WinXP Pro VPN connection drops

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
  • Start date Start date
S

Steve

Hi

I have been using the WinXP Pro VPN network connection to get access to the
company network and this has worked almost flawlessly until the beginning of
September this year. Since then the connection closes without warning after
a random but short (5...10mins) interval. I suspect that my client settings
have changed somehow (windows auto update perhaps) however I can see no
idle/timeout close options with VPN network connections.

My questions are:

1. Has there been any windows update VPN changes since September that might
cause these symptons.

2. How can I log the connection events in sufficient detail to establish if
the connection drop is initied on the client side or from the server. I have
tried "netsh ras set tracing ppp enabled" but I cant see anything in ppp.log
that tells me what has caused the connection to close.

Cheers
Steve
 
Have you check with your ISP for connection issues? September is usually
the start of school (in North America) and more demands are made for new, or
greater, Internet access/traffic. Since VPNs share the same line as the
Internet, if there is an Internet disruption, the VPN connections can also
be affected. Happens from time to time on my client's VPN inter-office
connections. Only for the "lower" end of the High-speed broadband
connections. If you get a T1 line (big monthly costs!), most ISP will
guaranty 95% uptime.
 
No internet disruption but I managed to record ping statistics for the
duration of the VPN connection and I get the following around the time that
the VPN disconnects:


Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=407ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=456ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=1431ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=3021ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=390ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=410ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=381ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=408ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=426ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=462ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 203.163.70.66:
Packets: Sent = 840, Received = 840, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 344ms, Maximum = 3021ms, Average = 404ms
Control-C

Is the poor latency (1.431 & 3.021 seconds) the cause of the VPN disconnect,
if so can I tweak the settings to be more resilient to this occasional
performance drop.

Cheers
Steve
 
No internet disruption but I managed to record ping statistics for the
duration of the VPN connection and I get the following around the time that
the VPN disconnects:


Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=407ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=456ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=1431ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=3021ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=390ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=410ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=381ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=408ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=426ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=462ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 203.163.70.66:
Packets: Sent = 840, Received = 840, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 344ms, Maximum = 3021ms, Average = 404ms
Control-C

Is the poor latency (1.431 & 3.021 seconds) the cause of the VPN disconnect,
if so can I tweak the settings to be more resilient to this occasional
performance drop.
Click to expand...

Are you on DSL? If so, change your MTU to 1400 or 1430 and do it again.
If you're not on DSL, then you've got some really bad lag there.

I pinged your address listed above and never went above 200ms, which is
a LONG time for response normally.
 
Leythos said:
Are you on DSL? If so, change your MTU to 1400 or 1430 and do it again.
If you're not on DSL, then you've got some really bad lag there.
Click to expand...

Not on DSL, I have cable and some really bad lag by the sounds of it.
Trouble is what do I do to stop VPN crashing out intermittently.
 
I pinged your address listed above and never went above 200ms, which is
a LONG time for response normally.
Click to expand...

Not a LONG time if server is in NZ and you trying to ping it from US.
 
I pinged your address listed above and never went above 200ms, which
is
LOL, yep, that would be true, but his own ping time was higher than mine
to his server :)
Click to expand...

You have no idea where was he pinging from.
(He seems to be on cable in Edinburgh UK).
 
No internet disruption but I managed to record ping statistics for the
duration of the VPN connection and I get the following around the time that
the VPN disconnects:


Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=407ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=456ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=1431ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=3021ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=390ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=410ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=381ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=408ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=426ms TTL=47
Reply from 203.163.70.66: bytes=32 time=462ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 203.163.70.66:
Packets: Sent = 840, Received = 840, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 344ms, Maximum = 3021ms, Average = 404ms
Control-C

Is the poor latency (1.431 & 3.021 seconds) the cause of the VPN disconnect,
if so can I tweak the settings to be more resilient to this occasional
performance drop.
Click to expand...

RTT doesn't seem to be that bad. No packets lost. Yes, 3 seconds is too
much, but it lasted for one or two pings only. There must be more to it.
PPTP is sensitive to rapid RTT fluctuations and out of order packets. Maybe
that is it?
 
Sorted.

It seems that PPPStop is issued by outlook express to VPN connections when
the "Tools->Options->Connection->Dialup->Hang-up after sending and
receiving" option is checked. As far as I can see this is new behaviour from
about the start of September this year since I have not modified this
setting since last XP installation at least 12 months ago. Perhaps the
latest outlook update either has new autodisconnect functionality or the
update process sets the option (sigh).

Oh well......


Thanks to all that replied in any case.
 
Sorted.
It seems that PPPStop is issued by outlook express to VPN connections when
the "Tools->Options->Connection->Dialup->Hang-up after sending and
receiving" option is checked. As far as I can see this is new behaviour from
about the start of September this year since I have not modified this
setting since last XP installation at least 12 months ago. Perhaps the
latest outlook update either has new autodisconnect functionality or the
update process sets the option (sigh).

Oh well......
Click to expand...

Good catch. Thanks.
 
Well done Steve - have been following you progress.

I checked on my main XP Pro machine the settings which have been causing
your problem.

My settings are not the same as yours I have listed them in the reply to
your comment on my original problem in case this prompts further thoughts
from the 'Band of Brothers' out there.

Thanks anyway for your thoughts - if only mine could be solved with a
setting change like yours has been.

Regards - John
 
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