Virtual Private Network and Residential Gateway

[Archquark]

Is it possible to use two computers connected to a DSL line through a residential gateway when one is using a company VPN and the other is connected to the general internet? Does this require two DSL connections with separate gateways to access both the VPN and internet. I am getting conflicting answers on another board.

[Deerpark]

I'm not quite sure I understand your question but here goes.

If you're asking if it is possible to share a DSL connection between two computers using a router (aka residential gateway) then yes that should be possible. It shouldn't really matter what the computers are going to connect to.

[Archquark]

Deerpark,
 My neighbor was told by his company's IT department , only 3 personnel, which he says do not have a lot of experience, that he could only access their site through a VPN and his wife could not be browsing the internet on her computer. I beleive as long as he does not enable file and printer sharing and continues to use a residential gateway and each of the computers has its own firewall setup that they should not have a problem comprimising the company site. I do not however have any formal training but only what I have picked up in setting up several of my own personal internet connections. Both your answer and the answer from another board appear to confirm what I beleive is possible. Hope this clears what I was trying to say in the last post. 

[Deerpark]

Ahh yes that explanation makes you neighbor's issue a lot clearer. And I stick with my previous answer. Since the whole point of a VPN is to create a secure network on top of an existing insecure network I can't see how two computers on the network could cause a problem.