Windows 7 VPN stops web browser

Question

I've just installed Windows 7 RTM and setup Windows VPN to work office. It all works fine except, when the VPN is connected, regular web access stops working eg: local web browser can't connect to anything. Disconnect VPN and web works again.

I've tried re-ordering the priorities of network adaptors with no luck. I'm not sure where to look next. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I solved this by:

1. Opening properties for the VPN connection
2. Clicking the networking tab
3. Selecting Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and clicking properties
4. Click advanced button
5. On the IP Settings tab, turned off Use Default Gateway on Remote Network.
6. On the WINS tab, entered the IP addresses of our WINS servers in the office.

Works perfectly now.

Answer 2

You need to disable the remote gateway option.

These instructions are for Windows XP, but they should be reasonably similar for your VPN connection:

1. Right click the connection, and choose Properties.
2. Click "Networking" Tab
3. With TCP/IP selected, hit "Properties"
4. Click "Advanced"
5. Untick "Use default gateway on Remote network"

What this will do is forward all non VPN traffic to your internet connection, instead of attempting to use the internet connection at the remote end. This is turned on by default.

Answer 3

You need to stop using your work VPN as a default gateway.

In the system tray, click on your network icon, right-click on your VPN connection, and choose "Properties".

• Go to the networking tab.
• Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
• Click the "Advanced" button in the properties window
• Uncheck the "Use default gateway on remote network" box
• Click OK, OK, OK

That should fix your problem!

Answer 4

Is the VPN redirecting ALL traffic? It is possible that it is actually working as intended and your office is blocking outgoing internet traffic on the VPN Network / Subnet.

The quickest way to test this is to try and see if you can access any intranet your office may have.