Work Laptop Disconnects Router

[#1]

Hi all,
My broadband is generally OK with a download speed of 11mbps. I've been a Plusnet (Force 9!!!) customer since 1998 and have always been happy.
However I have recently moved jobs and been provided with a new laptop by my company. I am working at home and when I connect my Cisco VPN, this seems to knock off my broadband connection.
When VPN is not connected the connection stays up.
Called support and they say there are no problems on the line, but have done things such as increase SNR and "turned on interleaving".
I have done a little bit of digging regarding connection issues and VPN and one thing suggested is to check the Broadband Firewall settings. I have logged onto the Portal and mine is turned OFF.
With my previous company, my works laptop had certificate based authentication and there was never a problem. Here I am using Cisco VPN with an RSA token, and this seems to be what is causing the problems.
The support rep didn't seem to want to investigate the VPN angle when I mentioned it, so any help appreciated.
Cheers, Paul

[#2]

Hello Katpaw,
Welcome to the Forums.
What you are getting is a side effect of the Cisco VPN software you are using. It's done to isolate your PC from the outside world and to protect the LAN you are now part of.

[#3]

Hi, that's interesting but what can I do to solve the problem?
dick:quote

[#4]

What exactly do you mean by the connection dropping?  Is it just the VPN connected PC can't access Internet sites (but does connect to the VPN) or that you lose all connectivity?  Have you got any other device that you can test your connection with while the VPN software is running?

[#5]

I lose all connectivity. The Thomson router basically goes off (all lights). It tries to come back on again (power, wireless and broadband lights show), but the Internet light doesn't come on. Then all lights go off an Internet light goes red.
Then seems to go through that cycle until I power off my works laptop then it's all OK.
Power work laptop back on and it's all OK until I connect VPN and then problems start again.
dick:quote

[#6]

Now that's a new one on me to be honest, I know the Cisco software re-configures your network card's settings but I wouldn't expect that to happen to your router. How is your laptop connected to your router?

[#7]

Wireless
My work laptop has been connected to broadband without VPN for well over an hour now and it's been stable.
I am just going to connect to VPN again and will see what happens…. Keep 'em peeled.
dick:quote

[#8]

Sounds like a bug with the VPN passthrough functionality of the router...  There have been other issues before with the Thomson router, but I can't see anything about the connection being knocked off.
[Note - You'll incur the wrath of the moderators by quoting each post when you reply by the way... ]

[#9]

Yep sure enough, connected VPN - all OK for a grand total of 3m 44s and then the router disconnected. (Remember it was OK for over an hour before I touched VPN).
How do I fix this bug?

[#10]

Have you looked at the thread cited by pwatson? I don't know if it will fix your issue, but ...

[#11]

I've just seen that other thread will check it out. I'm now going to report this to my company's IT Help Desk to see what they suggest - may be something they can do with VPN on the local machine? Who knows?

[#12]

Just an update - a colleague suggested connecting my work issue iPhone to wi-fi and then setting it up as a Hotspot, then connect the laptop to broadband via the hotspot, and then connect the VPN.
I've done this and so far the Broadband connection has stayed up.
Not sure why this is.
Is it because I am technically bypassing the Thomson router? (Even though the iPhone is actually connected to the router)?

[#13]

By setting the iPhone up as a hotspot you're using the 3G/4G connection for internet access and then using the phone wifi to connect the PC.  You're not actually using the Plusnet connection at all...

[#14]

Ah, so this is a workaround and my problem isn't actually solved.
I noticed actually that my Plusnet Firewall is set to OFF, but guidance suggests in the case of VPN issues to change it from HIGH to LOW. No mention of OFF.
Presumably if it's OFF then it's not interfering with the VPN?
mav:quote

[#15]

Yes, with the firewall off all traffic is passed unadulterated to your router.