You receive an "Error 721" error message when you try to establish a VPN connection through your Windows Server-based remote access server

This article provides a solution to an Error 721 that occurs when try to establish a VPN connection through your Windows Server-based remote access server.

Applies to:   Windows 10 - all editions
Original KB number:   888201

Symptoms

If you try to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection to a corporate network by using a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) client, the connection to the Microsoft Windows Server-based remote access server may not succeed. You may receive the following error message:

Error 721: The remote computer is not responding.

Note

The 721 error description may vary.

Cause

This issue may occur if the network firewall does not permit Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol traffic. GRE is IP Protocol 47. PPTP uses GRE for tunneled data.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, configure the network firewall to permit GRE protocol 47. Also, make sure that the network firewall permits TCP traffic on port 1723. Both of these conditions must be met to establish VPN connectivity by using PPTP.

More information

For more information about installing and configuring a VPN Server in Windows Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

323441 How to install and configure a Virtual Private Network server in Windows Server 2003

For more information about the PPTP protocol, visit the following Microsoft Web site: https://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb877963.aspx