[Vpn-help] Cisco VPN 3000 and Shrew 2.1.5-rc-4(2) issue

[Frank Pikelner]

On Fri, 2009-11-27 at 07:51 +0100, Charles Buckley wrote:
> I would be compelled to wonder, just how flexible and/or universal
> this SSL client installation feature from Cisco is.  I bought the
> Netgear FVS336G because the marketing literature suggested a VPN
> connection “anywhere, anytime” was possible.   To my horror upon
> receiving the unit, I discover it’s only good for 32-bit Windows
> clients.  64-bit doesn’t work, and in the latest releases of the
> firmware, even Macintosh is not supported.  

Correct, the dynamic SSL agent is Windows only (32bit) - it was very
convenient for its time. From what I understand the Cisco 3000 VPN is
end-of-life, so I doubt there will be a 64bit agent or one for OS X.

I do know the native OS X (10.4/10.5) VPN agent works just fine, so you
do not require the Cisco software installed.

>  
> 
> So I’m back fiddling with IPSec clients.   I don’t mind – this is the
> way I discovered the Shrew enterprise, but it’s a lot of additional
> hassle in an already over-busy day.  Given the way Netgear seem to
> approach software, I wonder if some sort of OEM cooperation between
> Netgear and Shrewsoft would make sense.
> 

Shrew looks to be an excellent solution, but so far I have been
unsuccessful in getting it to work with NetGear VPN equipment. I have
tried other software products (on OS X to test whether I connect at all)
and they did work. My guess is I need to spend more time with Shrew. One
particular configuration of Shrew causes the NetGear VPN equipment to
stop responding (VPN does not even respond to local pings - when VPN
session initiated from outside) until I disconnect.

Frank