Can't Remote Access

Been experiencing a weird problem the last couple weeks after 6+months of easy remote access to my Vista client via my Windows Home Server. It started when I was using a remote connection on 6/19 and an update came through as I was actively using it. The connection "broke" and I went to log back in. Problem is that I no longer see my usual Vista log-in screen! I can properly log in to the MSS server, access Photo WebShare, see photos in WHIIST, see a (very preliminary) ASP.NET web page, log in to the server, access shared files and "see" my list of clients. BUT, when I try to access the Vista client (the only one that can be remotely accessed) I do not see my normal log-in screen when I am remote. If I go in locally using the IP address then all is normal.

Normally I would see a screen giving me two userids to choose from: John1 & John2. (Guest is disabled, John1 has Administrative privileges, John2 does not.) This is what I see on a local/IP connection but if I go in remotely (or through a loop-back) with the name then I see "Administrator" and "Other". When I go to the other selection I am allowed to enter name and ID but nothing works. Using John1 I get "invalid password" errors. Using John2 I get messages telling me it is not in the correct group for remote access. I created a John3 ID (administrative) to see if that would work, but it doesn't. Initially I thought it was something in the Vista user setups but that makes no sense as I can get in locally with IP addressing. I do not see anything obvious blocked in my Firewall (Windows Live OneCare) of in my router (Linksys WRT-54G v1.1) but those are my current areas of focus. It is almost like I am trying to log into a different client than my own. And it is definitely frustrating. Anyone know what's going on here?