Q219353: RRAS PPP Connections May Time-out on Slow or Delayed Links

Article: Q219353
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbWinNT400sp5fix
Last Modified: 16-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Routing and Remote Access Service Update for Windows NT Server version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

If you have Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) installed on a computer
running Windows NT Server and you attempt to dial out to establish a PPP
connection with a remote RAS server, the PPP connection may not successfully
complete at times. The inability to connect is most likely to occur on a slow or
delayed link in which the round-trip delay for a PPP negotiation packet is
approximately 1 second or greater. Also, the following error message may be
displayed in the graphical user interface of the dialing computer:

  Error 718 - Timeout while waiting for valid response from remote peer.

CAUSE
=====

The initial phases of starting a PPP link involve negotiating the Link Control
Protocol (LCP) layer of the connection. LCP itself has a time-out function when
waiting for a response to a configuration request from its PPP peer. If the
sending side does not receive a configuration acknowledgement in time (that is,
in less than 1 second), then the sending side times out and sends a second
configuration request. In the meantime, the receiving end of the PPP connection
receives a second configuration request, which results in a restart of LCP and
the timeout counter is reset to zero. This scenario repeats in a "round-robin"
fashion between the two PPP peers. The ultimate result is that negotiation of
the LCP layer never completes.

RESOLUTION
==========

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0. For
additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack


STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0. This problem was
first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5.

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbWinNT400sp5fix 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbAudDeveloper kbRRASNTSearch kbRRASNT400
Version           : winnt:4.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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