[Samba] Wierd problem with file sharing over internet.

[James Knott]

I've set up a CIPE VPN, between my notebook computer and my Linux based 
firewall.  While the VPN generally works well, I've noticed a strange 
problem with file sharing from the local network to the notebook.  I set 
up the VPN, with the idea of accessing my systems at home via a dial up 
ISP, to my home network via cable modem.  The VPN works well for most 
protocols, such as telnet, ssh, ftp, X etc.  However, when I try to 
access files using Samba, about 12 packets are exchanged and then the 
session stops.  A similar problem occurs with NFS.  What makes the 
situation more perplexing, is that if I connect directly to my firewall 
or via WiFi, Samba and NFS work fine.  In all cases, the VPN enters my 
firewall via eth0.  This seems to imply that the problem may be due to 
the extreme speed difference between the dial up access and my 100 Mb 
lan.  If the problem were due to the firewall or VPN, it should be 
consistent, no matter what the connection speed.  I'm using Red Hat 7.3 
on all systems.  The problem also occurs, when trying to access files on 
my OS/2 system.  Also, when I try to access files on my notebook 
(connected via dialup), from my local lan, every is also fine, so the 
problem appears to be asymetrical.

Any ideas?

btw, I can provide ethereal or tcpdump records of some attempts.

tnx jk