Irritating Network Issue

Dunestar · 10-18-2007, 09:39 PM

Hello everyone. I have an annoying network issue. What's odd is that internet connection was working on all computers this morning until I upgraded one of them from XP Home to XP Pro SP2. I'll try to be as quick and clear as possible:

We have three computers, and a DSL connection. The DSL modem is plugged into computer A - the DSL connects through PPPoE so you have to use a login/pass to connect. Computer A has internet connection, and works fine. The internet connection does have internet sharing enabled in the Properties. Computer A has two network cards, the first card is connected to the DSL modem, the other is a standard CAT5 cable running to a switch. This switch connects via CAT5 to the other two computers, Computer B and C which SHOULD give them internet. I upgraded Computer B from Windows XP Home to XP Pro SP2 with an install CD that I bought at Best Buy. Installed fine. When I run Network Setup on this computer, IT FINDS the shared DSL connection on computer A and asks if I want to connect to it, so I select yes, and it says "Connected" but the maximum packets im sending/receiving is in the realm of 50-130 or so... pretty low. I can't ping the other computers, and I pull up the internet browser and it slowly loads then gives me "page cannot be displayed." Computer C does the same thing, and I haven't even touched it. All the network cards are blinking indicating network connection, and the switch also has three link lights which is correct. Why can't I get internet on Computer B and C?

P.S. I did not install this network.. but it looks like all computers had the Novell NWLink Protocol installed in the Local Area Connection Properties of all three computers originally... Not sure if that's relevant or not.

Sorry if this is long.. any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

johnwill · 10-19-2007, 07:37 AM

On each of these computers, please do this:

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

xc3ss1v3 · 10-19-2007, 09:22 AM

Does your switch have a WAN port? If it does, why not plug the DSL connection there and then run Cat5 to each individual computer. In other words, eliminating the 2nd NIC in Computer A.

I have a feeling the way that it's set up is causing this problem.

BTW, You can just uninstall the Novell in the LAN settings.

Dunestar · 10-19-2007, 09:47 AM

Unfortunately I cannot access these PC's just right now, however I was there all day yesterday and remember what the Ip's were. I verified multiple times that DHCP was definitely assigning the appropriate addresses (Gateway, DNS, etc) to Computers B and C.

The IP of Computer B was 192.168.0.26 and the IP of Computer C was something like 192.168.0.32. Computer A has an IP of 192.168.0.1.

The switch does not have a WAN port, and if it does, it's not labeled. It's a small Microsoft switch, with 5 ports. To my understanding with switches like these, it does not matter which port you plug the WAN cable in, as long as its plugged in.

xc3ss1v3 · 10-19-2007, 02:37 PM

Unless, I'm not understanding your set up, for simplicity and troubleshooting, I would plug the DSL directly to the switch. Then out from there to each machine.

Dunestar · 10-19-2007, 08:04 PM

Thank you for your suggestion - I connected the DSL to the switch directly, connected the PC's to the switches, rebooted the devices, then ran the Network Setup Wizard on all PC's, and It's doing the same thing.. Computer A connects (I have to double-click my DSL connection from Network Properties still to connect and it works), and Computer B and C display as connected, and are assigned IP/DNS/Gateway addresses, but won't connect. What could be the culprit? When the internet worked on all three computers yesterday afternoon, all I did that day was Disconnect/reconnect the DSL connection on Computer A and upgrade Computer B to Windows XP Pro SP2, nothing else. No-one else touched these computers.

Interestingly, I just noticed that Computer A has a static IP of 192.168.0.1 and a Class C subnet (no gateway or other addresses defined)... what could this mean?

Sorry if I am making this sound confusing, and again I appreciate everyone's help. Seems like sharing a PPPoE connection is a lot more complex than I thought.

lensman3 · 10-20-2007, 05:30 PM

Sounds like computer C (192.168.0.1) was a gateway that did the NAT. The other IP address look like they were handed out by DHCP server on the dual card machine.

I would:
1) turn on NAT on the router. Your computer C (the one with the two cards is currently doing NAT) You might have to clone the NIC number so that your provider knows that you are legit. You would clone the NIC that was on the internet side of the computer C.
2) Turn on the DHCP client on the router. The three machines will now have a 192.168.0.xxx IP number.
3) See if your router will do what the 192.168.0.1 machine was doing before. That is login on to your provider. There should be screens buried in the protocol sections of the router.

It would probably be easier to pull one of the cards in the dual ethernet card machine. It will make things a lot easier to trouble shoot.

Good Luck

Dunestar · 10-21-2007, 10:22 AM

I posted this issue on another forum and discovered I could just buy a broadband router, then enter the PPPoE info. on the router admin page, then plug in all computers to the router and it will work. The two NIC/ICS thing is too messy. Thank you for your help.

johnwill · 10-21-2007, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunestar

I posted this issue on another forum and discovered I could just buy a broadband router, then enter the PPPoE info. on the router admin page, then plug in all computers to the router and it will work. The two NIC/ICS thing is too messy. Thank you for your help.

No kidding!

lensman3 · 10-21-2007, 06:33 PM

and the security on the broadband router is probably a lot better than the Windows Machine....

10-18-2007, 09:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dunestar Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP SP2 Professional	Irritating Network Issue Hello everyone. I have an annoying network issue. What's odd is that internet connection was working on all computers this morning until I upgraded one of them from XP Home to XP Pro SP2. I'll try to be as quick and clear as possible: We have three computers, and a DSL connection. The DSL modem is plugged into computer A - the DSL connects through PPPoE so you have to use a login/pass to connect. Computer A has internet connection, and works fine. The internet connection does have internet sharing enabled in the Properties. Computer A has two network cards, the first card is connected to the DSL modem, the other is a standard CAT5 cable running to a switch. This switch connects via CAT5 to the other two computers, Computer B and C which SHOULD give them internet. I upgraded Computer B from Windows XP Home to XP Pro SP2 with an install CD that I bought at Best Buy. Installed fine. When I run Network Setup on this computer, IT FINDS the shared DSL connection on computer A and asks if I want to connect to it, so I select yes, and it says "Connected" but the maximum packets im sending/receiving is in the realm of 50-130 or so... pretty low. I can't ping the other computers, and I pull up the internet browser and it slowly loads then gives me "page cannot be displayed." Computer C does the same thing, and I haven't even touched it. All the network cards are blinking indicating network connection, and the switch also has three link lights which is correct. Why can't I get internet on Computer B and C? P.S. I did not install this network.. but it looks like all computers had the Novell NWLink Protocol installed in the Local Area Connection Properties of all three computers originally... Not sure if that's relevant or not. Sorry if this is long.. any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Last edited by Dunestar : 10-18-2007 at 09:42 PM.

10-19-2007, 07:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 32,581 OS: XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Irritating Network Issue On each of these computers, please do this: Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt: Type the following command: IPCONFIG /ALL Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter. Paste the results in a message here. If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

10-19-2007, 09:22 AM	#3 (permalink)
xc3ss1v3 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Irritating Network Issue Does your switch have a WAN port? If it does, why not plug the DSL connection there and then run Cat5 to each individual computer. In other words, eliminating the 2nd NIC in Computer A. I have a feeling the way that it's set up is causing this problem. BTW, You can just uninstall the Novell in the LAN settings.

10-19-2007, 09:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
Dunestar Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP SP2 Professional	Re: Irritating Network Issue Unfortunately I cannot access these PC's just right now, however I was there all day yesterday and remember what the Ip's were. I verified multiple times that DHCP was definitely assigning the appropriate addresses (Gateway, DNS, etc) to Computers B and C. The IP of Computer B was 192.168.0.26 and the IP of Computer C was something like 192.168.0.32. Computer A has an IP of 192.168.0.1. The switch does not have a WAN port, and if it does, it's not labeled. It's a small Microsoft switch, with 5 ports. To my understanding with switches like these, it does not matter which port you plug the WAN cable in, as long as its plugged in.

10-19-2007, 02:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
xc3ss1v3 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Irritating Network Issue Unless, I'm not understanding your set up, for simplicity and troubleshooting, I would plug the DSL directly to the switch. Then out from there to each machine.

10-19-2007, 08:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dunestar Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP SP2 Professional	Re: Irritating Network Issue Thank you for your suggestion - I connected the DSL to the switch directly, connected the PC's to the switches, rebooted the devices, then ran the Network Setup Wizard on all PC's, and It's doing the same thing.. Computer A connects (I have to double-click my DSL connection from Network Properties still to connect and it works), and Computer B and C display as connected, and are assigned IP/DNS/Gateway addresses, but won't connect. What could be the culprit? When the internet worked on all three computers yesterday afternoon, all I did that day was Disconnect/reconnect the DSL connection on Computer A and upgrade Computer B to Windows XP Pro SP2, nothing else. No-one else touched these computers. Interestingly, I just noticed that Computer A has a static IP of 192.168.0.1 and a Class C subnet (no gateway or other addresses defined)... what could this mean? Sorry if I am making this sound confusing, and again I appreciate everyone's help. Seems like sharing a PPPoE connection is a lot more complex than I thought. Last edited by Dunestar : 10-19-2007 at 08:13 PM.

10-20-2007, 05:30 PM	#7 (permalink)
lensman3 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Littleton, Colorado USA Posts: 427 OS: xp 64 sp2 Fedora Core 8 (vmware xp core 8 x32) Minix	Re: Irritating Network Issue Sounds like computer C (192.168.0.1) was a gateway that did the NAT. The other IP address look like they were handed out by DHCP server on the dual card machine. I would: 1) turn on NAT on the router. Your computer C (the one with the two cards is currently doing NAT) You might have to clone the NIC number so that your provider knows that you are legit. You would clone the NIC that was on the internet side of the computer C. 2) Turn on the DHCP client on the router. The three machines will now have a 192.168.0.xxx IP number. 3) See if your router will do what the 192.168.0.1 machine was doing before. That is login on to your provider. There should be screens buried in the protocol sections of the router. It would probably be easier to pull one of the cards in the dual ethernet card machine. It will make things a lot easier to trouble shoot. Good Luck

10-21-2007, 10:22 AM	#8 (permalink)
Dunestar Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP SP2 Professional	Re: Irritating Network Issue I posted this issue on another forum and discovered I could just buy a broadband router, then enter the PPPoE info. on the router admin page, then plug in all computers to the router and it will work. The two NIC/ICS thing is too messy. Thank you for your help.

10-21-2007, 06:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
lensman3 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Littleton, Colorado USA Posts: 427 OS: xp 64 sp2 Fedora Core 8 (vmware xp core 8 x32) Minix	Re: Irritating Network Issue and the security on the broadband router is probably a lot better than the Windows Machine....