ping works then "times out"

[czbjky]

I have two locations each with a DSL modem and a firewall that makes a VPN tunnel for a secure connection that allows users in the branch office use terminal services on a Win2K server to access a LOB applications in the corp office.

The branch office has recently...last month or so....been experiencing disconnects that have been affecting their ability to work. Nowhere have I seen anything logged to account for this...

Users simply get a "Your connection has been broken, this may be due to a network error...."

When I do a continuous ping from the branch to the internet...www.yahoo.com...the access times are solid and there are no timeouts, however, when I do a continuous ping to the corp location terminal server, (through the vpn tunnel) access times vary wildly (10-1300ms) and there are occasionally timeouts...those I assume are the cause of the disconnects....

From ths corp location I do continuous pings to the internet e.g www.yahoo.com and experience varying times and occasional timeouts....the same when I ping the branch oofice's modem, server or firewall...

The DSL provider has been telling me that it must be my setup, however, I have placed a standalone pc on the dsl modem at the corporate location bypassing all other networking equipment and experienced the same problems...

Any comments or directions to help me troubleshoot this?

[Big Booger]

It could be the DSL modem itself.. I had one that was screwed exactly like this.. it would randomly disconnect, no matter what I was doing... file transfers on the net, streaming video, surfing the web.. at random intervals it would disconnect. I got the provider to replace the modem and it fixed everything.

It might be the corporate location connection. They can do a reset on that account.. a line trace, etc... Call the ISP provider for the corporated location, and have them do the test. Often they can just flip a switch at their office, resetting the connection.

If that doesn't fix it, you can get them to come out and do a line test. If that doesn't work, it could be the telephone lines themselves... I don't know how old the lines are but if they are ancient, this could just be a side effect of the old telephone cable... which will be quite difficult to fix.

Just my advice.

[chicagoSun]

And the locations have static IP's correct? Just a wild guess but are the modems same make and model?

[chicagoSun]

gotta bump it....1 post I not think he/she be back but would be nice knowing what could cause this.

[rik]

couldn't they also perform a trace route to see where packets may be dropping?

[czbjky]

in an attempt to get ideas and answers to technical problems...I've made a living for a long time by solving other peoples problems...

Ip addressing in each location is DHCP, however, each machine has a "reservation" so it remains constant.

DSL modem/switch in each location is the same...Firewall is a Sonicwall.

The provider XO Communications has reset the line...has logged into the modem and done pings....they say "occasional" request timed out is normal. I think it's a bunch of bull....but they have yet to see a timeout... :o

[chicagoSun]

Yeah sounds like they oversold the service and just found out they can't mess with your account with out you guys noticing.