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[Montyman]

I have worked in IT for years and setup a lot of routers but never had as much trouble as trying to set up a plusnet supplied Thomson TG585 router to connect to my works SBS2003 server's VPN.

I have spoken to plusnet support who informed me of the PPTP passthrough issue on version 8.x of the firmware. I have downgraded it to v7.4.4.7 but still no luck. I have setup applications for ports 1723 PPTP and 47 GRE (GRE is sometimes required for PPTP passthrough but not always) and assigned them to my Windows 7 laptop.

I get the following error - Error 619: A connection to the remote computer could not be established, so the port used for this connection was closed.

I know the VPN connection and the server is setup correctly as it works when connecting through other routers but after many hours of trying everything I can think of, I am just about ready to throw the Thomson in the bin (after venting with the possible help of a large hammer). If anyone could help I would be very grateful.
Many thanks.

[jelv1]

Have you got it to work with any other router?

Have you got the Plusnet Broadband Firewall turned on?

[XPC exiled in NZ]

I always forget about the Plusnet Firewall, so that is a very good place to look.

Can you also double check the port assignments to make sure there isn't anything extra needed to be opened up.

Would wireshark capture help to see what ports are being used (I've never personally used Wireshark, so have no experience with it I'm afraid), just in case there is an extra port required somewhere?

Can you put the computer temporarily into a DMZ to check that the computer & server can talk without the routers NAT/firewall/port-forwarding getting in the way, that way you can prove it is the router, or something else? (Again I'm afraid I don't use the Thomson, so don't know if it support DMZ or not)

Or failing that, do you have a spare router you could borrow to test the line and computer client on... since it would be a shame to focus on the router being the problem, when it could be a completely different things at fault.

Good luck with the troubleshooting...

Mike

[Montyman]

As I mentioned in my original post - the vpn does work through other routers but I cannot check this at my home location as the thomson router is the only one I have at home that is compatible with the plusnet broadband supply.

Re: the plusnet firewall - I must admit I had forgotton about this myself but have checked and it is turned off.

I have checked the required ports several times for this issue (bearing in mind I setup VPN's to external client sites as part of my job on a weekly basis, I like to think I know how to setup VPN tunneling).

Re DMZ's They are very complex to setup at the best of times and I really do not want to try this on the Thomson.

I assume this usergroup is moderated by plusnet administrators - I would appreciate some input from them.

Please please help me. 

[XPC exiled in NZ]

The usergroup (PUG) is a group made up of Plusnet customers.

We, as PUG, work closely with Plusnet and the customers, but at the end of the day we are just Plusnet customers who are volunteers, not staff. Staff do visit these forums, but not as frequently as they do on Plusnet's own Community forums. But, like here, those forums are also "moderated" by Plusnet customers not Plusnet staff... but that is by way of keeping the forums as a open space where anyone can express their opinions without censorship. 

The most direct route to support is via phone or support ticket. Since you've spoken to Plusnet support already (whether by phone or ticket), you will have an open ticket on your account. If you visit help & support section of the portal, you can update the ticket with the latest information, that way keeping everything in the same place. Even if you find the ticket has now been closed, you can reopen it to add an update...

However you might also find that Plusnet customers hold the solutions too, so it would be worth posting your question over on Community forums, to reach more eyeballs and therefore a wider pool of previous experience with VPN on these routers. If you do post over there, then include your ticket number in the post too, then if any staff do read the post, they can instantly refer back to the full ticket history.

One solution in the meantime might be to pick up a cheap router off ebay... or even for free of Freegle / Freecycle (if they operate in your area).

I hope you get to the bottom of it. 

Mike

[jelv1]

As I mentioned in my original post - the vpn does work through other routers but I cannot check this at my home location as the thomson router is the only one I have at home that is compatible with the plusnet broadband supply.

All ADSL router/modems are compatable with Plusnet if you can set the login name and password - but if you are on a 21CN line you might only get ADSL1 speeds from older routers which don't support ADSL2/2+.

The only router/modems not compatible are those for cable (obviously) and those locked to a particular ISP (but there's frequently ways around that!).

[XPC exiled in NZ]

If you do post a thread on Community Forums, then post a link to that thread (here in this thread), so we can follow your progress...

Mike