Home › Frequently Asked Questions › Wireless Network (MacConnect) ›

I can connect, and the VPN works for a while, but then it stops working. What do I do?

Submitted by Anonymous on August 6, 2008 - 11:07
in
There are four common problems that can make the VPN connection stop working:
  1. Your computer goes into screen saver/hibernation/standby mode, or powers down the network card to save energy. You must stop and restart the VPN client in order to reconnect.
  2. Your computer loses its connection to the VPN server briefly. This can happen when the signal strength of a wireless access point fluctuates or when the wired network connection you are using is too busy to permit the VPN client to maintain its connection with the VPN server. You might want to try moving to another location/floor in the Library where access points may not be as busy.
  3. Your connection has timed out. VPN sessions from an MacConnect network connection (wired and wireless) will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity, or 3 hours of continuous use. VPN sessions from off campus will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity or 24 hours of continuous use. If the VPN times out and your IPSec connection is terminated, click OK and bring up the VPN Dialer again.
  4. If you are using Windows XP with the Firewall feature enabled, you may experience timeout problems (your session may disconnect within 5 minutes) if the following type of traffic is not allowed to pass through the firewall: UDP port 500.
    Changes required to avoid timeout issues:
    • Start->Control Panel->Windows Firewall Under the "General" Options Tab, ensure that the "Don't allow exceptions" is NOT checked. That is, you DO want to allow exceptions ...
    • Next, select the Exceptions Tab ...
    • Select "Add Port"
    • Specify a Name for this exception, in the "Name:" field (call it anything you like. Example: UDP500)
    • Specify 500 as your Port number.
    • Select UDP.
    • Select OK.
    • Select OK again, to close the Windows Firewall window.