NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
new Orbi install - frequent disconnects when using VNC
I just replaced an Asus router with Orbi RBK43 I sit at one computer with big monitors and use VNC to remote desktop share my laptop. The laptop is using a VPN connection back to my office I...
My corp office is very security conscious... I can only log onto their network with their VPN (and that the only use of the laptop)...
Being "security concious" is a good thing.
I think I have run out of suggestions.
I disconnected the TightVNC connection after 16 hours. Might have stayed up forever.
Since last time, I've tried...
1) upgraded RealVNC to a trial paid version
2) switched PC from wired to wireless connection to Orbi
Still getting frequent disconnects (and auto-reconnect). :-(
Not sure what I'm going to try next...
Regarding your use of VNC, if it functions like mine, when a connection drops it will re-establish it automatically. So you have to be sitting there doing something in the window to notice.
RedCab wrote:Not sure what I'm going to try next...
Regarding your use of VNC, if it functions like mine, when a connection drops it will re-establish it automatically. So you have to be sitting there doing something in the window to notice.
True. I did not sit and watch the VNC connection constantly. I cannot find documentation on what the various "log verbosity levels" are for TightVNC, so I set it to the max and will check the log in a bit.
I am sort of a "isolate the problem" person. There are two computers. VPN connection. and the VNC process. I would like to eliminate RealVNC as the issue. (I also would reconnect the desktop with ethernet.)
It is totally free to test TightVNC or TigerVNC. The big difference is that they do not send any traffic "outside". All data remains within the Orbi LAN.
I agree with your isolate the problem approach.
To that end, I set up 2 different VNC products on my wired desktop, side by side, one on each monitor. RealVNC and Teamviewer.
When not using the corp VPN (impossible to do work without it though), both function properly without dropouts.
When I started the corp VPN I saw drop out in the Real VNC window - but not the Teamviewer !!
I can switch to Teamviewer ... that's no problem.
It does make me wonder what in the combination of RealVNC, corp VPN and the new Orbi is causing the timeouts. The problem was there from the instant I hooked the Orbi up on Tuesday.
RedCab wrote:It does make me wonder what in the combination of RealVNC, corp VPN and the new Orbi is causing the timeouts. The problem was there from the instant I hooked the Orbi up on Tuesday.
I think you are correct. Something about Orbi's firewall does not like the combination of VPN to the office and the RealVNC "cloud". If you used a version of RealVNC that does not involve the cloud, it might work.
With a practical solution in hand, probing more deeply may not be a good investment of time. From the description of the problem, I suspect that RealVNC's cloud is running some sort of "keep alive" system independent of the VNC data flow. My first thought is to capture the WAN traffic and look for attempts to connect to the Orbi from RealVNC. There are also a TON of parameters for configuring RealVNC:
https://help.realvnc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002251297-VNC-Server-Parameter-Reference-
Thanks CrimpON, you've been helpful guiding the debug process!
RealVNC requires a slight more expensive "enterprise" license to do a direct LAN connection. I have to wonder whether that would be compatible with using the corp VPN... Doesn't the corp VPN essentially take the laptop off my network (virtually) and put it on the corp LAN? I know that when I'm on VPN I can no longer see my printers for example.
Hmmm....