I’ve just spent 2and a half hours on the phone with Verizon support with no resolution to my issue. My call was dropped twice during the process.
About a week ago my company turned on FIPS protection. Prior to that security certificates were generated and installed in my VPN client software.
Since the change I have been unable to connect to my work. I have taken my desktop to the IT department at work and it was tested and is functioning properly through the VPN client.
I also borrowed a laptop from work that has successfully connected via the VPN client and it also doesn’t connect from home.
I used the GRC.com test facility to test ports 500 and 4500 with the result being “Stealth”. The note from the facility says that in order to use VPN this should be “Open”.
How do I get the ports opened?
You need to learn how to manage the settings in your router to match the requirements of the specific VPN your company is using. Most VPNs will work through a home router without any special settings, however if your VPN requires ports to be open for inbound traffic then you'll need to manually set that up.
You'll want to establish "port forwarding" to the specific internal IP address of the computer in your home for the ports in question.
If that seems to difficult, you can put your computer into the DMZ, however that will expose it to all internet traffic sent toward your network. This generally not considered a good idea unless the computer in the DMZ has is carefully maintained in order to be protected against internet threats
Putting the computer in the DMZ is a good diagnostic tool as well.
Good Luck.
Believe me I have tried to port forward, turning off the firewall, DMZ on both my DSL modem and my router. Nothing gets me past the block that Verizon has on those ports.
After another hour on the phone I finally got to someone at their premium services department. They offered for an additional $16 per month some protection software that should correct the problem or a one time half hour service for $40 to allow the port to pass through.
Since the other people from my business have no issue and pay no extra fees using Time Warner , I think that is where I’m headed.
It is a shame that Verizon doesn’t realize that us landline customers are a dying breed. You would think that they might want to keep up with the rest of the world.
After all I just want to get some work done from home. I'm not streaming video or hosting web services.
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