VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devices

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erikmattsson79
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VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devices

Post by erikmattsson79 »

Hi,

Recently bought an TS-419 PII and want to use the VPN server function. I have think i have configured everything properly, I can connect to the VPN server through another computer running WIN 7 and tried an iPad.

It says connected however I can't connect or find my NAS. I've tried to access the internet, in the start it loaded webpages partially and some not at all. Triedto change some settings in the router, didn't help and after setting it all back to the original settings no webpages work anymore.

Firmware: 3.6.0 Build 0210T
Router: Netgear wndr4500

Settings that I've configured:
1. Enabled pptp vpn server
2. Opened port 1723 in my router (used the UPnP Port Forwarding) and forwarded to internal ip of nas (192.168.1.x).
3. Created a vpn connection from windows 7.

It connects, but that is about all I can do, tried to run the QNAP finder and i didn't find the NAS. I have tried to reconfigure the router, reduced security settings like NAT Filtering but nothing seems to work.

I've looked at many of the posts in the Forum but either they are to advanced for me to understand or they relate to Open VPN.

Anybody that can help me?

Regards
Erik
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onlyalex
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by onlyalex »

Hi mate

Your 3 steps there are correct. You will also need to enable your user for vpn from the vpn tab, but i gues you have done that since you can establish the connection.
Second you need to connect to the default vpn ip adress of the nas, 10.0.0.1

Check the online manual for more info
http://docs.qnap.com/nas/en/vpn_service.htm

Cheers.
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erikmattsson79
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Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:07 pm

Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by erikmattsson79 »

Thanks onlyalex!

Tried to change the 192.168.1.x:8080 to 10.0.0.1:8080 and that gave me access to the Web Administration on the NAS.

How do I go about to get access to the rest of network, like the internet when I'm on the VPN, other devices on the network. Actually finding the NAS on the network, and then Map Network Drive so I can work with the NAS in windows.

The way I want it set up is: Have my laptop, connect to VPN then connect to the Mapped network drive dedicated to my NAS....like I have it at home.
The way I understand VPN should let you do that, like I'm sitting at home in my home network.

I looked at the manual, couldn't find anything there to help me with that.

Regards
Erik
erikmattsson79
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by erikmattsson79 »

Thank you Philippe,

The way I understand you is that this has to be done on the client that connects to the VPN Server on the NAS. So for every client that connects to the VPN needs to do this configuration, that seems not practical.

My question, are there no settings in the NAS that fixes the issue?

So if I understand correct. Tha NAS on my internal network has 192.168.1.x however when I connect from the outside to the NAS it has 10.0.0.1 and the VPN client gets a VPN client IP pool number, example 10.0.0.2. This isolates the VPN client from my internal 192.xxx network and I have no access. I would have thought that QNAP would have a configuration for this in the NAS to route the client to the internal network?

Am I correct, there is no such setting and therefore I need to configure each client that connects to the VPN server?

Does this not kind of invalid the purpose of the VPN tunnel Server on the NAS, I want to connect to my network at home remotely and be able to work like i am sitting home within my network.
I thought that was possible with QNAPS VPN Server.

Regards
Erik
2000wolf
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AW: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by 2000wolf »

Without any additional route command I'm able to access my shares via \\10.0.0.1\share name entered into IE.
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erikmattsson79
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by erikmattsson79 »

Yes me to, however my question is can I get access to the rest of my network and the internet without any additional routing commands on my client?
erikmattsson79
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by erikmattsson79 »

Thank you for your help. By disabling "use default gateway on remote network" i can access the internet locally while being connected to the NAS remotely.

/Erik
marcelkraan
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by marcelkraan »

I have the same... PPTP and i used the same 192.168.123.0/24
so the connection was ok... but the smb://192.168.123.1/Data did not work

So i have used my router again
2000wolf
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by 2000wolf »

erikmattsson79 wrote:Thank you for your help. By disabling "use default gateway on remote network" i can access the internet locally while being connected to the NAS remotely.

/Erik
Hi Erik,

That's good news. Where exactly did you disable "use default gateway on remote network". Sorry, at the moment I have no access to my NAS to look for that check mark.
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erikmattsson79
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by erikmattsson79 »

2000wolf wrote:
erikmattsson79 wrote:Thank you for your help. By disabling "use default gateway on remote network" i can access the internet locally while being connected to the NAS remotely.

/Erik
Hi Erik,

That's good news. Where exactly did you disable "use default gateway on remote network". Sorry, at the moment I have no access to my NAS to look for that check mark.

It's a setting in the client. I have Win 7, you find it here:

Right click your VPN connection, go to properties. Networking, click Internet Protocol Version 4, then properties. Click the advanced button, then uncheck "Use default gateway on remote network".

Hope that helps :)
2000wolf
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by 2000wolf »

Found it.

Thanks a lot!
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copeasetic
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Re: VPN Server (PPTP), Can connect but can't access NAS/devi

Post by copeasetic »

While the QNAP documentation is fairly straight forward when setting up the VPN server, the docs do not provide background information regarding routing and proper IP address ranges. Sometimes posters take for granted everyone understands subnets and their respective assignable IP address space. I will ATTEMPT to explain what the online docs do not cover and other posters seem to take as a given in many responses to other user's frustration as to why their clients disconnect after a few minutes or when they attempt to "browse" their networks when VPN'd in.

The long version:
The PPTP server IP address range needs to be on a different subnet from the NAS default network subnet, otherwise the PPTP VPN client will not stay connected, due to the VPN server trying to allocate IPs on the same subnet as the internal LAN subnet. That may be a bit counterintuitive, it was to me... I would think you would want the external clients to "land" on the same subnet when VPN'd into the NAS. Well, as it turns out, the NAS creates a PROXY, which creates a "bridge" between the two networks. In other words, your LAN subnet inside your office may be 192.168.2.0/24 (IP range 192.168.2.0 through 192.168.2.254) and your VPN Server IP Address Range is on a different subnet 10.0.0.0/24 (10.0.0.0 through 10.0.0.254). On a side note, the VPN server only allows 15 concurrent clients, but the clients may be assigned any address within the address range (10.0.0.0 through 10.0.0.254).

The Short Version:

NAS IP = 192.168.2.8
Subnet = 255.255.255.0
Gateway = 192.168.2.1

PPTP VPN Server Settings:
IP Address Range: 10.0.0.2 - 10.0.0.254
Uncheck Manually Assign DNS Server

So, why does this configuration work? The QNAP NAS creates a proxy between the VPN client pool and the LAN. What does that mean? When a client computer is logged into the NAS (with the configuration above) the client is assigned an IP address 10.0.0.2 (if it's the first client in the pool. when a second client connects simultaneously it will receive a client IP of 10.0.0.3). The NAS then creates a "bridge" between the two networks 192.168.2.0 and 10.0.0.0 allowing requests originating from 10.0.0.x clients to route to 192.168.2.x resources on the network. I know, it sounds like crazy talk or sorcery, but the word is not flat, I swear!

Once I set the VPN server to it's own subnet (10.0.0.2 through 10.0.0.254) I was able to maintain connections and browse my LAN without issue. As of the writing of this posting my VPN client on my Mac (OSX 10.0.3 and on my iPhone iOS 6.x) for over an hour and counting... This issue has been plaguing me for a while, so I wanted to share my solution with the community in the hopes that it solves your issues as well.

Some additional background:
- I do not use the myCloudNas service.
- I have a Cisco SRP541W Services Ready Platform router
- I did not change MTU settings

I hope this help the community.

QNAP - you might want to update your documentation and admin screens to include this information to help users avoid issues with setting up PPTP.
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