Problem Solved! I took the advice and downloaded TightVNC from the web. Installed with NO problem and works like a champ. I can now access my network from the road and do everything I wanted. I would certainly reccomend this solution to anyone who is tired of fighting the "Netgear Battle". Maybe not as cool as a real VPN, but it works!!
Steve wrote in news:U2QWd.6496$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews5.bellsouth.net:
Subject: XP Pro VPN Client with Netgear FVS318 Router
> From: Steve
> Newsgroups: comp.dcom.vpn
>
> First off, I can find my way around my computers but do NOT consider
> myself a power user or expert by any means. That said.....
>
> A friend gave me a FVS318 router that looks brand new. He owned it for
> about a year and used it only as a firewall router. The firmware is V
> 2.4. I now have it installed in my home network and it works
> flawlessly as a router and network switch for the 4 computers on our > network.
>
> I would like to be able to establish a secure VPN connection to my
> home network and access the computers there when I travel (often). I
> am running a peer-to-peer network using XP home on 2 of the computers
> and XP Pro on the other 2. I use XP Pro on one of the office machines
> and my notebook that travels with me. My IP address from BellSouth is
> static and all of my computers on the network are set to static
> addresses. I have a 3mb/sec DSL account at my home.
>
> I have tried EVERYTHING I can find on the Netgear website for using
> the XP Client (which Netgear told me will work with "no problem"). No
> luck. I have followed the proceedure on their website SEVERAL times
> and I can't get the thing to work at all.
>
> If anyone has some clear instructions for setting up the XP client and
> the FVS318 I would really appreciate some help. Also any advice you
> might have for being able to browse and access my network while
> traveling would be great! Feel free to email me at the address on this
> post. Just remove the OBVIOUS "nospam" in the address.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help. From what I have read in researching
> this, it is a pretty common problem that Netgear seems unwilling to
> address in a simple and logical manner. Think maybe they want all of
> us to buy their VPN client instead of using the FREE one we already > have???
>
> snipped-for-privacy@nospamyahoo.com
>
>