Why is my Jetpack 5500L causing my VPN connection to drop and reconnect constantly?

I have a Jetpack MiFi 5510L and am using it to connect to my company's VPN. I am able to establish a connection, but then the connection keeps dropping and reconnecting every few seconds. When I attempt the same thing using my iPhone5's personal hotspot, the connection is stable. The client is Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, Version 3.1.01065

Accepted answers

John_Getzke

The VPN admins will know where to look to resolve the problem.

Each VPN environment is different and so are the requirement's of the users and applications that it supports. Your admins will have to evaluate their environment and determine what is going to be the best solution moving forward. Sometimes best practices do not apply because there is a specific business function that depends on the current configuration. They may not be willing to make the necessary change to keep you connected at the expense of other users. In that case they should be able to set up an alternative VPN for you that is more compatible on the VZW network.

In other words we don't know how your VPN is currently configured so we cant suggest any best practices to improve the results. There is plenty of material out there for your VPN admins to reference, just document your problem as you have here and bring it to their attention.

When comparing an iPhone to a Jetpack there are a few differences to take into consideration. The first would be if your iPhone is granted an IPv6 or public IP address. Jetpacks currently do not get either of those by default where as some other phones do. That could make a big difference in how your VPN connects and communicates back home. The other consideration is that an iPhone is a better and more expensive piece of equipment. I would expect an iPhone to out perform a Jetpack given the same environment and scenario on any given day simply because there is better hardware supporting it. The performance difference should be minor but it can be seen when testing.

All comments

patoka

I can't get my L2TP VPN to work on a jetpack, works fine on a Sprint USB modem. Are you running L2TP, PPTP or SSTP on your Cisco?

Dovetail-John

I'm not sure what protocol is in use. There's nothing in the settings or statistics that indicate this.

John_Getzke

If you are using the AnyConnect then you are most likely referring to a corporate VPN. That means there is a VPN administrator in charge of configuring your VPN. Bring this problem to your VPN admin and let them resolve it for you. With the proper configuration a VPN on a Jetpack will work just fine, there's no point going over configuration changes if you don't have the permissions to make them anyways. They may have to provide you with an alternative connection profile or connection technique to work around VZWs network configuration.

We currently use the latest Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility client for work with our Jetpacks and they perform as expected.

Dovetail-John

John,

You are correct - this is a corporate VPN and I do not have the access to make the changes myself. But, it would be helpful if I could point my admin to any information on how best to configure the connection to work with VZWs network configuration. Do you have any information on best practices in this area?

Also - is there any reason that the VPN would have trouble with the Jetpack, but not with an iPhone5?

Thanks

John_Getzke

The VPN admins will know where to look to resolve the problem.