ronaldleecarter.com

When I started my new full-time job, my employer had two DSL lines. Most of the PCs where going to one DSL line, unless you specified the other one. This still under utilized the DSL lines. I needed a router with two or more WAN ports.

I bought the Linksys (Cisco) RV042 Dual WAN Router. It does use both lines at once when configured correctly. I did a speed test using Speakeasy before and after the RV042 was installed.  The test showed an almost double downstream speed and a double in upstream speed.  Hey great!  Now the trouble.
The trouble is I needed a VPN connection to the office.  RV042 comes with Linksys’s QuickVPN client.  Only thing QuickVPN does well is install and uninstall.  Nothing in between.  No connections; just failures.  Apparently I’m not alone in this sentiment.  What to do now?

After some searching, I cam across Shrew Soft.

VPN Client is free for WIndows, Linux & BSD.  It supports many routers, especially the RV042.  Shrew Soft provides detailed (I mean detailed) instructions for configuring the router and client.  It even explains why the choices are made.  Wow! (not to be confused with an online game).  I was hesitant through the whole process.  I went home and sure enough the connection was made the first time.  It was so fast, I thought the program wasn’t working.

My thanks goes to Shrew Soft’s team!