Does your Juniper VPN client keep disconnecting after you connect?
18 April 2008I had this issue a while back while working from home using my company laptop. Our company utilizes the Juniper VPN client software and up until recently it had been working just fine! One day while working remote my VPN connection kept closing with the error:
“The Network Connect session terminated. Do you want to reconnect? (nc.windows.app.23711).”
I did some Googling and I came across this support manual from Juniper which discusses the error codes/messages returned by the VPN client software and what could be causing the issue. Error code 23711 Juniper describes the problem as:
“The Network Connect client disconnected from the secure gateway because the
client’s routing table was altered.”
I thought to myself, “What the hell could be changing my routing table?” At first I suspected it might have been a VPN tunneling issue with my Apple Airport Extreme but that known issue has been fixed since early 2007. The issue obviously was being caused by something on my company laptop.
I tried different media (wired vs. wireless) and also updated and rolled back different network drivers to no avail. Another long Google search put me upon this blog entry at kevinluck.com where he states:
After a bit of googling I found out that there were complaints about the early betas of CS3 and the Bonjour service that they installed affecting networking. And this is what was causing my problem. If you press Ctrl-Alt-Del and look at your processes then you will find a “mDNSResponder.exe” service running after installing Flash CS3. Ending this process allows you to connect through Network Connect.
Presto! Stopping that Process and eventually uninstalling the Bonjour application from my computer fixed my VPN disconnection problem! A big THANK YOU to kevinluck.com for being a great resource and I hope that this blog entry helps others trouble shoot the same issue I had with our Juniper VPN client!
Lord knows I was ready to pull my hair out 
29 Responses to “Does your Juniper VPN client keep disconnecting after you connect?”
April 24th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Thanks a bunch for this article. I have been pulling my hair for the last 2 weeks. I had Bonjour installed in my PC as I am using a apple wireless card to connect to my wireless printer. Disconnecting the service you mentioned above solved my problem.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:03 am
wow - thanks for this, i was getting totally frustrated then i found this post. found the mDNSResponder.exe which I assume came along with iTunes, killed it - and now i’m connected to my work network!
May 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Is there a different service name for the Vista OS? I do not have the “mDNSResponder.exe” service running but I am having the exact same problem. I’m trying to use Juniper VPN and I keep getting disconnected. I do have itunes and airport express. Thanks!
May 13th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Wonderful post! I have been fighting this for a couple of days now and by simply ending the mDNSResonder.exe process, I am able to VPN. I recently installed Adobe InDesign from their CS3 package and I also have different Apple applications. Is there a simple way to see which program is initiating this specific process?
Thanks!
May 15th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I believe it’s added to your registry to startup when your computer starts.
Take a look in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
In there you should probably see a registry key which tells windows to start the “mDNSResponder.exe” to automatically start when Windows boots up.
Or you could just uninstall Bonjour (if it was installed as its own program, as it was on my PC).
Cheers!
June 16th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I faced exactly the same problem and tried the same solution….It worked…:-)
Thanks a lot for putting up this information
Saurav M
July 9th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Is there a different service name for the Vista OS? I do not have the “mDNSResponder.exe” service running but I am having the exact same problem. I’m trying to use Juniper VPN and I keep getting disconnected. I do have itunes and airport express. Thanks!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:43 am
iTunes and Airport Express are both known to install the Bonjour client.
Check your “Add/Remove Programs” for the Bonjour client and Uninstall if it’s listed.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Awesome.Now i’m able to connect to my office network.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I’m having this problem, but it wasn’t because of Bonjour. I found the culprit, but I have no real solution.
This same error happens on my laptop, ONLY over the wireless connection, AFTER upgrading to vista SP1.
I had to reformat again, and take it slow to see what part of my install was causing it. I confirmed it was vista SP1 after installing and uninstalling it. The service pack must have made some extra changes to the way it treats the routing tables which makes juniper unhappy.
This is the second time i’ve given Vista a chance, and the second time i’m going back to XP. I’ll try again in maybe 6 months…
September 26th, 2008 at 2:53 am
Great Tip !
works fine
ciao
October 1st, 2008 at 8:18 am
I was struggling with this issue for nearly a week before coming across this.
Once I killed the service the connection sticks.
Thank you for posting this!
October 7th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Very nice!
On my XP Pro PC, I just did Start… Run… services.msc and stopped the service.
Network Connect worked again instantly.
I also disabled the service then uninstalled in Add/Remove Programs just to be safe.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the great tip. I actually installed iTunes a few days ago and I was able to localize the problem to that installation. However, without knowing specifically about the mDNSResonder.exe process, it would have taken me weeks.
Word!
October 25th, 2008 at 10:51 am
THANK YOU - YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER.
Boy that article just saved me 10 hours
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Awesome! Not even my IT could figure it out. I start and stop bonjour service in services.msc as I use apple tv and juniper on this computer. works like a charm. Thanks!!
November 6th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Great help Man!! It was really helpful to connect to the network.. awesome!! keep doing the good work..Saved my much of time..thanks
November 6th, 2008 at 9:38 am
YOU’RE WELCOME!
This problem plagued me for the longest time as well. I’ve actually had the same issue now with Vista SP1 (not running iTunes) and Windows 2008 Server and the Juniper VPN client.
I believe it has to do with the Wireless Services Client but I’m not 100% sure yet.
November 8th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Thank you! This is another fine example of what makes the internet so great. I was wondering what could be changing my routing table?
You’re a life saver.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
excllent solution………..
i was facing this problem since long time …..
thanx a lot
November 14th, 2008 at 11:23 am
To echo others, THANK YOU!!! I had the same issue, but niDNSResponder.exe was causing it. I suspect it was installed when I installed National Instruments’ LabView 8.6. I didn’t find it in the registry… I’ll post more when I find a cure.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
That worked fantastically. Thanks a bunch.
November 21st, 2008 at 6:48 am
thank you so much , sir
i meet the same problem you meet
and it solved !!!
November 24th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I can confirm, Vista SP1 Wireless displays this issue regardless of whether you have Adobe products (or bonjour) installed. I have not found a solution, bar connecting a wired network which doesn’t show the same symptoms.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Hi Thanks very much.its start working
November 28th, 2008 at 5:16 am
I meet the same problem and it solved in this way!!!
thank you so much , sir
December 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
National Instruments says that disabling the “nimDNSResponder” and “niLxiDiscovery” services is the best solution to the problem. They have issued a Corrective Action Request for future versions of LabView. The part of LabView that uses nimDNSResponder and the associated niLxiDiscovery are used to find LXI-enabled instruments connected to your PC.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Hi
Thanks a lot.
The service came when installing Itunes, and i started really worriyng.
Now it works right
cheers
December 29th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Simple. You have to stop service: ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762##
and everything will be OK