[waldojim]

DerekMyles, on 05 November 2012 - 09:35 AM, said:

http://answers.micro...d0-8bfd2019b99c

What does that have to do with the discussion?

[waldojim]

tonybradley, on 05 November 2012 - 09:38 AM, said:

Quote

Really, I think this tablet doesn't have a VPN flaw. This is a consumer/home oriented tablet not business oriented. If you want it to be like that, go for upgraded/pro Surface . And by the time Businesses will be adopting Win 8 for them (4-6 months), Cisco and Microsoft would have developed an Application for Windows 8.

There is already a Cisco AnyConnect tool for Windows 8, and I already use it to connect from my Samsung Series 7 Slate tablet running Windows 8 Pro. That is beside the point, though.

First, if Windows Rt is consumer only and consumers don't need VPN, why does Microsoft include basic VPN capabilities at all?

Second, the "upgrade" to a Surface Pro or equivalent Windows 8 Pro tablet will be costly. The Samsung Series 7 Slate tablet, for example, starts at $1200. A company will think twice (or three or four times) about investing $1200 in Windows 8 Pro tablets if they can just buy iPads (or iPad Minis) or Android tablets for $500 or less that DO have a Cisco AnyConnect app available.

There are definitely use cases that require the full Windows 8, but if users can do what they need to do from an iPad or Android tablet--or Windows RT tablet if it had a Cisco AnyConnect app--businesses can deploy them to users for one half to one fourth the cost of Windows 8 Pro tablets.

For the sake of asking Tony, have you seen this site here? http://kurtsh.com/20...ows-rt-surface/

The included Windows VPN software is apparently capable of connecting to certain Cisco VPN and Juniper configurations. It may be worth giving that a try.

[tonybradley]

Quote

tonybradley said
This entire article is bogus. Maybe Tony Bradley should be working over at MacWorld. 1. Based on? If you have access to the Cisco AnyConnect app for Windows RT, please share. 2. What does the lack of Cisco AnyConnect VPN connectivity from a Microsoft Surface RT tablet have to do with Macworld? I'm not even sure how to connect those dots to even figure out what your bias is, exactly. The implication seems to be that you believe anything short of blindly cheering for all things Microsoft is somehow representative of a pro-Apple agenda...I guess? I think it is the idea that you are calling this a Windows flaw, when clearly it is up to Cisco to release the product.

It is up to Cisco to develop / release an AnyConnect app. However, it can't do it if Microsoft doesn't provide access to the necessary APIs--which according to Cisco it has not.

[tonybradley]

Quote

tonybradley said
Really, I think this tablet doesn't have a VPN flaw. This is a consumer/home oriented tablet not business oriented. If you want it to be like that, go for upgraded/pro Surface . And by the time Businesses will be adopting Win 8 for them (4-6 months), Cisco and Microsoft would have developed an Application for Windows 8. There is already a Cisco AnyConnect tool for Windows 8, and I already use it to connect from my Samsung Series 7 Slate tablet running Windows 8 Pro. That is beside the point, though. First, if Windows Rt is consumer only and consumers don't need VPN, why does Microsoft include basic VPN capabilities at all? Second, the "upgrade" to a Surface Pro or equivalent Windows 8 Pro tablet will be costly. The Samsung Series 7 Slate tablet, for example, starts at $1200. A company will think twice (or three or four times) about investing $1200 in Windows 8 Pro tablets if they can just buy iPads (or iPad Minis) or Android tablets for $500 or less that DO have a Cisco AnyConnect app available. There are definitely use cases that require the full Windows 8, but if users can do what they need to do from an iPad or Android tablet--or Windows RT tablet if it had a Cisco AnyConnect app--businesses can deploy them to users for one half to one fourth the cost of Windows 8 Pro tablets. For the sake of asking Tony, have you seen this site here? http://kurtsh.com/20...ows-rt-surface/ The included Windows VPN software is apparently capable of connecting to certain Cisco VPN and Juniper configurations. It may be worth giving that a try.

I haven't seen that particular site. I have however spoken with both Microsoft and Cisco about the issue. Yes, it is technically possible for a company to configure AnyConnect in such a way that the built-in VPN capabilities of Windows RT can connect to it, but it involves security tradeoffs most businesses will find unacceptable. It negates the point of having AnyConnect in the first place.

[waldojim]

tonybradley, on 05 November 2012 - 10:25 AM, said:

I haven't seen that particular site. I have however spoken with both Microsoft and Cisco about the issue. Yes, it is technically possible for a company to configure AnyConnect in such a way that the built-in VPN capabilities of Windows RT can connect to it, but it involves security tradeoffs most businesses will find unacceptable. It negates the point of having AnyConnect in the first place.

That works too, I just thought I would ask. I don't have any Cisco VPN experience myself so I just use the information I have handy.

In my case, Netgear VPN would be the issue, and judging from the missing components, it would appear that I don't have any WinRT support either.

[waldojim]

Actually Tony - if you guys have the time, a decent article understanding how to set up a working VPN wouldn't be a terrible idea.

I know I had the hardest time trying to figure out what my router was looking for....

[cpuspeed]

Good article and important to point out these inconsistencies and bugs in new products. But in a Saas environment whether it be o365 or google apps for example, I dont have to use VPN to share docs. These products are thin clients to the cloud, not PC replacements. Mixing apples and oranges here. Of course company policy may not allow that type of sharing and yea you would need VPN support, and that company would probably not be using Saas offerings.

[Mockylock]

I'm glad quite a few posters on here are very well informed. We run SSL VPN (anyconnect/mobile 8) and Android/Apple users were able to connect with apps, with no issues.

This IS a development issue with Cisco for the most part, but you can't blame them for not developing earlier on the Windows Phone 7 platform, considering nobody knew if it would take off or not. The question is, does WP7/8 or RT allow those level of permissions to applications (kernel level, etc)? IF permissions are the issue, microsoft will be in grave danger. One of the major issues with MS not succeeding in the business world in mobile is quite possibly due to the massive amount of Anyconnect SSL standards that quite a few large (big money) enterprises who use them.

Hopefully they'll get this taken care of. Waiting for PRO and paying an extra amount of money on top of this, just to run an SSL VPN app is not the greatest feeling. I NEED that app, and one would believe that Cisco would have been on it, had they been allowed.

[Mockylock]

Quote

Really, I think this tablet doesn't have a VPN flaw. This is a consumer/home oriented tablet not business oriented. If you want it to be like that, go for upgraded/pro Surface . And by the time Businesses will be adopting Win 8 for them (4-6 months), Cisco and Microsoft would have developed an Application for Windows 8.

Is an iPad/Android business or home oriented? They both have the capability to SSL VPN with anyconnect.

It IS important, especially when people in the office or at home are allowed to BYOD.

[CiscoAnyConnect]

As mentioned in the article, we can confirm that it is not possible for Cisco to provide the AnyConnect VPN functionality on Windows RT or Windows Phone at this time due to OS restrictions / API limitations. If you are interested in either of these platforms to be supported, we recommend that you reach out to your Microsoft sales team so that they can express interest on your behalf.

Best Regards,
Pete Davis
Cisco AnyConnect Product Team
ac-mobile-feedback@cisco.com
@AnyConnect

[CiscoAnyConnect]

Regarding the built-in VPN client at the bottom of the article, Cisco has not yet performed compatibility testing with it and Windows RT, however, the Cisco ASA (head-end) can be configured to support generic L2TP/IPsec clients and this support has been tested in conjunction with Windows 7 and other OS's. However, the majority of administrators however do not enable support for L2TP/IPsec as it opens up the network to generic endpoints that cannot be controlled in the same manner as AnyConnect and does not offer the equivalent security, authentication, tunneling and central control as AnyConnect.

Once we have information to report on our own internal compatibility testing with the L2TP/IPsec client in Windows RT, we will post this information on our Facebook "AnyConnect" page and will update release notes for the ASA if there is anything to report.

Best Regards,
Pete Davis
Cisco AnyConnect Product Team
ac-mobile-feedback@cisco.com
@AnyConnect

[Mockylock]

Quote

abhishek7 said If they don't fix this im no going to consider buying one. The main use of the surface rt for me would be to replace my school computer to type out stuff. But if I cannot connect to the network then what's the point. You can connect to networks/wi-fi with Surface RT. Though, You can't connect to a VPN, and I don't think you'll be needing a VPN for any general purpose use. VPN has a quite different use Correction: You cannot connect to a Cisco VPN. Microsoft VPNs are supported. which is a Cisco problem, not a Microsoft problem.

I just checked in my Cisco users groups, and they will not support it due to permissions issues within Windows 8 RT and Windows Phone 8 OS that will not allow the type of access needed to run VPN. This was the same issue with Apple, and why Android was only allowed to use it with a rooted device, if a GalaxyS2 or greater was used.

So, it looks as if you will not be able to SSL VPN on Win RT, period. This is not Cisco's fault.

[YukonCornelius]

My guess is you won't see VPN support beyond what is already in the RT Tablet. The RT Tablet is consumer device. The Win 8 Pro Tablet is/will be both a consumer and business device, and one of the reasons for choosing a Pro Tablet would be better VPN support, among other things. Like it or not, that is the way it is.

[DirkW]

Quote

My guess is you won't see VPN support beyond what is already in the RT Tablet. The RT Tablet is consumer device. The Win 8 Pro Tablet is/will be both a consumer and business device, and one of the reasons for choosing a Pro Tablet would be better VPN support, among other things. Like it or not, that is the way it is.

The iPad is also a consumer device and has better VPN support ... does that make sense ? Not in my world.

[jazzy007]

Maybe, just maybe, Microsoft did not included the VPN connectivity from Cisco, because there this small company call VirnetX that have the pattern to VPN and it sueing everyone that infringing four of its networking patents. They are now suing Apple for the IPad, and IPhone 5 and Mac, including Cisco. Microsoft got suit and pay them $200 million. Apple got suit and lost to them to pay $368.2 million, but got again suit for large amount. You can read about it at this link: http://news.cnet.com...703&s_cid=e703.

While Microsoft already settle with them, Microsoft saw a very small benefit to include the VPN which is mostly a consumer item compare to the Surface Pro under Windows 8. Just like it decided not to include a mobile connectivity as G4, because most people do not use it as shown by the data of IPad sales. Why increase the cost for only a very small percentage that might use it. Surface RT is design for consumer and will not run full programs like Surface Pro. Business are the only ones that need a VPN while consumer do not. So what is the big deal!

If the Ipad have it, good for you, but let see what happen when the suit takes another bite out of Apple. Right now the original complaint, like the new one, aimed to halt the importation of Apple products into the U.S..

[drg57]

This is a load of crockery. I can connect to a Windows SBS 2008 Server VPN no problems at all. Access shares and all. So there is no issue with VPN because it does work. There might just be an issue accessing a through CISCO VPN which is 3rd party which as has been commented it's probably something CISCO need to fix their end. So VPN on the Surface is not crappy.

[CiscoAnyConnect]

UPDATE 11/26/12

We are able to confirm that the built-in L2TP/IPsec client on the Surface can be used in conjunction with an ASA that is appropriately configured for this support. This testing was performed in conjunction with ASA 8.4.5 & 9.0.1 We are in the process of updating our compatibility chart, but this will function today IF the ASA is appropriately configured for this support.

Quote

Regarding the built-in VPN client at the bottom of the article, Cisco has not yet performed compatibility testing with it and Windows RT, however, the Cisco ASA (head-end) can be configured to support generic L2TP/IPsec clients and this support has been tested in conjunction with Windows 7 and other OS's. However, the majority of administrators however do not enable support for L2TP/IPsec as it opens up the network to generic endpoints that cannot be controlled in the same manner as AnyConnect and does not offer the equivalent security, authentication, tunneling and central control as AnyConnect. Once we have information to report on our own internal compatibility testing with the L2TP/IPsec client in Windows RT, we will post this information on our Facebook "AnyConnect" page and will update release notes for the ASA if there is anything to report. Best Regards, Pete Davis Cisco AnyConnect Product Team ac-mobile-feedback@cisco.com @AnyConnect

[CiscoAnyConnect]

I am not sure that you're stating anything different than what we have stated. We are able to confirm that the built-in L2TP/IPsec client (which you are referring to) can be used with an ASA that is appropriately configured for this support. We have tested this in conjunction with ASA 8.4.5 & 9.0.1. There is nothing that Cisco can do at this time to provide AnyConnect on Windows RT unless there were to be a future update for RT which provided us with APIs to be able to deliver our application on the platform.

Best Regards,
Pete Davis
Cisco AnyConnect Product Team
ac-mobile-feedback@cisco.com
@AnyConnect

Quote

This is a load of crockery. I can connect to a Windows SBS 2008 Server VPN no problems at all. Access shares and all. So there is no issue with VPN because it does work. There might just be an issue accessing a through CISCO VPN which is 3rd party which as has been commented it's probably something CISCO need to fix their end. So VPN on the Surface is not crappy.