org to dynamically upadate your dynamic IP into a static dns name like: mycompany.dyndns.org for example. This requires you to setup your firewall or ISP modem to communicate with dyndns.org to report the changes. Most firewalls come with this funcionality already built-in, but most of them also call them by different names so you'd have to look up your equipment's documentation on how to report a dynamic dns service.
I would be happy to help you setup your VPN correctly but its more practicall for me to help you setup a checklist on which type of VPN you want to setup (IPSec or PPTP) and what your corporate network's infrastructure looks like and let you know what to look for in google; there is PLENTY of very helpful information on the web on how to setup VPN but first you have to know what you need and how you are going to achieve it and then you'll know what to look for.
Each setup is very particular to the customer's needs and the network infrastructure that is setup and how much security you want to use (IPSec is a naturally secured VPN tunnel protocol while PPTP is not secured by nature but can be secured with a Radius server in your DMZ validating authentication in an encruypted manner to your Active Directory service).
What I posted above will work for an already existing and working PPTP VPN connection wich I already had running for years in my office and I regularly use with my laptop to connect to my exchange server while on the road or at home. What I posted above is what is need to get your WM device to connect to an already functioning PPTP VPN server.
Hope this helps. And if I'm to help you make a checklist I need a lot of information:
Type of ISP (static IP or dynamic IP)
Type/Brand of firewall device
How the devices are connected together (dumb modem or internet router from your ISP to your firewall's WAN port or a full blown router provided by your ISP wich is patched into your firewall's WAN port)
Internal network configuration (both AD and Exchange on same server (SBS) or separated)
What amount of security you are looking for.
Send me some PMs and maybe I could at least point you in the right direction.

nttdemented: I'm doing the PPTP shuffle at the moment, and wanted to pick your brains..
The basic connection is running fine - e.g. when I add 192.168.0.1 as an Exception and go to http://192.168.0.1 in Pocket IE the VPN fires up and I see the page just fine.
I've also added '10.6.1.8' as an exception, but if I go to that address in PIE, I don't see any network activity (using ethereal/tcpdump) on the 'ppp0' server interface (I use Ubuntu server's pptpd) ...
Can I assume that your Exchange server is hosted on the same machine as your PPTP server? Some MS SBS or similar?
Even if I configure an http proxy (on the 192.168.0.1 IP) I see no activity when I try the 10.6.1.8 address. :/

thanks so much!!
that i didn't find/read about the "exceptions" option in WM before...
Somehow, when i got my phone, i got it to work without this workaround, it just worked, out of the box, no exception setting required. (VPN settings + exchange server location were enough)
But yesterday, from the one moment to the next, it suddenly stopped working.
In my efforts to get it to work again i deleted the exchange settings, but doing that, I deleted all my contacts and my agenda! I was in big trouble because I really needed those , but after reading your post, i got it working again! my phone is synching "as we speak" and i'm very happy!
don't know how it worked before, don't know why it stopped working, all I know is, it's working now!
you made my day

Good to know!
Cheers!
I've since stopped using this method as we got around to publishing our Exchange server with an SSL certificate so I'm actually using SSL enabled ActiveSync push on my phone now.

Excuse me but perhaps you can help me too.
My problem is that I can get/sync my mails using WIFI.
If I connect thru GPRS, y go to send/receive and I get all the mails. If I'm on my office and connect thru WIFI to the work net I also get all the mails from the exchange server.
The problem is when I'm outside my office and connect to other wifi net and try to sync my mails. I have an HTC TOUCH CRUISE with WM 6.1 original from HTC without any flash.
Thanks in advance.

VPN connection doesn't always connect for ActiveSync synchronization?
I have had ActiveSync working with an Exchange server over a PPTP VPN connection for years now, but there has been one nagging issue I can't figure out. For the most part it works, but sometimes when ActiveSync tries to sync it will not make the VPN connection. There is only one connection listed when I tap on the icon on the notification bar - the phone's data connection. So in activesync, the icon with the arrows spins for a while but nothing synchronizes. I think it ends up saying "waiting for network" or something like that. It seems to always work when I manually hit "sync", but sometimes it fails on scheduled synchronizations.
Any idea why this happens sometimes?

oh...cheers...got my brain back...
The exceptions rule has almost fixed mine now. I'm getting mail but not through Activesync (just sits waiting for network).

VPN to Nortel switch over GPRS (HSDPA), then Exchange/POP/IMAP over THAT VPN

Hello,
I want to connect to my Company's VPN and read my e-mails.
My Company uses a Nortel Contivity switch to which I successfully connected with Bluefire Mobile Security VPN v2.7.5, Build 706 (IKE=DES+MD5+DH1; IPsec=3DES+MD5+LZH+PFS; NAT traversal active), using a cellular HSDPA connection. Now comes the bad part: I cannot configure Outlook to use the Exchange server nor the IMAP or POP servers (I tried with Flexmail 4 but with the same results) - it always say that the servers are not accessible. As far as I could figure it out, it seems that after the tunneling is operational, Outlook or any other software still tries to access the internet through the cellular connection (I tried to traceroot some addresses and it ALWAYS goes through the cellular line (not the tunneled connection).
What would be the correct settings in my connection manager so I could access the my Company's Exchange / POP / IMAP servers after I setup the VPN manually with Bluefire?
Thanks a lot!

DO you work for VZ ?? i too would like to connect to my vpn network ... I spoke to our techsupport and advised that wasnt possible ...just for bllackberry ... which i found odd ... i would be interested tofind out how to also

TheAlphonso said:
Hello,
I want to connect to my Company's VPN and read my e-mails.
My Company uses a Nortel Contivity switch to which I successfully connected with Bluefire Mobile Security VPN v2.7.5, Build 706 (IKE=DES+MD5+DH1; IPsec=3DES+MD5+LZH+PFS; NAT traversal active), using a cellular HSDPA connection. Now comes the bad part: I cannot configure Outlook to use the Exchange server nor the IMAP or POP servers (I tried with Flexmail 4 but with the same results) - it always say that the servers are not accessible. As far as I could figure it out, it seems that after the tunneling is operational, Outlook or any other software still tries to access the internet through the cellular connection (I tried to traceroot some addresses and it ALWAYS goes through the cellular line (not the tunneled connection).
What would be the correct settings in my connection manager so I could access the my Company's Exchange / POP / IMAP servers after I setup the VPN manually with Bluefire?
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
!!!up!!!!!

when you configure your email account dont you specify which internet connection it should try to use? so shouldnt youspecify that your work conection is he connection that it should use to check mail.?

WM 6.5.3 and Native VPN......

Hi I recently signed up for a StrongVPN 3 Country deal to give me a stable VPN connection in China. I have set up all ok om my home PC and it works fine allowing access to sites otherwise blocked here.
Then i set up a VPN connection on my HTC Touch Diamond2 I can get the VPN to connect using either IPSec/L2TP or PPTP methods, however neither Tunnel seems to allow Internet access to either MS Explorer or Opera Mobile 10 or any other internet program.
In fact when i have established the VPN connection and then start my internet explorer or any other program which needs to access the internet then the VPN connection is dropped.
If I connect the VPN tunnel on the TD2 i can site there watching it for ages so it does not seem to be dropped after any specific time frame, only when I start an internet access program. for instance if i open my Hotmail account then the VPN connection stays until the point when i tap send and receive then it drops immediately and the hotmail account then synchronise mail via the standard wifi connection.
I also set-up my home PC to allow incoming connection and then set up another VPN connection on my TD2 to allow it to connect to my home PC. but whilst i can connect to my home PC i can not surf the internet using the VPN tunnel......I had thought that i might be able to start the StrongVPN connection on my homePC and then access it via the VPN connection from my TD2 to my HomePC but it does not seem to work that way.
My objective is to use my mobile phone to be able to surf social networking sites that are otherwise blocked by censorship.
Sorry for the long post but please could anyone with advise or experience at setting these two functions up on WM 6.5.3 please advise.

Well I think I may have found out the reason for the VPN connection to drop out....I needed to change my setting in CONNECTIONS and where before i selected my GPRS or EDGE service provider i now need to change that to "My Work Network" as this is where i set up the StrongVPN connection. now i have done this change to the settings the VPN connection does not drop out when any Internet program is started.
But I still can not access the blocked websites using StrongVPN on my WM device so I do not really know if it is using the VPN connection or not.....

im also in china and got one vpn for the same reasons as u and having exactly the same problem as u..
plz tell me if u found any solution...

ahmadnawaz said:
im also in china and got one vpn for the same reasons as u and having exactly the same problem as u..
plz tell me if u found any solution...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
StrongVPN Help desk advised me to input their DNS server settings in to the VPN account settings. I will try this when i get back to China in September. the DNS settings are found by edit the VPN account then next, next and select "Advanced" then scroll to "Servers" there you can select manaual server address and use the one that you VPN service provider recommend.
Let me know how you get on.

I have a similar problem here. I have setup the VPN in network connections but am still unable to surf blocked sites. The VPN worked fine on my PC. I have also changed the DNS setting for the VPN but no luck. But since there was no popup windows telling me whether it is connected or disconnected, how do I know the status of the VPN connection? Thanks!

to see if you are connected just tap on the top info bar then u should see your wifi connect and also your VPN connection. if you enable sound notification for connections in sounds then you will also get an audible connect and dissconnect to let u know. remember to set all your connection settings to "work connections" as i fount if not then when u open opera or other program that needs internet connection it will disconnect the VPN connection.

Thanks. I have tried that and the VPN was online. But opera was just couldn't open any page. Eighter the factbook tab in TouchFlo3D couldn't login. Any idea?

Have the same problem connecting to my home network - Remote Desktop works fine, until I open a browser on my HD2 - changing settings mentioned above didn't help...

Ok - it seems like I've managed to discontinue the connection drops to VPN.
Added wildcards to exceptions http://*.* and https://*.*
This way everything that tries to connect to internet connects via VPN. To stop that - in Work network setting select the same connection you use to connect to internet (Connections > Advanced > Select network)

scv said:
Ok - it seems like I've managed to discontinue the connection drops to VPN.
Added wildcards to exceptions http://*.* and https://*.*
This way everything that tries to connect to internet connects via VPN. To stop that - in Work network setting select the same connection you use to connect to internet (Connections > Advanced > Select network)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you mean by "added wild cards to exceptions"....what exceptions and where on your PDA did you add them?
As far as I was aware you are only able to set up a VPN connection in the "My Work Network" connections area. then to stop your VPN connection from being dropped by any application that access the Internet, you simply change your options to BOTH use "My Work Network" then the VPN connection is used for all applications.
However that said, I still cant access blocked sites using my VPN connection with StrongVPN in China. even after setting my Server DNS to that of StrongVPN it still does not work.
Anyone got any ideas why or how to access blocked content in China on their PDA??????

VPN 10 Reply
Sorry, I don't have a solution for you, but I do have the same problem.
SOMEBODY PLEASE!!!! I NEED EVDO INTERNET!!!
LOL!
- 2 Bunny

WiFi BUT NO EvDo FOR VPN Reply
Quick update - I now have this working at 100% through WiFi, where I don't need it.
Any updates?
- 2 Bunny

HINT INQUIRY Reply
Any updates on this one?
- 2 Bunny

CURIOSITY Reply
Any new thoughts on this?
- 2 Bunny

APRIL Reply
Any updates on this?
- 2 Bunny

DIAMOND IN NEED Reply
Any updates on this?
- 2 Bunny

kainppc6700 said:
Sorry, I don't have a solution for you, but I do have the same problem.
SOMEBODY PLEASE!!!! I NEED EVDO INTERNET!!!
LOL!
- 2 Bunny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here
taker2

SOMEONE ELSE HAS THE SAME PROBLEM Reply
taker2 said:
same here
taker2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. Let me know if you get any updates. I'm still stumped on this one. What ROM are you using in your Diamond?
- 2 Bunny