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SLaks
Asked: 2010-01-20 14:27:22 +0800 CST

NetBIOS names over VPN

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I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 box hosting a VPN to grant remote access to a home network.
The network does not and will not have a domain. (I need FUS on XP machines)

The VPN works fine, except that I cannot access any other machines by name over the VPN.

I can access the VPN server by name, and I can access the other machines by IP address, but whenever I ping any other machine name, it waits ~30 seconds and says it couldn't find the host.

EDIT: If possible, I'd prefer a solution that doesn't involve reconfiguring the client machines, and that will allow the other machines to communicate with each-other even if the server goes down.

vpn ping netbios windows-server-2008-r2

2 Answers

  1. NetBIOS is a non-routeable protocol. You will need to have a WINS server setup at the VPN endpoint, and configure your remote clients to use that WINS server.

    Are people really still using NetBIOS ??? You should REALLY transition to a DNS based name resolution setup.

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  2. Best Answer

    I solved this by setting up the server as a WINS server and setting its IP in the (Linksys) router DHCP's WINS field.

    After renewing every machine's IP address, it works fine, without (I hope) making the local network dependent on my server, and without requiring any manual intervention after renewing the IP addresses.

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