Question : Problem: VPN causes non-vpn internet access to fail.

My customer has two related problems.  Both PCs run Win XP (proably SP2 but I am not 100% sure).  Both PCs have IE working fine AND THEN...

PC1: When customer connects to VPN (in IE) all OTHER non-vpn related access can not connect (example to Yahoo.com).

PC2: When customer connects to a DIFFERENT VPN, DIFFERENT VPN SW (in fact a different person in the same houshold who works for a different company with a different VPN), he fails to connect AND all OTHER non-vpn related access can not NOW connect (example to Yahoo.com). I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO DEAL WITH WHY PC2 CANNOT CONNECT TO HIS VPN.

I believe that on this PC2 if I power cycle the modem and the router than normal IE access is restored. I have not tried this on PC1. Also BTW after the VPN connect cancels other IE access, shared printing to a local network printer (connected to the same Linksys router) still works from both problem PCs

Regarding firewalls, PC1 has none EXCEPT the company with the vpn HAS put some security SW on the PC that I am not familiar with. But remember that before VPN connection, IE worked fine !! PC2 has no firewalls or special security SW. I believe that both PCs have Symantic AV installed (ie. the corporate version of Norton AV but that product does not have a firewall or am I mistaken). And again even if it does, IE works fine till the VPN connect is made.

It is the common part that I am posting about here:   that IE worked fine until the connect to the vpn started on two different PCs with different VPNs. Network is PCs are both wired to a brand-new Linksys WRT54G router which is connected to a Comcast Cable modem. Comcast is DHCP incidentally.

(1) How do I fix this problem?

(2) Have you seen this problem before and how was it fixed?

(3) Anything else that might help me solve this.

Regards,
  Mike

Answer : Problem: VPN causes non-vpn internet access to fail.

Actually no - I'm sorry I was only using that question title as an example of problems people face.

The fact that you can still connect to your local printers is an added bonus - but not unusual. What is probably happening in your case is that the VPN connection has been configured to grab the default gateway (and/or primary DNS) - this would only stop Internet browsing nothing else.

What you can do to establish what is actually happening - is with the VPN connected - open a DOS (Command) window and type "ipconfig -all"

This will then show how the network is configured pay attention to the "VPN" connection and see if it has a Default Gateway and/or DNS Servers defined. If it does then this will prevent browsing using the local connection.

You can also try viewing ipconfig -all with the VPN disconnected and notice the differences.

Essentially, the VPN connection will take precedence over the local connections.

Hope this helps.