sbs2003 cannot ping router

Hi,
The router IP address is the default gateway for the server NIC.
The server fixed IP is 192.168.1.70 - subnet 255.255.255.0
The router address is 192.168.1.1 .- subnet 255.255.255.0
No other switch or router on the network.
The ethernet cable for the server is plugged into No1 port on the router.

It certainly sounds as though everything is set up correctly.  I assume you mean the first port on the router's hub/switch when you say the #1 port.  Depending on the type of router (i.e., whether it has a hub or a switch), it may have one port that can be used as an uplink port, and that will interfere with communications if it's set to uplink and something other than another hub is plugged into it. You could try changing to another port. Are there any settings on the router that could be conflicting?  Is it set up as the Internet gateway for both wired and wireless connections?  Any other security settings on the router that might be interfering in any way?

I have tried switching the server ethernet connection between the ports to see if there was a poosibility that the physical connection made a difference (as I have worked with Cisco hubs in the past and there could have been a crossover). This is a Linksys router and it doesn't make any difference which physical port is used to connect.
I've looked through the router management software and there isn't anything I can see that would enable the router to differentiate between and physical or wireless devices. I have a NAS unit which is also physically attached via ethernet which is behaving perfectly.
I have also connected one of my workstations with an ethernet cable and it behaves no differently when wirelessly connected so I am really perplexed. It has to be something on the SBS2003 server which is inhibiting it's ability to ping (or connect to the internet through) the router.

I am getting DNS errors in the event log but I would expect that because if the server can't see the router then it would be unable to resovle IP addresses because the DNS servers are the ones supplied by my ISP - which it can't see. The workstations are reolving IP addresses fine so I can't imagine that the external DNS servers are an issue.
- Scratching my head doesn't seem to help either.

Do you DNS configured on your SBS Server? (which you should)... can you do an ipconfig /all on the server and post the results here? Sounds like DNS configuration. Ideally the server would point to itself for DNS and then configure your ISP's DNS servers as forwarders in the DNS MMC.

Your SBS server should be pointing to itself, and only itself for DNS.  Although I can't think of a reason why that would make you unable to ping your router, it certainly could cause problems browsing the Internet. If you want your SBS server to resolve only internal addresses and use an external DNS server for everything else, then you can put the IP addresses of your ISP into the DNS forwarders tab in the properties of the server in the DNS management console.

The DNS server is pointing to itself, and only itself and I have set the Primary and Secondary DNS server IP addresses provided by my ISP as forwarders. I can't see anything obvious in the IPCONFIG information - assuming the suffix search list is OK.

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : vsnt2003
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : visualstudio.uk.com.local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : visualstudio.uk.com.local
                                       uk.com.local
                                       com.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-C5-5F-0E-14
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.70
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.70

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>

Has anyone manually configured a LMHOSTS or HOSTS file on this computer? You can do a search to open these files to see if there is any conflicting entries with your 192.168.1.1 router.

This is all very weird. Have you tried re-running the CEICW to configure your Internet connection?  Maybe the wizard didn't run properly the first time.  Also, could you do a route print on the server and post the results? This would let us see if there's something unusual in your routing table.  

I have rerun the CEICW several times but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I searched for a HOSTS or LMHOSTS file on the server and there isn't one.

I reset the router back to defaults and then used the server to configure it. THe router restarted and everything flickered into life - and the server lost the connection and as I say, I can''t even ping it. Even though the workstations can access it, and the internet and the server. THe server can see the workstations and the NAS, no problem - but not the router or the internet.

Here is the router table.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>route print
 
IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x10003 ...00 15 c5 5f 0e 14 ...... Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.1.1     192.168.1.70      1
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0        127.0.0.1        127.0.0.1      1
      192.168.1.0    255.255.255.0     192.168.1.70     192.168.1.70     20
     192.168.1.70  255.255.255.255        127.0.0.1        127.0.0.1     20
    192.168.1.255  255.255.255.255     192.168.1.70     192.168.1.70     20
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0     192.168.1.70     192.168.1.70     20
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255     192.168.1.70     192.168.1.70      1
Default Gateway:       192.168.1.1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None
 
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>

                                              

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What type of router are you using?  I assume you don't have ISA installed on the server, right?

I'm using a Linksys WAG160N router which hasnn't been a problem before.

No, I don't have ISA installed.

Not sure if it is relevant but even though I am not receiving any mail, Exchange is managing to push mail out - so it's obviously finding a route.

What DNS server are the clients using?  You say you can't ping your router, but can you actually browse the Internet and/or ping an Internet website by name from the server?

The client PCs have the IP address of the server set as their Primary DNS and the Primary DNS of the ISP DNS server as secondary. They have no problems browsing the net.

From the server I can't browse the net or ping the router or any external server or site by name of IP (e.g. Google or MSN).

So, your clients must be actually using the ISP's DNS server for name resolution. How about hardware issues - have you  made sure that your server NIC is using the most up-to-date drivers? Sure your cabling is good and is the right kind of cable (i.e., not a crossover cable)? I'm grasping at straws here, but this just doesn't seem logical at all.

Hi there... sorry it took me awhile to get a chance to review this.

Can you please post a COMPLETE ipconfig /all from one of the workstations?  That will definitely help in diagnosing the problem.

Thanks.

Jeff
TechSoEasy