hey,
ive been having the exact same problems as joemonkey, and have been trying to figure this out for a while. i did some extensive searching for any information i could find on getting this to work, and i think i have now. I think the key is in the routing table.
http://www.tnz.co.nz/winroute/Servertoserver.htm
That link is an example setup between two lans, server to server. In my case I only need to connect one computer into another lan. But i believe the information is all there if you can understand it. It includes detailed instructions on how they did it, plus a well made diagram. Then they go on to tell you how you can do it much easier using their software as well.
anyways, the way i did it, is fairly similiar to theirs but not exactly the same. plus i dont have everything working yet like i want it. so id like to describe what i have done so far anyways:
i have a lan setup using winxp ics at home. i have a client set up at the office which is part of a lan, all set up behind a router. all the computers are winxp pro. i want the client to be able to see all the computers on the lan at home, use sharing, all that. i found that you cant change the ip range given by winxp ics from 192.168.0.x, which is a shame. this used to be doable in win98. luckily the office is not set up with ics, so i changed the range on the router to 192.168.1.x. i think the ranges necessarily have to be different on the two networks. someone tell me if im wrong.
so i setup vpn on the xp ics computer at home and on the client at the office. i want the client to be able to access the internet while connected, and am not worried about any "security" issues involved with this. so i unchecked "Use default gateway on remote network" on the client side. the vpn server is setup to "allow callers access to local network" and has the range 10.0.0.1-10.0.0.2. meaning the server gets the address 10.0.0.1 and client 10.0.0.2. so i connect, and it all works just like joemonkey's does. i can ping the xp ics computer at home at 10.0.0.1, type in \\10.0.0.1 and access all its shares. great, but i cant ping any address with 192.168.0.x or get to any of the other computers on the lan at home.
on the client computer, i added a route for all 192.168.0.x addresses to go thru the vpn client address 10.0.0.2. i typed "route add -p 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 10.0.0.2". now, i can ping all the computers on my lan at home at 192.168.0.x and access all their shares with \\192.168.0.x . name resolution doesnt work, and i know i can set up an LMHOSTS file for that. kind of annoying though. so my question is this:
doesnt windows networking use some sort of broadcast address for peer-to-peer networking, and name resolution is passed around like that? im probably totally off, but thats how i understood it. so im thinking there should be a way to route those broadcasts also right? im not exactly sure how to go about doing that, but i will be searching for more information. also, i think other programs such as lan games use broadcasts as well, which is what this topic was for in the first place. i dont have any games here to try with, but im curious to know if they will work the way i have it now, or if theres more i need to do.
if anyone has any information to help me out, or if anyone found any of this information i gave to be useful, please let me know.
thanks!