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

Connecting 2 PPC Ad-hoc

HI!
I need connect two PPCs with wifi... VPN..? How I make it?

they would need to both connect to a vpn server.
but then the question is what do you expect the devices to do with each other. neither have any server type services for the other to connect to.

it would require one or both of the pocketpc's to run a VPN server if there is such a server program for pocketpc's at all

sounds like a non starter to me.
i think a vpn server needs to dish out IP addresses.
thats just to start with.
unless you are connecting both ppc's to a vpn server

Please elaborate. Do you mean direct P2P connection (which is very easy to do - see my related articles on this), or a plain Internet / VPN-based one?

marclouis said:
i think a vpn server needs to dish out IP addresses.
thats just to start with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In internet-less P2P connections, you don't need VPN either for assigned IP addresses.

need a bit of help, how to connect to my pc using athena??

Ok i know i already saw the answer of this somewhere but i already looked for it and i just cant find it.
I have a athena and i would like to remotely connect to my pc that is on my office and use it remotely, i know there are programs to do this i just cant get the right words to find them.
can anyone help me out on this?
thankx

** make sure that you have windows xp pro**
1. download this file onto your pda and run it.
2. make sure that if you are using a router the you open up port 3389... it has to be this port and no other
3. on your desktop goto start/settings/control panel/system/remote and click the box that says "allow users to connect remotely to this computer", that is it you don't need to click anything else
4. open up the program and type in your ip address without the port number then username and password - which must match your windows login and password.
done

irus said:
** make sure that you have windows xp pro**
1. download this file onto your pda and run it.
2. make sure that if you are using a router the you open up port 3389... it has to be this port and no other
3. on your desktop goto start/settings/control panel/system/remote and click the box that says "allow users to connect remotely to this computer", that is it you don't need to click anything else
4. open up the program and type in your ip address without the port number then username and password - which must match your windows login and password.
done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All good advice but this may not work if your office PC is behind a firewall / your office network uses Network Address Translation or you need a VPN to access the network. Give it a go and see what happens but if the IP address of your office PC starts 10.0.0 or 192.168 or similar, it is unlikely to work. You will then have to use a remote access service.

apd said:
All good advice but this may not work if your office PC is behind a firewall / your office network uses Network Address Translation or you need a VPN to access the network. Give it a go and see what happens but if the IP address of your office PC starts 10.0.0 or 192.168 or similar, it is unlikely to work. You will then have to use a remote access service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also if your IP's range anywhere within 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255, the you're behind a firewall.

ltxda said:
Also if your IP's range anywhere within 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255, the you're behind a firewall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're just using 3G/HSDPA you shouldn't have any problems connecting.
If you've got a DSL connection with a dynamic IP address (like mine with Virgin Media) Just register and download the NO-IP software (www.no-ip.com - it's free) then instead of typing in your Ip address on RD you'll put "....no-ip.biz" - or whatever they assign you.
As already stated you HAVE to open up port 3389 on your router and assign it to the relevant pc. This number you will find by entering "ipconfig" in the cmd window. Be aware that if your router gets turned off you could find that the IP address of your computer changes, so you'll have to go back into your router settings and change it to the new ip address for that pc.
I've tested RDP on XP Pro, Media Center 2005 and Vista. I found it to be a little better when the host was a Vista pc - whether this is my imagination or because it is designed with Vista in mind I don't know.

leoni1980 said:
If you're just using 3G/HSDPA you shouldn't have any problems connecting.
If you've got a DSL connection with a dynamic IP address (like mine with Virgin Media) Just register and download the NO-IP software (www.no-ip.com - it's free) then instead of typing in your Ip address on RD you'll put "....no-ip.biz" - or whatever they assign you.
As already stated you HAVE to open up port 3389 on your router and assign it to the relevant pc. This number you will find by entering "ipconfig" in the cmd window. Be aware that if your router gets turned off you could find that the IP address of your computer changes, so you'll have to go back into your router settings and change it to the new ip address for that pc.
I've tested RDP on XP Pro, Media Center 2005 and Vista. I found it to be a little better when the host was a Vista pc - whether this is my imagination or because it is designed with Vista in mind I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, this only applies if you are not behind a corporate firewall using NAT or other dynamic IP behind the firewall. Also, if it is a corporate network, opening port 3389 may be (a) very difficult to convince your IT dept to do and (b) not very secure!
If one iof the dynamic dns systems works for you, you might try dyndns.org

Remote Desktop on WM6.1

Anyone has a step by step guide on how to use remote desktop to control ur PC from your Titan? I just dont know what to put for all these fields.

for easier setup, use logmein.com, its free and works from the titan. Do it all the time, great for getting around pesky firewalls and complex network setups.

hey I do use logmein.com for work.. How do i use logmein for mobile? Is there a mobile version? or u go in through opera?

240sxer said:
Anyone has a step by step guide on how to use remote desktop to control ur PC from your Titan? I just dont know what to put for all these fields.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This how I use it when connecting to my computer at work.
Computer: IP Address
User Name: Domain\vane0326
Password: xxxxxxx
Domain: Your Company Domain name
For the IP Address I had to go into my company firewall and link my internal ip address to a external ip address. When connecting to your company computer use the external IP address.
There are various ways to do this but this is how I use it.

vane0326 said:
This how I use it when connecting to my computer at work.
Computer: IP Address
User Name: Domain\vane0326
Password: xxxxxxx
Domain: Your Company Domain name
For the IP Address I had to go into my company firewall and link my internal ip address to a external ip address. When connecting to your company computer use the external IP address.
There are various ways to do this but this is how I use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be careful about opening the remote desktop port (3389) to all inbound traffic. There are some serious implications for your network security.
LogMeIn is much safer and totally free. It also works with non-static IP addresses. Visit from your computer first and set the program up there, then visit from IE Mobile and set it up on your phone.

wifi network questions on HTC HD2

Hi,
Using a HTC HD2 I am trying to access my home network via WIFI (WPA2/PSK - AES). Some of it works, some of it doesn't and I was hoping some of you would be able to point me in the right direction:
I can connect to intranet pages (for instance utorrent web interface) via IP, but not via hostname.
I cannot connect to network (smb) shares at all, either via IP or hostname.
A program which requires the hostname to work (since I use it over Hamachi VPN as well as locally and don’t want to change the IP based on how I use it) does work over Hamachi and not over WIFI.
I'm quite confused
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Elco

Sounds like your DNS isn't working. Do you have custom DNS servers configured in the "Name Servers" tab of network card config?

Yhanks for responding!
It should get it from DHCP (though I have tried assigning a static IP and dns, but this gave the same result)
Also, I have another older win mobile device, and with the same setttings it does allow me to access the network shares (by IP and hostname)
I've combed all settings regarding wifi and network, but since they are the same I am guessing it is probably a different at the registry level?
The HTC HD2 does have 2 broadcom wifi adapters mentioned though, a normal one and one with a DHD postfix.
Cheers,
Elco

@Talisman_: same problem here. have you solved it?

Exactly same problem on xperia x2. I just set on manual temporary.

Are you using Hamachi on your phone?
Did you have this problem prior to installing Hamachi?
The reason being is Hamachi installs a network interface which exists whether or not Hamachi is running
You may want to check your Data Connection settings and see if it has applied the "requires a proxy" setting

What are you using as your DNS server though, that is the question.
If it's your broadband router, then chances are it won't be able to serve DNS requests for internal devices (ie computers on your home network).
If that's the case, you'll need a proper DNS server (get an old PC and install Linux) and create a local domain such as home.local, or if you've got a registered domain, you can even set it up the same (domain.com for instance) just tell the DNS server it's the domain master.
It's been yonks since I played around with Linux so I can't tell you how, much easier with Windows Server
Some people advise against using the same public domain name as an internal domain name, but it just means you add A records for any public addressess such as WWW.domain.com or mail.domain.com if it's accessable outside your network as well as inside.
Alternatively, if you're only going to be accessing them via the home network then you could try adding a few hosts to your registry (use the windows calc or similar to convert each IP address number to Hex)
http://windowsmobilepro.blogspot.com/2006/04/etchosts-file-equivalent-in-windows.html
As always, you modify the registry at your own risk.