<< I wonder if this is going to be a common problem at most places I stop along the way. >>


If they setup their firewalls/routers have way smart then yes. Most places like this tend to liimit many things to port 80, just for security reasons. Heaven forbid you want to run your own email client on your laptop while sitting in a motel room (my own personal expererience).

 

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A scenario probably closer to the truth: Stuff like that isn't normally administered by hotel/RV staff. If you're lucky, you'll be given a tech support number (if you're real lucky, it will be toll free) that will place you on hold. And hold you will!


The hold will finally be answered by a level zero to one tech that (again, if you're lucky) will understand your angst, but will be powerless to help. The best you'll get from him/her is a quick visit of your tcp/ip settings. Tickets will be filed, promises made, but expectations should remain low.


Everything said here is accurate, but one thing that's been overlooked is that all the inbound ports will have to filter to your specific IP. Most wlan setups use dynamic IP addressing (DHCP). Assuming that you convinced the tech support guru to forward everything to get it to work, her/his shift replacement 6 hours later won't relish reforwarding allllll those ports to your new IP. Mac address redirecting should be your friend, but that probably won't happen either.


There's a reason a lot of hotels chains decide to give this 'service' away: if you aren't happy that your setup doesn't work, you aren't being billed for it, and theoretically can't ask for a refund


With the above said, a suprisingly high number of wlan broadband setups do allow for VPN access. A potential workaround is to do a VPN-esque tunnel to a host computer on a dedicated ip, or dynamic dns service. This would be your home computer, and -your- router would be in control!


You'd need XP Pro (home?)/WinNT/2k/2k3 as your 'host' computer. I'm sure there are VPN services that will work on any flavor of operating system you throw at it, but I don't know what they are


I think XP home/pro has a built in VPN client. Setup the Wlan, vpn back to home, and route your ac traffic across your tunnel.


A bit much, I know. Good luck!

AC_Whark, I dunno who u are and at this point I don't care, lol. But if that works for my problem at work I will love you long time! I have asked many many people and while I have recieved several smart ass remarks, noone has come up with a solution...


I am going to set this up tonight on my PC, and try it at work tomorrow...


/e crosses finger, toes and several other painfull appendages...

My suggestion to test the deployment:


Setup your lan to work with two computers running AC successfully. Once that works, setup the 'client' computer as the vpn client, and the other to be your server. Tunnel one to the other, and try again. If everything goes well, you should still be able to play. Once you get that working properly, test from a remote site that you know supports VPN (buddy's house, etc). When you're golden there, it's time to hit the Wlans!


Sometimes, a simple "do you support VPN" will be on the list of quickly answerable questions by the wlan support staff. Some people don't do vpn, and if they don't, there's nothing you can do about it. It's their ballpark, their equipment, and their liability.


I forgot to mention this on the first reply. If your broadband router doesn't do VPN, all bets are off. VPN uses some TCP/IP ports, and it uses the GRE protocol (38?). Some routers bug out when it comes to passing through GRE traffic. Some routers have built in vpn servers. Your mileage will definately vary, depending on what you've got


Good luck!


Please note that the links below have been picked hastily from a generic yahoo search, and may open your computer up to virii, lions, tigers, and/or bears. Oh my!


I really hate offering advice on setting up vpns on remote networks, but in theory, it will work if all the parts allow VPN traffic passthrough. It's the "in theory" part that always seems to bugger something up. Just be sure to use strong passwords, and turn it on -when needed- . If someone hacked it, they'd be on your local lan, and could do anything that you could do (including printing the contents of a dictionary to your lan shared printer


XP VPN Client setup:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm

http://www.newsitedesigns.com/vpnsetup/VPN%20Windows%20XP%20Setup.htm


XP VPN Server setup:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn_server.htm

Heres a little resource that may help a little bit


http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm


just choose your router from the list then the app you want to make work and follow the allmost idiot proof instructions. Not going to help the mobile problem much but you never know.

 

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ya, everything worked at home but still not working at work...I think I know why, gotta get ahold of the guy running the router...have him turn on PPTP...

Don't forget to disable any firewalls if you have an issue.


Don't forget to re-enable them once it's fixed

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