How to make Windows server 2003 Active Directory work with Linksys WLAN

Even though you can 'make it work' using the DHCP server in the Linksys, the DHCP server in Server 2003 would provide many more options... so you might consider enabling the DHCP functions of the Server 2003 machine, instead, at some point after you get it all running.

Absolutely agree!

My appreciation to the moderator for remotioning my question to the appropriate group.
Thanks for all your wonderful comments. I tried to disable DHCP on the Linksys router and enable the one on the win server 2003, but I discovered DHCP on win server 2003 was not just assigning IP to other clients. However, I tried to figure out what was wrong and I think it might be because of the fact that I do not have wireless NIC on the Domain server designate. The only connection b/w the Domain server is the Cat 5e ethernet cable between the server and the Linksys router. That is the reason why I think it will be more appropriate to activate the DHCP on the linksys router instead of the domain server. Now the question is can we still allocate static address to the server in spite of the fact that we are using DHCP on the router? If not, how can we promote the server to DC and install other server features such as DNS, file and print servers? Another challenge is the DNS address that I need to use. Being the first domain server, I think it will be more appropriate to use same IP address of the server as the DNS address and incedentally, it does not tally with the DNS address given to me by my ISP.

Thanks very much. I am going to try that out in the office tomorrow and I will let you know how things go.

Hi Guys,
Sorry for the long delay in giving feedback. I unfortunately lost the Hard drive on the system I was trying to designate as my domain server to power surge in the process of configuration.  I eventually bought a new SATA HDD, fixed it and carried out those experts opinions. But before I sign off, I will like to let you know how I finally did my connection and configuration. I have both wireless Linksys wireless USB card and NIC on my server. There is cat5e connecting the server to one of the Ethernet ports on the Linksys router and static IP address that is outside the range of IP addresses on the Router was assigned to the NIC while the wireless card derived its IP through DHCP on the router. The workstations are able to access server resources through the NIC, while the server was able to get to the Internet via the Wireless card.  With this I feel ok, but I am curious: Is there any way I can configure the network such that I will not need to use the NIC and I will still be able to have all the workstation join the domain and at the same time have internet access on my server?
Thank you.

Can you clarify how you now have the network setup?

What is the configuration of the router ip?
What are the nic's in the server configured with?
What are the workstations configured with?

Do any of the devices have Internet access?

demazter,
the configuration on the router is (DHCP range - 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.150). The IP on the server NIC is 192.168.1.10; while the Wireless card on the server obtained IP 192.168.1.103 from the router. The IP on the router is the default IP i.e 192.168.1.1; the network subnet mask is 255.255.255.0; the 1st DNS set at server IP i.e 192.168.1.10. the second and 3rd are 41.204.224.2 nad 41.204.224.22 respectively. The router could now take only two out of three DNS addresses allocated by my ISP. All other workstations obtained automatic IP from the router i.e IP within the range of 192.168.1.100 to 150 and they are able to browse the Internet.

Can you run ipconfig /all on the server and a client and post the results please.

I can can now browse the internet on the server without the wireless LAN adapter when I changed the DNS of the server to the IP of the router (i.e 192.168.1.1). But I am finding it difficult to join some Windows Vista machine to the domain. The Vista machines that succeeded in joining can only logon to the domain. No option of login as the local machine. Very much unlike the Win XP which will provide the drop down menu at login window; to either choose to login to the local machine where the user will have access to all documents on the local machine or login to the domain.
Is there anything I am doing wrong in the process of joining Win Vista to the Domain. Please not that I am using Vista Utlimate not home edition.

please post IPCONFIG /ALL from a client computer and the server.

The Server DNS IP needs to be pointing to itself.
Have you installed the DNS Service on the Server?
Can you check the 2 DNS services as per my previous post?
Have you set the DNS forwarders?  

If you follow the instructions in my previous post this will definately fix your problems.

I will copy the results of the ipconfig cmd of the svr and workstation when I am by the machines tomorrow.
"HAve you installed DNS services on the server"
Yes, I have done exactly that. I have also set the DNS forwarder, maybe I need to crosscheck to be sure I did it correctly.
The challenge is that I was able to join other workstations running XP without any problem. Was able to access the server shared resourced on the Win. XP workstations. Don't know why Vista is such a problematic OS.

Sorry for not getting in touch this long. I have been strogling with some issues ever since I lost my harddisk and reinstalled. I tried to reactivate on the net but told me I could not do that more than once. I need to get in touch with my vendor for another activation code. Since I bought the software outside my country, I have been trying to get the vendor respond to my concern. As soon as I am done with the issue of reactivation, I will get back.
I just thought, this might be hampering my joining the Vista machine to the domain.

Meanwhile, I have been exploring your database to get information on how previous similar problems are solved.

I finally set up my Win 2003 server (Active Directory) and have all the workstation joined to the Domain. Now below are the steps  taken in achieving that.
1. I disabled the DHCP on my Linksys router and used the one on Windows 2003 server
2. Allocated static IP (192.168.1.5) to Domain server and same as  DNS (192.168.1.5);
3. Used Linksys router address (192.168.1.1) as the gateway address on the server;
4. Set DHCP Scope on the Domain server to 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.225 and reserve IP range 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.100
5. With these configuration and having properly setup the AD, DNS and Forwarder on the server, I was able to connect all the workstations running (both Windows XP Pro. and Vista Business Edition) to the server seamlessly; and I was able to have access to the resources on the domain server and at the same time able to access the Internet from the workstation. Of course the server too was able to connect to the Internet. However, the unexpected happened when I shutdown the server to see if I would still be able to get to the Internet on the workstations, but I could not despite the fact that I setup the alternate configuration on the workstation using IP from the reserved range (on the Server DHCP) and using the same subnet mask as well as the router's IP (192.168.1.1) as the gateway. In the preferred DNS server and the alternate DNS server I used my ISP's DNS address; and I left the preferred WINS server and alternate WINS server blank. When I check the path to the internet on Vista, it shows that the system is connected through to the Internet, I was able to also ping my ISPs' DNS addresses but unfortunately, I was unable to browse the web. Can someone please tell me what I am supposed to do that I have not done? Thanks in advance.

demazter,
that is what I did. I manually configured the alternate Configuration, using part of the reserved IP addresses from the IP address range earlier configured during DHCP installation/configuration. By the way, the IPv6 on Vista is disabled so that would not be the problem at all. Again, the behavior is the same on Windows XP. ANy way out, please?

Just to confirm the TCP/IP prooperties is set to DHCP?
Then you click the alternate configuration tab.

In there you enter a valid IP address, the subnet mask, the gateway (your router) and the DNS servers of your ISP?
If you enter your router as the DNS server address does this give you internet access?

Yes, the TCP/IP properties is set to DHCP and all clients are obtaining their IP address from the server DHCP. In the alternate configuration: I typed in valid Ip address, the subnet mask (255.255.255.0) and the IP of the router as the gateway and lastly the DNS of my ISP (two of the three given).
I have not tried entering the router's IP (192.168.1.1) in the DNS space. I can do that as soon as I get to the office perhaps in the next 20 minutes.
Kindly stand by to help solve this problem.
Thanks

WOnderful you.
You are right. I did a repair on my wireless connection on my WIndows XP and the new IP address in the alternate configuration was used by the system to connect to the Internet. Now the clients can connect to the internet while the server is down.

I however encountered problem with my Microsoft outlook. I am finding it difficult to send and receive email through it. Could it be connected to the change in configuration that I just made?

Thanks for everything. The Outlook is now working. I think the problem is with the host mail server. I have another chalenge. All clients were able to connect to the domain and could easily connect to the server all it's resources but I could not get the client to see each other. I could not ping client from another client, using their IP addresses. Kindly advice.

Glad you got it all working.
If you cannot ping client to client this is probably because the windows firewall is enabled?

demazter, I really appreciate the attention you devoted to me and all my questions. I will also like to acknowledge Darr247 for his useful contributions at the early stage, trying to resolve the problems. It's unfortunate that his voice dwindled along the way. Nevetheless, his contributions are appreciated. The question is that I do not know if Iam eligible to award marks as a trial member. Kindly educate me on this aspect. By the way, Expert-Exchange has helped me imensely within a short period and it's my wish to stay with the group (highly progressive and very productive).
Before I close this session, I will need a piece of advice as to the appropriate CISCO Router replacement to my present Linksys Router WRT54G2 V1. I discovered in the course of installation and configuration that Linksys freezes ocassionally and I will have to reset and reconfigure. I am just imagining what would happen if I am not aroung when it freezes. I need a replacement that will be more reliable and will also serve me well. I await your responses to my many questions here.

demazter, I appreciate the attention you gave me and my question all the way. I also acknowledge the contribution of Darr247 at the early stage, trying to splve the problem. It is unfortunate that his voice dwindled along the way and I could not hear from him. Nevertheless, his contributions are really appreciated. Now my question is I do not know if I am eligible to award marks as a trial member, kindly educate me on this. By the way, I have imensely gained from this group (expert-exchange) of highly productive people and I intend to stay with the group all the way. Before I close this session I will still need your piece of advice on the appropriate CISCO router replacement for my present Linksys router WRT54G2 V1. I discovered in the process of installation and configuration that my Linksys freezes most of the time and I had to result to reset and reconfiguration of the router. I will like to avoid such situation in the future especially if I am not around and there will be nobody to do the reset and reconfiguration. I am actually thinking of a replacemnt will would be more reliable.
Thank you

Hi omiseten, you should just be able to select the post as an answer by clicking the accept as solution link on the post(s) you feel helped you the most.

What router do you currently use and I will try to give you s few options for alternatives.

In my opinion, it's often confusing when multiple people are offering advice, and demazter seemd to be providing all the help you needed, so I stayed out of it. So, it wouldn't bother me if you'd rather award all the points to demazter. Or you could split them, giving me 50 and demazter 450, or me 100 and demazter 400, et cetera. That's up to you.

To award all the points to demazter you can select one reply which provided the epiphany and click Accept As Solution, which would assign all the points to that reply.

Or you could select 'Accept Multiple Solutions' on any question give each reply you found helpful part of the points... the points you award must equal the total for the question (500 in this case)... so if you gave 5 of demazter's replies 100 points each then demazter would still receive all the points...

Or you could give 50 points to one of mine, and 50 points to nine of demazter's (so 50 x 10 = 500), et cetera.
However you feel is equitable.

If I recall correctly, when you use the 'Accept Multiple Solutions', the first reply after the original question that is given points is shown as the 'Solution' and the rest that get points are shown as an 'Assisted Solution.'  That's just how the forum software worked the last I knew, and you couldn't select a specific question as the 'solution' when accepting multiple answers.

If, after closing a question, you feel you made a mistake in assigning points, you can still click the Request Attention link in the original question to ask a moderator or administrator to reopen the question so you can try again.

Also, if you have any questions about how Experts-Exchange works that isn't covered in the Help (upper-right corner, between Contact Us and Home), you can backtrack up the 'bread crumb' trail, contact the Zone Advisor and they should be able to get you an answer without using the Request Attention link. The 'bread crumb' trail that leads to this question is the ''Home // Networking // Wireless // How to make Windows server 2003 Active Directory work with Linksys...'' path above the question... if you click on 'Wireless' you can see the Zone Advisors contact box at the top. Hope that helps.

> Or you could give 50 points to one of mine, and 50 points to nine of
> demazter's (so 50 x 10 = 500), et cetera.
> However you feel is equitable.

Oh, yeah - I think there's a 20-point minimum too... so I don't believe you would be able to select more than 25 replies as 'solutions' on a 500 point question when using the 'Accept Multiple Solutions' link.

> Before I close this session I will still need your piece of advice on the appropriate
> CISCO router replacement for my present Linksys router WRT54G2 V1.

As a premium service member you get unlimited points with which to ask more questions.

I suggest asking that in a separate (new) question...
e.g. start in http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Networking_Hardware/

Click the Ask A New Question button, and Networking Hardware will be the default zone, then you can click the blue Add button by More Zones, click the + sign next to Networking Hardware, and the + next to Wireless, then check the boxes next to Wireless and Access Points, too.  More people would see the question than just me and demazter, that way.