WinXP Pro VPN connection drops

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



"Yves Leclerc" <yleclercNOSPAM.TakeThisOut@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:OC%23yED10FHA.3660@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> 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.
>
> "Steve" <steve_mowbray.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:plR4f.130927$G8.3458@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> 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
>>
>
>

This message is not archived

> I pinged your address listed above and never went above 200ms, which is
> a LONG time for response normally.

Not a LONG time if server is in NZ and you trying to ping it from US.

"Leythos" <void.RemoveThis@nowhere.lan> wrote in message
news:zST4f.132330$lI5.94604@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
> In article <kOT4f.131061$G8.111451@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
> steve_mowbray.RemoveThis@hotmail.com says...
>> 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.
>
> 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.

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.
>
> --
>
> spam999free.RemoveThis@rrohio.com
> remove 999 in order to email me

> 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.

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?

This message is not archived

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

You have no idea where was he pinging from.
(He seems to be on cable in Edinburgh UK).

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.



"Steve" <steve_mowbray.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:plR4f.130927$G8.3458@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> 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
>

> 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......

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
"Steve" <steve_mowbray.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Ec65f.131421$G8.121369@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Sorted.
>
> It seems that PPPStop is issued by outlook express to VPN connections when
> the "Tools->Options->Connection->Dialup->Hang-up after sending and
> receiving" option is checked. As far as I can see this is new behaviour
> from about the start of September this year since I have not modified this
> setting since last XP installation at least 12 months ago. Perhaps the
> latest outlook update either has new autodisconnect functionality or the
> update process sets the option (sigh).
>
> Oh well......
>
>
> Thanks to all that replied in any case.
>
>
>
> "Steve" <steve_mowbray.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:plR4f.130927$G8.3458@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> 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
>>
>
>