RDP Session, very unstable.. No changes on system or network

[fusi0n]

This is on my home network running Windows Server 2012. My firewall is a pFSense box configured to allow RDP.. I have had this setup for a couple of months with no RDP issues..Nothing has changed on my network or on the server. I use it just to remote in from work to manage things while I am away. I have done some goolging and found about 10000 different possible issues.. Didn't know if anyone here has ran into this.. Everything else on my network is working great.. No Bandwidth issues, good pings.. rebooted the server, modem, switch (managed) and pFsense.. Any ideas come off that might point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

[xendrome]

Are you sure it's on your home side and not an issue with the work connection/firewall/computer you are accessing from?

[fusi0n]

Yes, I tried from my parents house last night and still same thing.. Sometimes it won't even let me login.. When it does, I have about a 1-2 minute window before it drops

Maybe I should use LogMeIn or Team Viewer.. Those are more secure anyway from what I read/been told.. I know there are exploits out there and a VPN + RDP is 1000x better.. maybe its a sign to change my ways at home..lol Suggestions on that?

[xendrome]

Yes, I tried from my parents house last night and still same thing.. Sometimes it won't even let me login.. When it does, I have about a 1-2 minute window before it drops

Maybe I should use LogMeIn or Team Viewer.. Those are more secure anyway from what I read/been told.. I know there are exploits out there and a VPN + RDP is 1000x better.. maybe its a sign to change my ways at home..lol Suggestions on that?

RDP should be encrypted already, I wouldn't switch the way I do things because of a technical glitch. Any issues on the RDP Server machine in Event Viewer under System/Application that stand out? Windows Firewall turned off on that machine?

[+BudMan MVC]

And is anything logged in the 2012 server for the drop?

I rdp to multiple boxes on my home network from work, but I do it over a vpn (openvpn) Problem I have with rdp open to the public net, unless you have it locked down to your work IP or other locations you might access it from in pfsense. Is its just a username password for protection. With my vpn, there is no way your guessing anything to get in - you have to have cert issued to by my CA, etc. And if for some reason I lost say my certs I store on my usb - then I could just revoke that cert and issue new ones.

Are you seeing any packet loss to your pfsense box? Can you get a running ping going, let it run for say 1000 or so pings - do you see drops? Increase the packet size of the pings to max.. Run the same test do you see any loss?

[fusi0n]

I think we are on to something.. For network.. It says unidentified network and set to public..trying to figure out how to change that.. It was easy in 2008 R2..lol

[fusi0n]

I will try that BudMan.. I would also like to mention, that I can RDP over my lan at home with no issue

[SledgeNZ]

Move rdp to a different port. I had the standard 3389 set on my home network and it was getting constant attacks with attempted logins. This made it fragile to login remotely whereas on the lan it was fine.

The event viewer will show a load of failed authorisations if this is the case.

[+BudMan MVC]

^ good point!! Curious to see what the event log shows.

[fusi0n]

As of now, I can't even log in anymore..It ask me for my user/pass then drops. I will post logs and everything when I get home.. I can't ping the connection because I have that blocked. Thanks for everyone's help..

[fusi0n]

I was able to get in, and install Team Viewer.. I looked in the event log and there are a ton of,

TerminalServices-Printers

Driver Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver required for printer Send To OneNote 2010 is unknown. Contact the administrator to install the driver before you log in again.

Team Viewer is not crashing.. Hm...

Also getting a bunch of,

The Device Setup Manager service entered the running state.

The Device Setup Manager service entered the stopped state. Every two minutes..

Also getting these..

The Windows logon process has unexpectedly terminated.

[goatsniffer]

For testing purposes only, bypass the router and directly connect the server to the internet. If you can RDP no problem, and over your internal LAN like you said with no problem, then it is your firewall hardware.

Instead of using any pre-programmed 'RDP' rules on the router, try forwarding an external port to internal port 3389. Then connect remotely using IPADDRESS:PORT. This will keep you safe from the RDP portscanner hack attempts and bypass the routers pre-programmed rules.

I was able to get in, and install Team Viewer.. I looked in the event log and there are a ton of,

TerminalServices-Printers

Driver Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver required for printer Send To OneNote 2010 is unknown. Contact the administrator to install the driver before you log in again.

Team Viewer is not crashing.. Hm...

Also getting a bunch of,

The Device Setup Manager service entered the running state.

The Device Setup Manager service entered the stopped state. Every two minutes..

Disable printer forwarding.

[SledgeNZ]

I was able to get in, and install Team Viewer.. I looked in the event log and there are a ton of,

TerminalServices-Printers

Driver Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver required for printer Send To OneNote 2010 is unknown. Contact the administrator to install the driver before you log in again.

Team Viewer is not crashing.. Hm...

Also getting a bunch of,

The Device Setup Manager service entered the running state.

The Device Setup Manager service entered the stopped state. Every two minutes..

Also getting these..

The Windows logon process has unexpectedly terminated.

Change your remote desktop connection to ignore printers under options | local resources.

[fusi0n]

Just tried that and did Windows Updates.. No Dice

[sc302 Veteran]

it sounds like you have some troubleshooting to do on your server.

The Device Setup Manager service entered the running state.

The Device Setup Manager service entered the stopped state. Every two minutes..

Also getting these..

The Windows logon process has unexpectedly terminated.

[fusi0n]

it sounds like you have some troubleshooting to do on your server.

Yeah.. :( lol

Since it is just used as a file server and some other services.. might just load up ubuntu

[+BudMan MVC]

^ if just a file server and other services that linux/bsd can do then sure pick your fav distro and run with it!

Just the other day I was looking to setup printing on my ipad I got for xmas, uses that stupid bonjour to find the printers. Well I had disabled most of the multicast on my windows box because just not having any need for it. And it was sending a bunch of noise that my gateway firewall was logging so just disabled it.

So since I have a linux VM running on my esxi host 24/7/365 anyway, just installed cups on it - connected it to the printer and there you go ipad can now see the printer being shared by cups ;) Took all of 10 minutes to setup vs having to turn mulicast back on my windows machine that would of generated a bunch of noise that isn't needed to be seen on my network.

linux can be a great solution for a bunch of stuff! Enjoy!