Question : Help setting up VPN behind Linksys WRT54G

I am trying to setup VPN on my home network.  My goals are to be able to VPN into my home network while connected to public wi-fi and surf from my internet connection securely.  I also want to be able to access my files while at work/friends houses.  I know it would probably be easier to accomplish this by upgrading my routers firmware to one of the many open source firmwares available, but I want to do try doing it this way first.  Here is what I have:

1) Win 2k3 Standard Edition w/ AD, DNS, WINS and File Server
2) Desktop (On my domain)
3) Laptop (On my domain)
4) Linksys WRT54G v3 latest OEM firmware
5) Room mates computer (NOT on my domain)
6) Cable Internet

The router is handling DHCP (192.168.1.x).  I currently have one NIC in the server (I have one more if needed) with the static IP:

IP: 192.168.1.199
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (router IP)
DNS: 192.168.1.199

I have port 1723 forwarded to 192.168.1.199 and I have PPTP pass through enabled.  I had RRAS setup to provide the remote client IP's with a range 192.168.1.200 - 192.168.1.205.  When configured like this I can VPN into my server from both the LAN side and the WAN side.  When on the LAN side and can ping all network resources and surf the internet.  When I connect from the WAN side I get authenticated and I am registered on the network but I can't get to the internet or ping/access any network resources.  The ipconfig for the VPN address looks like this:

IP: 192.168.1.202
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.202
DNS: 192.168.1.199

It seems wrong to me that the gateway would be the same as the IP address.  If this were up to me I would set this up right, with the internet coming into one NIC and then I would hook the LAN up into another NIC.  I would have the server to NAT and VPN.  The problem with this is that my roommate does not want the server to be in the front and asked the network topo not be changed.  He is not computerish.  In anycase please tell me what I am doing wrong.  

Answer : Help setting up VPN behind Linksys WRT54G

Your setup seems fine, do not be confused by the fact that your IP addres is the same as your gateway on your VPN connections, it is the same because its a point to point connection, meaning it will send all information destined on that network to that network address which represents that point to point connection.  There are a couple of reasons why you wouldnt be able access internet and such when connected from outside the router:

1. Since you have a default gateway set that goes to a different device than your current internet gateway, that new device may not be setup to route the information correctly, or it may not be able to perform DNS correctly.  To fix this, on your VPN connection, go to properties, select TCP/IP (under the networking tab) settings and click properties, then click the advanced button and you will see an option to de-select "use this connection as default gateway"

2. The server you are connectiong to may be unable to route your traffic that you send to it, look at how the routes are setup and see if it will send all traffic to the Linksys device as its gateway of last resort.

3.  Its always possible the Linksys device still isnt allowing certain traffic to get through, but unlikely.

In anycase, if you could provide more information about the WAN side of things, I could help you more.