Computer Browser/My Network Places over VPN
Hi, this issue was already discussed but I couldn't find the particular answer for my case: Windows Server 2008 with AD and DNS in one subnet (192.168.10.x). Portable clients connecting through OpenVPN to a server in this subnet have an IP from a different subnet (192.168.20.x) but have also a static route to the first subnet and set the PDC as DNS-Server. On this clients login, access shares and name resolution works fine but there are no other computers in the computer browser. I already installed WINS on the PDC and set the IP on the clients but it didn't help. Is there an easy solution?
November 3rd, 2010 12:57pm

Not really. Browsing rarely works from a remote client. The basic problem is that it doesn't know how to find the Domain Master Browser. DNS doesn't come into it at all. The browser service uses Netbios names. It is an NT legacy app. On a LAN, the clients are joined to the domain so they know what to look for. If they are in a domain called "domain" they query the Netbios special name <domain1b> for the DMB to get a browse list. A remote client isn't usually domain joined so it does not have the correct name for the DMB. If you monitor the network traffic you will probably see that the client is sending some other name, which fails. Bill
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November 3rd, 2010 9:44pm

Hi Jason, Thanks for posting here. I’m not familiar with OpenVPN, however If by using RRAS as VPN software , you can make NetBIOS broadcast name resolution available between VPN server a d VPN clients. There is an option "Enable broadcast name resolution" in the RRAS MMC. If you enable it, a remote access client can resolve full computer names and NetBIOS names of computers and other resources on a remote network that does not have either a DNS or a WINS server configured. However, the configuration is not recommended because it breaks the broadcast domain between the networks. Broadcast name resolution http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758175(WS.10).aspx Thanks. Tiger Li Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
November 4th, 2010 3:07am

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