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Wireless ICS problem

Hi,

I have two computers, Desktop and Notebook, connected in a peer-to-peer network. Desktop provides ICS. The same machines are also connected on an Ethernet network, which works fine.

On the wireless network, however, I am unable to use Desktop's Internet connection from the Notebook. whatever the problem is, it seems to be related to the wireless settings because, I repeat, the ICS works fine on the Etherent network between the two machines.

Any ideas?

wyliecoyoteuk

Depends on version of windows, but:
ICS network card needs to be 192.168.0.1 on some versions of ICS, and functions as a DHCP server.
If you have 2 interfaces, they will have to have different IP addresses- hence ICS only works with one.
A little more info might help-are you using an Access point?

CDRome

ASKER

No access point. It's peer-to-peer. Both machines run Win XP Pro, and both have a Netgear USB Wireless adapter (MA111). File and print sharing work fine. It's just that when I open IE from Notebook, it doesn't see the Desktop's connection and asks me for a connection. Neither machine have DHCP enabled. Desjtop is 192.168.0.3 and Notebook is 192.168.0.3. I couldn't use 192.168.0.1 because I use that for the Ethernet adapter on Desktop (ICS works fine with the Ethernet peer-to-peer network on the same machines).

wyliecoyoteuk

so I assume that you have the following:

desktop wire 192.168.0.1 subnet mask 255.255.255.0
laptop wire 192.168.0.2 subnet mask 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.0.1

desktop wifi 192.168.0.3 subnet mask 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.0.1
laptop wifi 192.168.0.4 subnet mask 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.0.3

how is your DNS setup?
are the ethernet and wifi bridged?
That might work, but I think that ICS is limited to a one to one connection.

CDRome

ASKER

No DNS (automatic I guess) and no bridge.

CDRome

ASKER

Here are some more details:

DESKTOP:
=======

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : desktop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

PPP adapter Atlanet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 62.123.62.119
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 62.123.62.119
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 213.234.128.211
213.234.132.130
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : lenovo MA111 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-09-5B-42-85-04
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

-------------------
NOTEBOOK:
========
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : IBM-BCD1D50A823
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed (this is my translation from Italian)
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR MA111 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-09-5B-42-84-C0
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

wyliecoyoteuk

You will not get an internet connection without setting
a) a gateway
b) a dns server

I would try setting the gateway to:

desktop wifi card 192.168.0.1
laptop wifi card 192.168.0.3

dns on both to:

primary:213.234.128.211
secondary:213.234.132.130

then if the laptop tries to do a dns lookup via wifi, it will go out through the gateway.

CDRome

ASKER

Thanks, wyliecoyoteuk. It's very late here now. I will try this tomorrow morning and post back.

CDRome

ASKER

wyliecoyoteuk, I tried what you said but it didn't work. Not only, I also lost file/print sharing between the two machines, so I rolled back to the previous setup. Now I've got file/print sharing again but no ICS. So back to where I was when I posted my question.

Any other suggestions, wyliwcoyoteuk and all?

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wyliecoyoteuk

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wyliecoyoteuk

Just a thought, do you want to still be able to use the wired connection, or do you just want to move to wireless?
If the latter, uninstall ICS and reinstall it using the wireless connection as the host(also change the address of the wired adaptor)
the wifi adaptor will then be 192.168.0.1
set that as gateway and dns on the laptop wifi adaptor, and it should just work.

I checked on my laptop(runs XP pro), and it seems that bridging and ICS are mutually exclusive in windowsXP, so you can have one ICS connection only.

CDRome

ASKER

That's bad news! OK. If that's the case, then I'll try and switch around the IP addresses so that the wireless has the 192.168.0.1. I need the Ethernet really only for quicker sync between the two computers. Also, I don't think I waited that long when I tried the previous setup. Although I did turn the computer on and off a couple of times.

CDRome

ASKER

OK, I've switched the IP's now and restarted the PCs and waited a few minutes. Again, folder/print share work but no ICS. Usually, on the Ehternet, I'd get an Internet connection icon on both machines. But in this wireless setup I only get it on Desktop, not on Notebook -- just like before the IP address change.

CDRome

ASKER

Partial success! I forgot to uninstall and reinstall ICS before, as per your instructions. I did it, and now I can see a connection icon in Network Connections, BUT I've lost file/print sharing. I can see Notebook from Desktop but get a path error message when I try to access it. In Notebook, I don't see Desktop anymore. Isn't XP networking sooooooo plug'n'play?

CDRome

ASKER

Latest Dispatch :) I shut down Zone Alarm and now file/print is back. I can still see the Internet connection (marked as "conected") in Notebook but when I try to open IE, I get a request for connection. For some reason Notebook doesn't see the Internet connection on Desktop...

CDRome

ASKER

I have found something strange (at least to me): If I enter www.google.com in the browser window, I don't get anything and the computer keeps on asking me for a connection. If I enter http://216.239.59.99, I still get the irritating popup asking for a connection, but I nevertheless get to the Google site. At this point all the links on google work, but each time I click a link I get the popup again and have to close it (or click on offline) to be able to browse to the link.

I am sure the answer to this is very simple and its just sitting there. So, come on, folks!

CDRome

ASKER

IT WORKS NOW! I had forgotten to re-enter the DNS numbers in Notebook's TCP/IP! And thanks, wyliecoyoteuk! Without your help I couldn't have got this far!

wyliecoyoteuk

Glad I could help.
The time lag hindered us a bit ( I only access this site in the evening in the uk)
but we got there:)