2003 VPN using WINS not DNS

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I have successfully setup a Windows 2003 server to provide VPN services
(using this basic configuration -
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/networking/rmotevpn.mspx)

However, there seems to be a problem that it delivers name services to the
client using WINS not DNS. If I remove the WINS references from the server,
name services are not delivered. Even if it uses WINS, if the name is not in
the WINS database, the name is not found. DNS is working fine in all our
other connections, just not with this VPN server.

Has anyone else experienced this, or do you have any good ideas about how I
might be able to fix this?
 
we need more information to help. do you have two NICs in the server?
posting the result of ipconfig /all may help.

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Broadcast messages do not cross WAN links, so if the required (Netbios)
name is not in WINS, there is no other way to find it.

Check that the clients are getting the correct DNS server address. If
that is correct, try to ping a LAN machine using its full DNS name (such as
fred.domain.local) .

If this works, DNS is working OK but the client doesn't have the correct
suffix info. You need to add the correct DNS suffix to the client's
connection properties.
 
Wow - many thanks for your rapid response.

I have two NICs on the server - one connecting to our LAN and one connecting
to the Internet (is that what you meant?).

A key problem is that the main usage we are making of this is with a
Microsoft Mobile 2003 SE Smartphone
(http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=SMARTPHONE_3). This means we have
few tools at the client end (eg no ping, no ipconfig etc). This also means
having decent name services are all the more important!

In addition, I'm trying to establish a GPRS VPN conenction - although there
is a space for DNS entry regarding the GPRS connection, there is no such
luxury with the VPN connection element of it. The VPN server seems to provide
the WINS server details - I hoped the same would go for DNS.

I'll try to get some more info shortly (probably by establishing a
connection using a PC, where I have the basic tools needed to do this).

Thanks again.
 
The DNS suffix entry would have to be made in the connection properties
of the client. You will see this from a PC in TCP/IP properties. Could be a
problem from a mobile device.

I would think that the device will get both the DNS and WINS address
when it connects. That is part of the basic PPP/PPTP
authentication/connection process, so it should work.

Whether you have one or two NICs in the server isn't really the problem.
The VPN connection is made to a separate "virtual" interface which shows up
as "internal" in the RRAS console. The remotes connect to this interface,
not to either NIC in the server. So they are not really part of the LAN as
far as broadcasts are concerned.
 
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