Question VPN and Skype

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
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Maybe you guys can help me since both IT departments of large corporations can't seem to...

I work for company A but support company B, all from home. My company A issued laptop automatically connects to the A network without a VPN (don't ask me how). Even the WIN10 logon is connected to a sync'd password after simply turning it on. Outlook & Skype all good.

I typically VPN into company B which briefly disconnects me from company A Skype & Outlook, but it always reconnected to them after a minute. Over 2 months ago, Skype stopped reconnecting after the VPN connection was made. I open a support ticket with Company B who keeps looping me around, and claims it's not their VPN, although there's a bunch of certificate expiration notices I keep getting. After a month, they force close my ticket saying Company A is supposed to take care of this since it's their laptop and an issue with Skype. Meanwhile, early on in this process, company A claimed they work the same ticket number but never call me about it. So it's been a fricken nightmare to deal with this whole thing getting nowhere. I'm on the phone right now with company A support with yet another shitty accent I cannot understand that well, and the connection itself is shitty too. I'm about to blow a gasket with this 3rd-world support, and all over a fricken Skype issue that I barely use - and only to show my company I actually am present at work.
 

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
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You probably need something called split tunneling, but it can be hard to setup.

For sure company A also setup a VPN of some sort on the laptop and it will connect to company A automatically.

==

You can create a VM on the laptop specific for company B if possible.

What VPN do you use to connect to company B? Does company B provide it's own VPN client?

Run company B VPN inside the the VM to connect to company B.
 
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SamirD

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Jun 12, 2019
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Welcome to today's 'FU' world. I'd play 'FU' right back--as long as your paychecks keep coming, F them both.

As far as the technical, are you required to vpn to company B from company A's equipment? If so, it's company A's responsibility. If not, get your own separate system just for company B and use it simultaneously with company A's system. Sometimes two systems are just needed to deal with this type of 'FU'-ness.

Good luck my friend. I am as frustrated as you with similar problems, except with local government--and theres's no way to fix that so I just keep getting F'd. I too am about to blow a gasket...
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
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You can create a VM on the laptop specific for company B if possible.

What VPN do you use to connect to company B? Does company B provide it's own VPN client?

Run company B VPN inside the the VM to connect to company B.
My coworkers run an HVD (VMware Horizon) into Company B but it has issues (like lag, copy & paste not working) and so I have stayed on the VPN. It's Cisco AnyConnect provided by Company B. One time after the issue, there was a software update to it and Skype worked that day, then the next day same issue came back.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,853
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126
As far as the technical, are you required to vpn to company B from company A's equipment? If so, it's company A's responsibility. If not, get your own separate system just for company B and use it simultaneously with company A's system. Sometimes two systems are just needed to deal with this type of 'FU'-ness.

I'm at home so I'm already on my main home desktop using Input Director to this company A laptop next to it... so the last thing I want to do is introduce another system. I technically could put company B stuff on my home desktop here - maybe I'll look into a sandbox but it may not be any different than just running the HVD mentioned above.
 

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
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The problem that company B provided Cisco Anyconnect VPN client, that probably means after you connect to their network, all traffic will go through their VPN network. That's why connection to company A no longer work.

Unless you can install a second network, and force company A traffic take adapter A route and Cisco Anyconnect take adapter B route, your best bet is just use a VM like your cowoker use or another desktop like you said.

You probably can use Windows Route command to make it work, but it will be a big hassle.
 
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rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
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Well my company A said to just use MS Teams instead of Skype and now the issue is resolved. So it seems to be a Skype-only issue. Just goes to solidify my hate for net-maybe-working.
 
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SamirD

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Jun 12, 2019
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My coworkers run an HVD (VMware Horizon) into Company B but it has issues (like lag, copy & paste not working) and so I have stayed on the VPN. It's Cisco AnyConnect provided by Company B. One time after the issue, there was a software update to it and Skype worked that day, then the next day same issue came back.
I would try HVD and reduce things like the screen resolution and other settings to see if you can make it work for you. That may be what they want you to use and that's why they're not helping with the vpn. Cisco anyconnect has a lot of quirks too, so I could see something that was fixed in a recent update that broke the functionality.
I'm at home so I'm already on my main home desktop using Input Director to this company A laptop next to it... so the last thing I want to do is introduce another system. I technically could put company B stuff on my home desktop here - maybe I'll look into a sandbox but it may not be any different than just running the HVD mentioned above.
I'm surprised you were able to install software onto the company A laptop. Usually for a setup like this, I'll use remote desktop or if I need physical access, a physical kvm. If it's just vmware, you may be able to get a simple thin client just for company B as they're pretty cheap used. I actually use a windows thin client to rdp into all my systems as it makes it transparent and there's essentially nothing on my desk.