Linksys RVL200 SSL VPN and port 443 conflict
If you are like me or anyone else using Linksys RVL200 router and are crying for 443 port and better management of SSL VPN functionality, you are not alone. Here is the issue where everyone is having:
If SSL VPN is enabled, it took precedence over the port forwarding and ANY other secure port 443 web publishing.
Two sources greatly discuss about this and apparently I am quite lucky to have found the solution and workaround without changing my OWA port number or fiddling with my settings, which, could further complicate matter. Please see useful links at the bottom of this article for forums discussions.
Let’s face it, if you are Microsoft SBS Administrator we all know how difficult when it comes to updates if things are not on its original configuration. Any custmoized stuff will either not work at all after the update or the update process will throw you errors warning you not to do it again.
I dug through the user guide and found that on page 30, you can see note stating that. (see pic above)
Instead of getting your https://secure.mywebpage.com, RVL200 will throw in their SSL VPN login like this one. So in essense, not only your OWA, RPC/HTTPS not working, ActiveSync will also get affected if it uses https connection.
In fact any secure connection publishing that uses standard port 443 will not work as it got replaced by the RVL200’s remote management page or the SSL VPN Portal Page.
The solution? You have to perform update to your RVL200 to firmware version 1.1.9.1. Forget about calling Linksys Technical support, you will get Tier-1 and then got routed to Tier-2 and eventually ‘escalated’ to Tier-3 where they will tell you that the latest stable version (as of writing) is 1.1.7. release. Also don’t even bother to try the online support chat, even though RVL200 is available for selection in their drop down, it will eventually tell you that it is not support through online chat.
Tech support will have their canned responses whereby the 1.1.9.1 is still not stable and that they will not support it, so do I. Please use this article at your own risk. 
Having said that, every software is a bug fix and every version keeps improving, so unless there is a major issues or feature that got affected, I wouldn’t bother. Just like Google, it’s beta forever. Please read the release note and Goolge for any unstable use of this new release. Ready? Here are the steps:
1. Backup your configuration first so that you don’t have to manually reconfigure it. Go to System Management | Setting Backup and export it.
2. Download RVL200 v1.1.9.1 Beta Firmware from Linsysinfo.org or grab it from RapidShare.
3. Perform firmware update to your device. Go to System Management | Firware Upgrade. It will take approximately less than 5 minutes.
4. Reset your RVL200 to Factory Default Setting. This is VERY important and must be done or else the loaded firmware will not work. There are two ways to do it. First, by holding down the reset button for 10 seconds. The diagnostic LED (orange) will blink fast and the router will reset back to factory default. Alternatively, you can also go to System Management | Factory Default and click on the ‘Return to Factory Default Setting’ button. Wait for it to reboot. By this time your RVL200 IP and login has revert back to 192.168.1.1 and admin with the password admin.
5. Reload your settings and configurations. Refer to step 1 and click import instead.
6. Configure SSL VPN or Remote Management to use port other than the standard 443. I chose 444.
Now you can independently configure SSL VPN / Remote Management with option to change the deafult 443 port. You also have the option to use HTTP but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Useful links for forum discussion about this issues:
- http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57888
- http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/showthread.php?p=321695
- http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wired_Routers&thread.id=2446&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
Let me know if you find this article useful. Thanks.
Lamlamz
There is 1.1.10.1 version available now
http://www.linksysinfo.org/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=40
I tried this with a 192.168.2.x subnet and it didn’t work. I had to revert to a 192.168.1.x subnet, make the change and then manually enter my settings.
I am using 10.x.x.x network and it works with settings.
Make sure you reset the device to manufacturer settings first then only you apply the setting config.