How to connect to Windows 7 via VPN?

Question

Recently I've started using Windows 7 at work and I cannot login to my machine anymore from home. The VPN connection settings of my guest computer seems to be correct as my friends can use it to login to their machines. I assume I've to modify some of the firewall rules, but I am not sure which rules should be modified. Any ideas which rules need to be changed?

EDIT: To clarify, the problem is with my machine at work that I want to log into. My other coworkers can log in to their accounts from my laptop, but I can not log into my account from my laptop. However all of my other coworkers have Windows Vista while I have Windows 7. I think I should configure my Windows 7's firewall to let other machines VPN in to it or probably enable the services that are required to let other machines connect to it via VPN. Another problem is that in the firewall config I get this warning box that some settings can be changed using the policies so I cannot modify everything from the firewall settings window.

Thanks in advance.

Solution 1

Have you enabled the Remote Settings for you machine at the office?

To do this, if you haven't, Start> right click the Computer lable> Properties> Remote> Any of the last two options to enable Remote Desktop.

Solution 2

Essentially you need to open TCP port 1723 for the VPN. If you're using IPSEC for encryption, you will also need UDP port 500 and possibly allow for IP protocol 50 and 5i for Encapsulating Security Protocol (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH) respectively. Another possibility is using L2TP, in which case you will need to allow TCP/UDP port 1701.

You might find these useful:

Windows 7 VPN

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/233256/en-gb

Comments

[Hondalex]

Just to clarify, can you VPN but can't remote into the Win7 machine?

[Parth Bharadiya]

Pulse, the first link looked promising but I couldn't add my username on the domain and it is only displaying local users of the machine. Could this be a domain related problem?

[Pulse]

So, the computer at work (the one you want to connect to?) is part of a domain but your workstation at home isn't? It shouldn't prevent you from connecting, however, if you're setting creating this connection from your home PC, you can do things differently, see link:support.microsoft.com/kb/314076 Don't forget though that the firewall at your end as well as the one at work, have to be configured to allow the connection. See the port info above.

[Pulse]

It does sound as if something is blocking you at your work machine. At the very least, you should open port TCP 1723 to allow inbound connections. The other ports I mentioned may not be necessary, it just depends on your situation. How you open the port will depend on the firewall you are using?

[Parth Bharadiya]

I'm using Windows' built in firewall, but even though I have admin rights it doesn't let me configure all of its setting saying that some settings require admin rights. However I was able to open port 1723 I just have to go back home and check it again.

[Pulse]

Because your work PC is part of a domain, it's quite likely there are some group policies in play that may impose certain restrictions. If there are problems with being able to configure the desired settings, you may need to have a word with the domain administrator.