Hi all,
just after some thoughts re problems I am having with a remote connection to my work. Work uses remote access desktop for us to connect; we connect to our own computers at work, rather than direct to the server.
I am being disconnected 1-2 times per hour. I get one of two messages: “An error occurred while sending data to the remote desktop gateway server. The server is temporarily unavailable or a network connection is down” or “Your computer can’t connect to the remote computer because an error occurred on the remote computer that you want to connect to.”
I noted the times this morning, and then contacted IT directly. I got an email back after a half hour or so, stating that there does not seem to be any problem on their side, as ten other sessions are running without issues.
OK, so, bummer, it is probably my side. I have a dongle in my laptop, connecting wirelessly to the Telstra (Australia) 4G network. Laptop is about 18 months old; running windows 8; Intel i5 chip; 4.00GB RAM; SSD. I have to use IE11, as that is what work specifies. The nearest telecommunications tower is about 100 metres away.
Any thoughts as to how I can improve my connection, please? Is there any point using an aerial, or an amplifier or a ??
Do I really need a wired connection? We have not got a landline where we live, so that would have to be specifically put in. (Not happening anytime soon due to maybe moving soon).
Do I have to accept this is not working well? I LOOOVE working from home – no 1.5 hour (one way) commute. But my productivity is tanking.
Are you using a VPN client? Or just using remote desktop to an IP?
When this happens again do the following if it is a public IP, hold down the windows key and press R. Type in cmd and press enter. Type in ping <ip address of your connection> -t then press enter
This will ping the server continuously. If it is timing out it is a network issue. Also the ping times ought to be low, they are listed in ms. They ought to be below 300, preferably lower.
If it is a VPN check for a version that’s specific for your local provider. I use a Cisco VPN client that’s optimized for Verizon. In my experience the local provider is often the source of the problem independent of the VPN. They just aren’t good at maintaining connections long term. I’ll still get disconnected once or twice a day.
Sleestak and Tripolar, I am not sure if it is a VPN. I go to a web address, click on an icon “connect to remote computer” enter my work credentials, then I am sent by text a single use further password. Once I do that I am presented with my own work computer’s desktop. I will ask if it is a VPN.
Me_Billy - yes, I do believe that wired may indeed be better. I remoted in from a place with a wired connection a few weeks ago, and it was much better. However, as I mentioned in my OP, that is not really an option at the moment. We are moving in 4 weeks, and current wait times for having a line put in is more like 4 months.
Well just string a long cat 6 cable along the floor in your home if possible. (Walmart sells these.)
Better is cat 6e, even better is cat 7 Ethernet wire. But local stores in my area don’t carry these yet, need to order from the internet and that of course takes time too!
Port Royal, when you have your computer at the location where the problem is occurring, do the following:
Hold down the windows key and press R. Type in cmd and press enter. Type in ping 8.8.8.8 -t >ping.txt
Let it run for a minute, you won’t see anything. After a minute, hold down ctrl and press c. Then type in notepad ping.txt.
That ought to open up the results of the ping in notepad. Post the results, note, it’ll be pretty large so do the last 15 or 20 lines.
TriPolar, I am intrigued by the Verizon optimized VPN connection. I setup VPNs on Cisco stuff quite often and never heard of it. I also checked cisco.com under my account and didn’t find anything other than making sure the Verizon connection isn’t running compression. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter and learn more (in other words, wth?)
About the cat 5e/6/7 cabling stuff. Getting cat 6 or 7 vs. 5e for home users isn’t going to make a difference and is a waste of money. Cat 6/7 will allow 10 gig over Ethernet to 30 or 100 meters respectively. It is highly unlikely that anyone on this board has a 10g capable Ethernet adapter. Even if the user had a 10G Ethernet adapter on the PC, the router is certainly slower than 10G so it wouldn’t make a difference as you can’t go faster than the slowest link which will be the internet connection. Cat 5e does 1 gig which is more than enough.
Well that was a major memory lapse on my part. I forgot that we switched VPN clients at least 2 years ago now. The Cisco client I’ve been using isn’t optimized for Verizon at all. I think we were using a Nortel VPN and after a number of headaches I got them to provide something called VZVPN. That ran into problems with some FTP servers and they gave me the CISCO client which I’m still using and hasn’t had an issue since. All I had to do was look at my client login connection to see that had changed. I guess CISCO has worked so well since then I never thought about it again.
