andrewc wrote: Followed all the instructions for L2TP over IPSec. No Joy. Staus : Dialling, long pause, "Unknown Error"

Then I tried SSL VPN using the same Client. No Joy. Status : Open SSL Connection. "Can't connect to SSL VPN Tunnel Server !!!"

These could be configuration errors at the 2860 - mismatched passwords or such like ... or even the VPN protocol not being enabled in the Teleworker profile. Configuring a SYSLOG server might give some insight - though VPN connections do tend to produce large splurges of informational messages. I find myself comparing and contrasting a working vs a non-working connection for clues.

he also wrote: In desperation I tried the original MS PPTP again. Amazingly it now works reliably on PC1 so we must have fixed something!

Did you use the SmartVPN Client to reconfigure the PC and add that Registry Key, by any chance? (The one that allows VPN NAT Traversal)

hornbyp

>These could be configuration errors at the 2860 - mismatched passwords or such like ... or even the VPN protocol not being enabled in the Teleworker profile.

Passwords are correct. And VPN protocol is enabled for multiple Teleworkers all of whom can get in with Windows 10. One even upgraded his machine to Win 10 as Win 7 just didn't work. And remember I can get in every time on my Win 10 machine. I'm sure this IS a Win 7 issue - but I just don't know enough to find out what.

>Configuring a SYSLOG server might give some insight - though VPN connections do tend to produce large splurges of informational messages. I find myself
comparing and contrasting a working vs a non-working connection for clues.

I did enable logging at one point before installing the SmartVPN Client but, as you say, it is very verbose and does not mean a lot to me.

>Did you use the SmartVPN Client to reconfigure the PC and add that Registry Key, by any chance? (The one that allows VPN NAT Traversal)

I had to hit the Configure button, not to support NAT-T but to enable the option to have L2TP over IPSec (which is otherwise greyed out when setting up the profile). That bit is missing from the instructions page!

But I am using Draytek routers at both ends (my end is a 2920n updated to latest firmware) so I don't see why we would need that.

> I find myself comparing and contrasting a working vs a non-working connection for clues.
I looked at that but the Win 10 (Home) working setup does not seem to give any information about it except that VPN Type is set to Automatic. No info on protocols etc.

And I now have 2 Win 7 machines, side-by-side, identical Win versions, same setup of connection profile, one that works and one that doesn't. And it is the clean build that does not work!

FWIW ...

I just tried a quick test ...

I created a Windows 7 Ultimate Hyper-V virtual machine ... with no updates.

I added a L2TP/Ipsec VPN connection: Virtual Machine -> Vigor2860n <--internet--> Vigor2830n...

...and with a few minor tweaks to the entry created by the wizard, it connected!

I've got to go out now - but I'll describe the configuration of the VPN entry and the 2830n later (if you want )

PS
I just noticed you're using Win 7 Pro, rather than Ultimate - I can repeat the exercise with Pro if necessary

hornbyp

>I'll describe the configuration of the VPN entry and the 2830n later (if you want )

That would be very helpful, thanks.

Not sure if the Win version will make any difference but Who Knows!

These images are a dump of the working RAS profile (On Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1). I initially modified it to use L2TP/IPSec with a shared-key, but I tested that PPTP worked as well. (Initially, that gave error 807 - because I hadn't enabled PPTP at the Draytek...)

NOTE: Using the wizard, the VPN type was set to 'Auto' - and it never thought to prompt for the L2TP Shared-key. Otherwise, many of these settings are defaults.
I only cleared the IPV6 option out of habit

The corresponding setup on my 2830n