Important Client TCP/IP Settings

TCP/IP settings for a VPN session operate in the same way that TCP/IP settings operate for a LAN connection. To troubleshoot a VPN implementation, you need to understand how the four TCP/IP settings affect your network connection and browsing.

DNS server. This server translates a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN—e.g., www.win2000mag.com) into its TCP/IP address (e.g., 207.54.25.03). When you have a DNS server and it's working properly, your computer can find and connect to another computer by name. When you don't have a DNS server, or the server isn't working, you can't connect to a computer by name. Instead, you have to connect by the destination computer's TCP/IP address.

WINS server. This server translates a NetBIOS name into its TCP/IP address. In a Windows NT 4.0 network, every computer registers a NetBIOS name with a WINS server or the local browser if no WINS server is available. Every computer also registers the NetBIOS name for each published file and print share. If your client has an assigned WINS server, you can see and connect to print shares on the network, assuming you have the required security credentials. If your client doesn't have an assigned WINS server, you can't browse Network Neighborhood, but you can connect to file and print shares if you enter the Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) name manually and your security credentials permit access to the shared resource.

DHCP server. This server minimally assigns TCP/IP addresses to LAN clients at startup and to RAS clients when they connect. To configure a DHCP server to assign other TCP/IP stack settings, you can define scope options for the domain name, the default gateway, the DNS server, WINS server, and so on.

Default gateway. This gateway tells your computer to send data to a specific machine or router when the data's destination is a system that isn't on the local subnet. The gateway route appears as the top line in the table that the Print Route command displays.