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This is an issue thats bugged me for a couple years. I have a Netgear FWG114P Router here at home, and I never got it working with my company VPN. I could always connect to the VPN, and then after about two minutes, I'd get dropped. The tech guy at work and I tried everything.

We had the same issues with my wife's company VPN.

The only suggestion that worked was to pack up the Netgear Router and then buy a Linksys one. The Linksys router has worked just fine out of the box and both our VPN connections work great.

Now I'd like to extend my wireless network to a distant corner of our house, so I'd like to bring the Netgear out of retirement.

Anyway, anyone else have issues with VPNs and Netgear Routers? Any possible solutions I could try?

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Don't use the Netgear as router, just as a wireless AP, then everything should be fine.

Turn off the DHCP server in the netgear, and set its LAN IP address to something that is free on your network. Then connect one of the Netgear's LAN ports to one of the Linksys's LAN ports using a crossover cable. Finally, set the Netgear's network name to be the same as the Linksys's.

After setting it up this way, you'll be able to roam between the two APs without noticing it at all and, since the Linksys is doing the NAT, your VPN should work just fine.

edit: The point of the crossover cable is to build an Ethernet link between the two. You could actually use any Ethernet-like connection method you like. Power line, two more APs running WDS with some directional antennas, fiber, etc.

It sounds like you were going to run an Ethernet cable from a powerline adapter into the WAN port; just run it into the LAN port instead (after making the config changes)

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Wouldn't I be limited to the length of the crossover cable? It would seem that both the Netgear and the Linksys would be incredibly close together. Although, you've got me thinking. I use Linksys Powerline Adapters to extend the network in my house. Ostensibly, I could use the Netgear upstairs, and let the Linksys handle the DHCP and NAT duties, and just have the Netgear be an access point. This would eliminate the need for the crossover cable, no? – WindyCityEagle Jul 19 '09 at 1:56
Oh, and I would upvote your answer, because it was helpful, but I still don't have 15 rep. – WindyCityEagle Jul 19 '09 at 1:57
Yes, that'd be limited to the length of a cross-over cable. But a cross-over cable (or any 100baseTX ethernet cable) can be 100m long. And, yes, you can certainly use any type of connection you want between the two; powerline should be fine. – derobert Jul 19 '09 at 19:07
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