Using Verizon EVDO data card to access my office laptop

romne · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

Hi Everyone! I am a new member to this site and recent subscriber to Verizon's EVDO service..I chose the Kyocera 650 card and it is very nice however I have some questions that I hope some of the more experienced members here can help with. I am trying to use this card to set up telecommuting between my home and office. Currently I use Bellsouth DSL at my home. I have installed the 650 in my laptop at the office. What I would like to do is remote into my laptop through the 650 with my DSL connection so that I can access my office network from my house. I have run into a few dilemmas here which I think I may have sorted out.
First of all, the Verizon card uses Dynamic IP so I am using the free service provided at no-ip.com to estabilish a DNS name that I can connect to. It is actually a pretty nifty site (no I am not trying to advertise lol)...you install a utility on your laptop and it updates the DNS name with your new Dynamic IP if it changes so that you can still access your computer remotely. I tested this function before hooking up the laptop to my office network and I was able to remote in using Windows XP Remote Desktop very well. Once connected to my office network however I encountered a problem. My Verizon connection is constantly breaking very rapidly while on my office LAN. It does this in particular when I try to access any resource that is on the local network. The laptop seems to pause a great deal when I try to access, say for example a server on the network, kills the verizon connection and then proceeds to use my LAN card to succesfully access the resource. It seems to me like it is trying to use the Verizon card at first to access even local resources, realizes it cant and then switches killing the Verizon connection.
Obviously I can not remote in to the laptop from my house if the Verizon card won't even stay connected so my question is does anyone know what might be causing this? Could it be the Venturi software or perhaps something as simple as changing the order of the adapters under My Network Places so that it uses the LAN card first? All input would be greatly appreciated guys! (I have the laptop running Windows 2000 - mainly so I do not have to deal with the XP firewall in SP 2 - at the moment and my home computer is running Windows XP SP 2)

Woody2006 · EVDO User Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 70

I'd turn off the Venturi software.

Michael · Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 5:54 am Post subject:

Hello,

Windows XP will automatically select the fastest connection. So, if you have Ethernet plugged in, it will kill your Verizon EVDO connection. To disable, see this URL:

Windows XP disables EVDO when I plug in an Ethernet cable

Disabling Venturi probably would be a good thing too.
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romne · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

Thanks for the info guys. I will uninstall venturi...I did however already try the media sensing fix with no success. I believe it is actually using the air card first but when it tries to find local resources on the local network it uses the air card first. I can tell because there is a long pause thats usually not there as it futilely tries to find something through the 650 card thats simply not there. It then switches to my lan card and finds what it needs but disconnects my 650 card when it switches. I am going to try to change the order of Nic's in my network places so that it utilizes the lan card first...maybe that will solve it.

Zorog · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 135

You are actually using your laptop as a "bridge" between 2 networks. Windows does not do this well, because it's not a router.

You may be able to solve this by using static routes - with routes pointing to your network internally over Ethernet, and your default route pointing back to the 650 (Internet).

By the way - be aware that this will compromise the security of your office network. Any half-wit hacker can utilize a PC being used as a bridge... (I'd install lots of 3rd party security!)

Good Luck!

romne · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

Hmm...so far I have not had success with resolving this. Does anyone think designating a static ip address for the 650 card will help resolve this? Somehow I need to get Windows to recognize to use the LAN card to access local network resources and the 650 card for basically remoting in to with Windows Remote Desktop. Another interesting thing I noticed was it views the 650 card as a modem and not a network adapter.

romne · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

Also, would the upcoming kyocera KR1 router help with this situation? You mentioned I am using my laptop as a bridge and that windows does not do well with this so....would that router help alleviate that?

Woody2006 · EVDO User Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 70

Excellent points Zorog. My company won't even allow a modem hanging off a PC on the LAN....

romne · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

Well permission is not really an issue here as I am their network guy...and I will be taking measures to secure the connection. For now though I am just trying to make it possible to do this in the first place. I think I will probably end up havng to get a static ip for the verizon card and use pc anywhere to access it. I do see where I can bridge the connecton between the air card and the lan card under network settings..can't say I have much experience with doing that kind of thing though...what would be the net effect of doing that ?