Trial License?

[the Hill]

How can I request a trial license? I want to evaluate Wingage VPN for use with a consulting client of mine as follows:

One computer in a main office, using a router and broadband internet connection.

One remote computer (behind a router and ADSL connection).

I have downloaded and attempted to install build 995. On the activation screen, the only option is to purchase, although the installation instruction indicated you could request a trial license. (I aborted the trial installation.)

I wish to simulate their installation at my shop, so as to evaluate the program. It looks good, so far, but I do need to learn to use it before I attempt to sell it to them.

[Pascal]

Go back into the activation system. On the screen with the purchase link, you will see that there is a space to enter your license key (At the top). The section at the bottom allows you to request the product you want to request a license for. Then there is also the purchase link, in-case you want to buy.

So, simply select "WinGate VPN" from the dropdown, make sure you have the checkbox ticked and click [Next]. That will activate a trial license for you.

[the Hill]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I note the following after installing on one PC: There's a link in the Wingate VPN program group which points to a file, VPN.HLP, which does not exist in the \Program Files\Wingate directory. There is, however, a WinGateVPN.chm file, which produces the desired help system. A change for the in-box of the build 996 programmers?

I assume I will need to apply for a second Trial License for the remote computer in this test network?

I'm still learning this, and I may need some additional help. I hope I can rely on you for this. Thanks for your help thus far!

Jim Hill

[the Hill]

Ha! Here's a question already.

In the VPN for my client, the VPN server computer ideally would also be the only one sharing its resources over the VPN. Can the VPN server also be a VPN client?

Thanks again.

[Pascal]

A change for the in-box of the build 996 programmers?

I'll flag it for my in-box. Thanks for that. You will need a second trial license for the remote computer.

[Pascal]

In the VPN for my client, the VPN server computer ideally would also be the only one sharing its resources over the VPN. Can the VPN server also be a VPN client?

Yes, it can. That should be a fairly interesting scenario to see running.

[the Hill]

Pascal:

Thanks again.

I'm having trouble setting up this trial network. Here's how it looks:

One computer, set up as "Local Machine" in "Local Participation" on the VPN Host General Tab. This computer sits behind a Belkin Wireless DSL/Cable router using DHCP, behind a DSL Modem (Speedstream 5200).

Second computer (Remote Client) set up from the VPN config file generated by the host computer, connected to internet via modem connection. A User account was set up during Client setup and should be valid, though on Host's Policies tab I can only add a group of users, and this is currently "Everyone".

Attempting to connect from remote machine produces a "Connection Refused by Remote Host" message.

I'm pretty sure I don't have all the nuts and bolts of NAT behind the host's router properly set up, but I don't have as clear a concept as I'd like.

Any suggestions or reading I should do?

[Pascal]

If you have a look in our Knowledge Base Section, there is a good guideline for setting up a functional VPN. It takes you through the basics involved, as well as a list of common tests and problem cases. The PDF on the site does not have all the links, but you should be able to follow the document in any case. If that one gives you problems, drop me an email, and I'll reply with the MS Word version thereof (In which the links are ok)

First, check WinGate itself. The current release of WG 6.0 / VPN 2.0 has a bug relating to the opening of firewall holes for VPN. They are lost after a restart of the engine. If you manually open these holes they will remain active. So - be sure those are open.

If that's the case - you'll need to consult the documentation for the Belkin router (And possibly the Speedstream too, depending on how it NATs, etc.) to be sure that any connection made to your public IP on port 809 TCP will get through all the way to your WinGate Server. If you're going through that setup, you'll probably want to do it for port 809 UDP as well.

[the Hill]

Pascal:

Thanks again. I had read the VPN_SETUP_GUIDE.PDF. It seems to be similar or identical to the WingateVPN.chm file in the \Program Files\Wingate directory.

I'm still getting nowhere on this. I've tried enabling port 809 on the router, but this changes nothing. The Speedstream appears to have no built-on firewall capability to worry about, no controls visible anyway.

I'm getting stumped. The routing table in the Gatekeeper / Connectivity / Extended Networking / Configuration page does NOT contain either the gateway address of the Speedstream (which is 192.168.0.1) or the actual IP address of the Speedstream. I'm a routing novice, so I don't know whether this indicates a problem or not, or even whether I'm burrowing too deep into the controls. Help?

[Pascal]

The information in extended networking will not contain that IP address. If I understand the situation correctly, you have

[LAN] <=> [WinGate Server] <=> Belkin Wireless Cable Modem <=> SpeedStream <=> [Internet]

Is that about correct? The WinGate Server will be able to see it's LAN interface's routes and the routes to the Belkin (Unless one of the devices publishes RIP routes, but we won't worry about that now).

If the Speedstream is a simple, dumb device, then that's okay. What about the Belkin? Does this device have NAT capability? If it does, it's possible that it's not only necessary to open the port, but to redirect it to a given IP address (Your WinGate Server in this case).

Also, are the firewall holes open on the WinGate Server ?

It might be easier and faster to move this to email. If you prefer that, we can do so, then just post a summation for the benefit of other users when we get this figured out.

[the Hill]

Yes, please, let's move to email.

I will email you directly.