VPN to Windows network

I know this has been discussed before, but I still cannot completely connect an iMac, running OS X version 10.4.11, to a Windows VPN. I say completely, because internet connect says I am connected, but I cannot ping by IP. I receive a valid IP from the remote router, but I do not seem to receive a default gateway or a subnet mask. I am basically a noob to Mac's, so please be gentle. I'm sure everyone will have many different questions about my configuration, so feel free to ask.

Thanks in advance, for any help!

anybody???

are you running some kind of proprietary vpn client, like Cisco AnyConnect?

Nope, we use the built in XP client...and no encryption.
I'm wondering if maybe I should be using some sort of Mac VPN client. What are your thoughts on that?

...and thanks for the reply...

Hm.. XP client? Sounds like you got a few things mixed up? You wrote your internet connection says you are connected - sure, but that doesn't have much to do with VPN.

How do you currently connect? I use VPN to connect to my work (Windows world) quite often and it works flawless.

To set-up VPN you obviously have to have an internet connection. Then, under "System Preferences" -> "Network" click on the plus ("+") sign in the lower left and choose VPN as interface. The rest of the settings depends on the VPN you are connecting to. You can then select to have the VPN status in the menu bar and simply use that to connect to your VPN.

So now that everything is set up you just have to be online, click on the VPN icon in your menu bar and select "Connect <your VPN connection name>". Once authorized you should be able to ping machines in the target VPN.

Hope that helps!

dekan - thanks for the reply!

When I said internet connect says I am connected, I was referencing the VPN connection. It will list the different connections and the status for each. In this case, the wireless internet connection is connected, and in addition to that, the VPN is showing as connected. However, I am unable to ping by IP. I have the VPN (at work) set up, so that computers connected via VPN are assigned an ip from the .12 subnet (192.168.12.xxx). In my case, the iMac pulls a valid ip (192.168.12.136). Again, that is in addition to the ip that it is pulling from the local wireless connection (192.168.1.5). I have read the steps you have listed, and you are correct. Weird thing is that that is what I have done to successfully connect to the VPN, but still cannot ping even the router that I am connected to via VPN.

Again, thank you very much for your reply, and I appreciate any help you can continue to offer.

Are you able to see connected VPN clients in the network you are trying to connect to? E.g: Here our Firewall (Windows) acts as the VPN server for all Active Directory users. On there I can see all VPN users currently connected. If you are able to do that you might find out if your Mac really is there...

After that maybe try to ping your Mac IP address (that ...12.136) from the internal (VPN) network.

That's a good idea, but I'm not 100% sure. We're running a Cisco router, which supplies the IP's to the clients. I'll have to see if that's a possibility, but I should at least be able to ping my 12.136 IP from inside the work network. I'll give that a try and get back to you.

If I can ping ...12.136 from inside my work network, what do you think the next step would be?

Ok, that's a good sign.
Is there anything blocked in your VPN? Not sure if there is an admin you could ask. I know we have some stuff blocked in our company to only allow access to some in the network.

Other than that: try an "nslookup" in the Terminal on one of the machines in the network. Does that bring anything up?

Are you trying to ping machine names or IP addresses? If it's names there might be a DNS problem and you should try an IP address?

Have you tried to ping the gateway/router? Probably 192.168.12.1 in your case.

We do not "block" anything, but rather use port forwarding as a type of firewall.

nslookup does return info (internally), as it should, but I have not tried an nslookup on tha iMac while it was connected to the VPN.

I have been pinging IP's, in an attempt to rule out possible DNS issues.

When viewing the routing tables within the VPN connection on the iMac, I see a reference to 192.168.12.1, but the router itself (192.168.1.1) is not listed.

Thanks again for taking the time to help