You cannot connect a computer that is running Windows Vista to a Cisco ASA Series VPN server by using a virtual private network (VPN) connection that is based on the “Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec” (L2TP/IPsec) protocol. This problem occurs if another Windows Vista-based computer is already connecting to the VPN server through a L2TP/IPsec-based VPN connection. You cannot connect to the VPN server until the other computer disconnects from the VPN server.

This behavior does not occur on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.

Consider the following scenario. You install a third-party virtual private network (VPN) adapter on a Windows Vista-based computer. Then, you establish a VPN connection by using the VPN adapter. In this scenario, the packets that are sent to the local computer are dropped. Therefore, some applications cannot communicate over the network.

On a Windows Vista-based computer, you experience slow performance after you establish a VPN connection. Additionally, it may take several minutes to open a redirected shell folder. This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• Offline files are enabled on the computer.
• Some offline files are cached on the local computer.
• You logged on to the computer when you were offline.
• The VPN connection is based on a slow connection.

This problem usually lasts several minutes and then disappears.

You cannot use a remote access server to apply Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) options to a Windows Vista-based computer. Therefore, the Windows Vista-based computer loses some TCP/IP configurations.

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• You configured some options on a DHCP server.
• You configured a remote access server to forward DHCP information from the DHCP server.
• The Windows Vista-based computer uses a virtual private network (VPN) connection to connect to the remote access server.

While searching Microsoft’s MSDN Library (a little light reading to help me sleep), I noticed an entry on the search page that said a new VPN feature called SSTP was being developed for Longhorn, and was to also be included in Vista SP1. I clicked on the link and found that in the main article, the text was different from that on the excerpt from the search page, it only mentioned Longhorn. Someone had changed the article, removing the SP1 reference, but the excerpt hadn’t updated! I had to wonder, was the feature originally planned for SP1 but then pulled? Keep reading →

A new version of their VPN client is Vista compatible and available for download at the Cisco website. Keep reading →

When you create an application to establish a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel in Windows Vista, the value that is returned by an API function is not what you expect. The remote access service incorrectly registers the VPN tunnel as an “IF_TYPE_PPP” Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) network interface type.

When you try to make a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)-based virtual private network (VPN) connection to a VPN server computer, you receive error code 741. This behavior occurs on a computer that is running Windows Vista.

You receive the error code if the VPN server computer is running a version of Windows that is earlier than Windows Vista. For example, you may receive the error code if the server computer is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.

You establish a virtual private networking (VPN) connection to the corporate network from a computer that is running Windows Vista. When you try to access network resources, you experience the following symptoms:

• You cannot access network resources.
• Domain name resolution is not successful.

You experience one of the following symptoms when you try to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection by using “Layer Two Tunneling Protocol with IPsec” (L2TP/IPsec) from a Windows client computer to a VPN server.

• Symptom 1

  The Windows client computer is running Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, or Microsoft Windows 2000, and you try to connect to a VPN server that is running Microsoft Windows Server Code Name “Longhorn” or Windows Vista. However, you cannot connect to the VPN server. Instead, you receive an error message the resembles the following:

  741 The local computer does not support encryption.

• Symptom 2

  The Windows client computer is running Windows Server Code Name “Longhorn” or Windows Vista, and you try to connect to a VPN server that is running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows 2000. However, you cannot connect to the VPN server. Instead, you receive an error message the resembles the following:

  742 The remote server does not support encryption.