Problem with VPN

A friend of mine is trying to set up her pc to access her office network.

Her IT department has given her the required access info, Password etc and also noted her IP address (which is dynamic).

She has folloed their instructions with regard to creating a new connection.

However, when she tries to connect, she gets an on screen message:-
PPP Link control protocol terminated.

She is using WinXP and her modem is a Netgear DG814

Her IT dept were not impressed with her having a Netgear as they reccon they always seem to have problems accessing. However, they did not want to suggest a "better" modem.

Any ideas please?

She needs to go back to her IT department because only they can help her.

My partner used to use a Netgear DG824 and then a DG834 to VPN to her Uni network quite happily so I don't see any problems there.

Second she needs to ask why they took her IP address which will almost certainly change over a period of time.

Specific type of VPN ?
Wired connection I guess. The 814 is a bit prehistoric TBH.

Not all routers will pass all types of VPN, some will terminate VPN sessions in the router etc. Its a minefield.

If a company insists on VPN it should spec and source the hardware.

I'm not too sure what you mean by type of VPN - the connection between the lap-top and modem is cat-5 - if that's what you mean by type

I think it was a basic try out, to save her commuting.

The modem was one I got for her father about 4 years ago, I had the same at the time - not for VPN I hasten to add! I now currently use a Draytek as per my sig.

Can see what you mean by a minefield.

Cheers.

I think the whole thing was a bit of a basic try out so that she didn't have to commute; which would explain their request for her IP addy, luckily it didn't change overnight.

I think if she seriously wants to work via a VPN she needs something like a Draytek which can be configured (as far as I know, as I've never played with VPN) and likely a static IP address.

Cheers

In reply to:

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I'm not too sure what you mean by type of VPN

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VPN is like "email" its a generic term which can be done with several different technologies. Some of the systems are proprietary, some open source etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN

So the answer to the question may depend on the type of VPN and how it is implemented.

I don't know why this specific VPN connection fails, but it may be worth confirming that she is using the correct VPN software on XP for her company.

I can use the Microsoft VPN client with Windows XP quite happily with the setup which my work uses. However anyone running Vista *must* use the Cisco VPN client for compatibility with our network. Vista evidently has an "improved" VPN client compared with XP which is incompatiable with the Cisco server side.

Our VPN setup does not depend on a particular IP address and did not require me to set up anything special on our router. However, when we were negotiating with Linksys about a replacement for our dead modem/router, one of the options they offered was a separate modem and router which they said might be needed for some VPN connections. When I get home I will see if I can locate their email since that might give some specific examples of what her office VPN may require.

What you may need for some VPN connections is support for "VPN Tunneling". This is the relevant information from Linksys about the options they gave us for replacing our dead router (a WAG54G):

If you need VPN tunneling, then we can replace with a WAP54G-UK + AM200-UK.

Since we don't need VPN tunneling, we went for the other option (a wireless modem/router WAG200G).

That modem is no longer manufactured let alone supported by netgear. Why should the IT department in question be forced to?

Huh? Both the models mentioned are still supported by Netgear.