Windows 7 VPN Error 720, 690

Hi, I have a Windows 7 Home premium desktop that I set up for incoming connections, following the instructions from MIcrosoft website.
I set up a client for my laptop we'll say is abc-PC on my desktop computer.
I went to my laptop which has W7 Ultimate and set up the VPN connection again following the tutorial from Microsoft's website.
The desktop PC is 123-PC, so I put that in the address for it in the setup.
Thought I did everything right and tried to connect and kept getting error 720.
Now the desktop is connected to the internet with a ethernet cable plugged into my Bell 2wire high speed modem.
The laptop is connected wirelessly through the same modem.
I've tried dozens of solutions that I've searched on the internet and I can't get this thing to work.
It usually comes up saying "checking user name and password" and the you'll see flash by, "connecting WAN Miniport PPPT" and it goes through all the protocals and the error 720 or sometimes I get error 690.
I've turned off the firewalls on both computers, restarted numerous times and redid the connections a hundred times but can't seem to get this to work.
Could it be the Bell modem blocking it?
Also on the desktop computer there is a red X in my network connections sayin RAS(dial-in) No Network Access.
Please help as I would like to access the desktop from my laptop when I'm away from home.
Thank You
Dave

By the way going to bed so I won't be replying until tomorrow.
Thanks

actually the other error was 629 not 690.
sorry
Any help please.

Most VPN connections are not designed to work through the same router, they are designed to alow an incoming connection from the internet, so this could be part of your problem. Also, ports generally need to be opened in the router, but again this is generally assumed to be from an incoming internet connection to a local computer, not from the wireless radio to a wired port.

I concur with jdc2000.

RDP connections work similarly. Generally, if you are inside your network, you must use the local IP to RDP to another computer. IF you try to use the WAN IP, i.e, going out of your network only to come back in, you will fail.

It sounds like that is what's happening here. Do you have a friend's house you can try accessing the VPN from?

If possible ...

Disable your laptop's current WiFi and/or network connection(s).

Setup your cellphone or tablet as a WiFi hotspot.

Attach to your hotspot with your laptop.

Now that your laptop is on a different network you're ready to test your VPN.

I'll give it a try and let you know.
I'll try it at my friends house this afternoon.
Can you explain the RAS(Dial-in)Interace "No network access" with the red X?
Thank You
Dave

JDC2000 is correct – typically VPN connections are not made to work through the same router / network as they are intended to allow incoming connections to internal resources from outside a particular network. However, with that said, aside from configuring the Windows 7 VPN server machine to accept incoming connections and then configuring outgoing connections for the VPN connection on the Windows 7 client side you do need to enable port forwarding for on your router / firewall.

Presuming you chose to create a PPTP VPN connection, you will need to enable port forwarding for port 1723. For additional protocols / services and the ports that correspond to each, VPN and Remote Access Connections Fail is a great TechNet resource.

Jessica
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro