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robertvg Author

Level 1

3 points

VPN disconnects when iPhone goes into auto-lock ?

As the subject says....my iPhone seems to disconnect the VPN as soon as it goes into auto-lock....in my case after two minutes.
I have a L2TP VPN configured for a mail connection to an Exchange server...if it constantly disconnects then the pushmail functionality is of no use....

Is this behaviour as designed or am I missing something ?

Regards, Robert

PC, Windows 7

Posted on Feb 12, 2010 5:40 AM

Best reply

hsami

Level 1

1 points

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 5:58 AM

this isn't normal.

i'm using VPN for a year now. never noticed this...
i've tried now to replicate this and failed. it works fine!

i've only noticed it to be disconnected when fluctuation between 3G and EDGE happens. between WiFi and 3G the connection is persistent. push mail and other services work fine...

lock screen with 3G: http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7105/photo2k.png
lock screen with WiFi: http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2189/photo1ll.png

View in context

127 replies

Dec 17, 2010 3:34 AM in response to yuki fubuki

hi there,

we are encountering the same problems. After we successfully implemented L2TP VPN from iPhone 4 (OS 4.2.1) via Sonicwall NSA 4500 we were wondering about the folowing behaviour: when the iPhone locks the screen VPN networking is beeing disabled. While evaluating the use of iPhones for corporate mailing and networking we need to make use of a permanent VPN connection. We were wondering what use of such a (go-to-sleep) VPN implementation could have ?

Well - not locking the screen could be a workaround, but not a solution. When you make use of smartphones for corporate needs you have to make it as secure as possible - Do you Apple guys have any ideas ?

Thanks

Regards

IT-Staff

JCritch

Level 1

0 points

Dec 29, 2010 11:53 PM in response to yuki fubuki

I just bought an iPhone 4 today after being frustrated with my Black Berry.

Imagine my suprise when I have had to manually reconnect my VPN every time I want to sync against my corporate exchange server.

This is such a no brainer that Windows Mobile phones have had this for years.

Is there no way around this? No software that you can buy to resolve this?

If not I will return my iPhone tomorrow.

To bad as I really like it but this is a no go for corporate email users.

fps-tech

Level 1

3 points

Jan 6, 2011 9:30 AM in response to JCritch

+1 for this. It's a bit ridiculous that this was overlooked. Now all of a sudden putting your device to sleep means all your Push traffic tries to go over unsecured networks. Great.

fps-tech

Level 1

3 points

Jan 6, 2011 9:50 AM in response to fps-tech

This is an example that I just tested. You're at your local unsecured Starbucks location and are on their WiFi nextwork. You establish your VPN connection because you don't want Firesheep sniffing all your gritty Facebook details. You have push mail enabled. I had one email sent to me while on VPN, and surely enough, my iPad alerts me that it came. Great, I'm secured, no problem. Now, I turn my iPad off. I sent another email after 30 seconds, which is how long it took for VPN to get torn down (verified by my VPN server). iPad alerts me of a new email. That exchange was all done on their unsecured network, without me even knowing.

Bottom line is I now know I have to disable Push email whenever on a public hotspot, and there goes one of the best business features. Maybe it's not a big deal since I think Exchange is secured, but still seems sketchy.

Varta

Level 1

5 points

Jan 26, 2011 3:53 PM in response to robertvg

+1. I'd like to have permanent VPN too.
If there are good reasons why VPN shouldn't be kept on permanently, I'd feel much better if I knew them. Otherwise I hope it'll be fixed.

Feb 2, 2011 5:26 AM in response to Varta

has anyone ever tried to reproduce this problem with pptp ?
we are thinking of testing the behavior of the iPhone with a pptp server...

just wondering if apple guys ever take a look into these forums ?

regards

it-staff

ajduguid

Level 3

650 points

Feb 2, 2011 6:49 AM in response to robertvg

Has anybody here used the feedback mechanism to report this to Apple?

Feb 21, 2011 8:58 AM in response to robertvg

Same problem here, L2TP with a Check Point firewall. Although there are other uses for the VPN in our organisation, the only use on an iPhone is to secure emails.

I'm not so much concerned that the VPN drops, but that it does not re-establish as needed - that's just plain annoying. I understand VPN-on-demand is possible in certain situations, but not with L2TP, and not with the shared-secret configuration supported by our firewall.

We need an additional parameter under e-mail account settings 'use VPN' so that when the email is refreshed the VPN is connected first.

Seems a simple enough request?

jehud

Level 1

0 points

Feb 27, 2011 7:03 PM in response to jehud

Any update from apple?

Mar 28, 2011 5:30 PM in response to jehud

I have the same issue. Apple please update and fix this. Or at least provide a setting to keep the VPN on. We know it might be a drain on the battery. We should at least have the option to keep it on.

Apr 18, 2011 8:08 PM in response to jehud

I would like to know what Apple is doing to fix this.

This is a pretty big for those who use VPN.

dcdude71

Level 1

0 points

Apr 20, 2011 8:07 AM in response to robertvg

+1 I would like to see this addressed. Using public wifi is not a viable option for business users w/o this feature working reliably. I see the security issue on an admin standpoint to have a device automatically hooking to your private network as soon as it comes out of "sleep" but that can be handled on the VPN server side. It should not be imposed by the device. This is a bug IMHO.

pepedsl

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2011 1:17 PM in response to dcdude71

I have the same, but I can solve.

If you have JB your phone, you can use this app:

http://www.ifans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45640

It works in 3G and wifi too....

Without this app, vpn is unusable.

dangmars

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2011 6:37 AM in response to pepedsl

It just waste the battery because it turns your moniter off but your CPU still runs. The direct solution is here: http://dangmars.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-keep-cisco-vpn-stay-connected-on.htm l I found it by chance 🙂. My VPN works perfectly now.

KJCarey

Level 1

0 points

Aug 13, 2011 3:26 PM in response to robertvg

Any news from Apple on this? JB doesn't seem to work with the latest update and I would prefer to find a more permanent fix.

Thank you.

-KJCarey

VPN disconnects when iPhone goes into auto-lock ?