Member Avatar for brownsfan3785

I've been doing a lot of web surfing to try to find a solution to my problem. I thought I might try this discussion forum. Here goes... I've got AT&T yahoo DSL in my home. The modem is a speedstream 4100. I've got windows xp in the desktop pc. I also have a sweet laptop pc that is mostly used for work purposes. Occasionally i will connect the laptop to my dsl modem to access my companies VPN to try to do some work from home. This connection has always worked well. I can access network drives and my work email (outlook, exchange server) by plugging into my home modem. I can login to the VPN from my desktop pc too, but i don't have the work email setup on that one (long story...). Anyways, I bought the Linksys WRT54G wireless router for home so that i can get wireless web access at home. The setup for the router was effortless. I'm able to have web access on both pc's with the exception of one little problem. I now get the windows error 619 when i try to access my company VPN with the laptop wirelessly and through the desktop wired through the router. I went to linksys website and did a live chat with tech support. they weren't much help. AT&T expects me to spend $139 for their help. I found this website that explains my problem, but I don't know exactly how to fix it.
http://www.chicagotech.net/casestudy/vpnerror619.htm

Modem set to bridge mode?
I guess I'm asking for simple step-by-step instructions on how to make this work.
hope someone can help me.

THanks,
The browns fan

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Dani AI

Generated

Likely cause and quick summary: Windows error 619 ("A connection to the remote computer could not be established, so the port used for this connection was closed") most often shows up when a VPN that worked plugged straight into the ISP modem fails when a router gets added. That usually means the VPN protocol’s traffic is being blocked or mangled by double-NAT (modem+router), or the modem/router isn’t doing VPN “passthrough” correctly. As suggested, first confirm the VPN type (PPTP uses TCP 1723 + GRE, L2TP/IPsec uses UDP 500/4500 + ESP) because the fix depends on which protocol the company uses.

Diagnostic checklist (in order)

  • Reproduce the working case: plug the laptop directly into the SpeedStream and verify VPN connects. If it does, the router or modem/router combo is the problem.
  • On the laptop run ipconfig /all and check whether the WAN IP seen by the WRT is a private address (e.g., 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x). Private on the modem side = double NAT.
  • Temporarily disable any PC firewalls and try again (only for testing).
  • Note the WRT firmware version and the SpeedStream admin pages before changing anything — record current settings.

Practical fixes (safe order)

  • Easiest test: put the WRT’s WAN IP into the SpeedStream’s DMZ (or “IP Passthrough”) so the router effectively receives all inbound traffic from the modem. If VPN works after that, double NAT was the issue. Remove DMZ after testing and apply the permanent fix. Caution: DMZ exposes the target to the Internet — use only for testing or to forward only to the router.
  • Preferred long-term: set the SpeedStream to true bridge/modem-only mode and configure the WRT WAN as PPPoE (enter ISP credentials if the modem previously handled the DSL login). This removes double NAT and resolves most VPN issues. Back up settings first and be prepared to revert if web stops working.
  • If bridging isn’t possible, ensure both devices have VPN passthrough enabled and forward the required protocol/ports or use DMZ for the WRT.

Client-side checks

  • Recreate the VPN connection in Windows XP (delete and rebuild) and flush IPs if needed (ipconfig /release / ipconfig /renew). If problems continue after the above, try upgrading WRT firmware or test with a different router model (some WRT54G hardware/firmware revisions handle VPNs differently).

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Member Avatar for cfry

Hi BrownsFan,

What type of VPN is it? E.g. PPTP, IPSec/L2TP, etc.

These protocols have outgoing, client port requirements, and your router may be blocking some or all of those outgoing ports.

Regards,

Chris Fry

Member Avatar for susanm

I have the same problem. I started with a d-link router, which allowed me to connect to two different VPN servers from separate machines. I added a switch to the network and lost all VPN connectivity. After several frustrating calls with the d-link people, I swapped the d-link for a linksys WRT54G V8. My error messages went from 721s to 619s. When I attempted to follow the instructions in the chicagotech.net article, the router stopped working altogether. I lost connectivity to the web until I restored the DHCP setting.

Hope someone has some additional insight. Thanks.

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