Can Cisco VPN client be used with Vodem?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Can Cisco VPN client be used with Vodem?

sidney

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#11760 10-Feb-2007 17:53

I just got a Vodem to use with my MacBook. It works slick as a whistle except that I cannot use the Cisco VPN client to connect to my work VPN or to my university VPN.

I'm running MacOS 10.4.8 with the latest Vmodem software for Intel Macs, and Cisco Systems VPN Client 4.9.00 (0050) with the following settings required to talk to the VPN srvers:
Enable Transparent Tunneling, IPSEC over UDP (NAT/PAT)

I don't have the option of chagning those settings on either server.

When I am using the Vodem the VPN client cannot make the connection to either server.

Both configurations work fine when I connect through satellite modem or DSL or university network.

Googling around, I see other people mention that they lose VPN when they use a Vodem, but I have seen no explanations about exactly what is going on, nor any suggestions to try.

Any ideas?

freitasm

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#60354 10-Feb-2007 18:07

You should be able to access VPN servers through another APN. Check a list of Vodafone NZ APNs here.

sidney

81 posts

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#60360 10-Feb-2007 19:32

freitasm: You should be able to access VPN servers through another APN.

Thanks, that sounds like it would put me on the right track. Unfortunately the only place I can find where I can set the APN is in the Preferences dialog of the Vodafone Mobile Connect application, and there I find no way to edit an existing connection setting. All I get to do is select a preconfigured setting or create a Custom Setting. In the latter, it wants me to enter APN, User Name, Password, DNS1 and DNS2. Using the default setting, I see in Internet Connection the device with Account Name: web, a password that is hidden, and no explicit display of the APN that it is using.

I get the impression that the Windows version of the software gives you the ability of editing an existing profile to just change the APN. Do you know anything about modifying the APN in the Mac software?

By the way, Mauricio, I'm the same Sidney that you just met at Kiwi Foo Camp. Hi!

-- sidney

freitasm

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#60361 10-Feb-2007 19:39

Hello there!

If you can create a new connection, just add the APN name, leaving name and password empty (those are not used by Vodafone New Zealand), and DNS should be left for automatic configuration. The software should allow you to select which configuration to use when connecting.

I know other Geekzone users around here are using the vodem on Apple Mac OS, let's see if someone else can post their experiences.

sidney

81 posts

Master Geek

#60364 10-Feb-2007 20:10

freitasm: just add the APN name, leaving name and password empty

That seemed to work to get me connected via the 'internet' APN, which I'm using as I type this, but didn't help using the Cisco VPN Client. The log window shows a series of error messages that all look like this, before the final message about not being able to establish a connection to the server:

17 20:01:53.011 02/10/2007 Sev=Warning/2 CVPND/0x83400018
Output size mismatch. Actual: 0, Expected: 237. (DRVIFACE:1319)

That's the same as it was doing with the default APN.

[update] I called Vodafone tech support about this and it is now in the hands of tier 2 support who is supposed to call me back on Monday.

[Tuesday update] Vodafone tier 2 support didn't call me back on Monday as I was led to expect, nor the next day, so I called. It turned out that the weekend support person had not filed any record of my call. I had not saved his name so that call was a fat zero. This time I made sure to get a name and a reference number for the support request, so at least I'll have someone to blame if I don't get the callback. This tech had me also try the APN direct.vodafone.net.nz as well as Internet. No difference. I now have use of three VPN servers, two accessed using IPSEC over UDP and one using IPSEC over TCP on port 10000. The tech said that I had to get the firewall logs from the sysadmin of the VPN server recording what they saw when I attempted to connect, that without those logs he could not refer me to tier 2 support. The sysadmin confirmed that their logs showed nothing -- My machine was never reaching their machine. I sent the logs from my Cisco VPN Client log window with logging set to the highest level. I was told not to expect to hear from tier 2 support for three business days. I was also told that there are many people using Cisco VPN Client over Vmodems, so it is at least theoretically possible. The sysadmin of the VPN server suspects that Vodafone's system doesn't work at all with IPSEC over UDP (NAT/PAT) and that the VPN server is having a problem with the high latency of my Vmodem connection, between 800 to 1600 msec ping times, when I try to connect over TCP.

-- sidney

freitasm

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#60708 13-Feb-2007 19:25

sidney: Vodafone tier 2 support didn't call me back on Monday as I was led to expect, nor the next day, so I called. It turned out that the weekend support person had not filed any record of my call.

I had not saved his name so that call was a fat zero. This time I made sure to get a name and a reference number for the support request,

No suprise there. You will notice Vodafone support is close to unhelpful as many have reported here on Geekzone before... A shame really.

johnr

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#60717 13-Feb-2007 21:50

Try the APN web.vodafone.net.nz

sidney

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#60719 13-Feb-2007 22:13

johnr: Try the APN web.vodafone.net.nz

I did try it, just in case, but I read elsewhere that the web.vodafone.net.nz APN is now just an alias for www.vodafone.net.nz. It used to be that the latter provided a private IP address and web was set up to provide a public IP address. Then www was changed to public and web was aliased to it. Now to get a public ip address and the less restrictive security policy you use internet APN.

-- sidney