Can't Connect To Internet when connected to LAN

[FVTrainer]

I have a laptop running IE 5 that is sometimes connected to my Win2K server and sometimes not. In either situation, I access the internet via a dialup connection. When I'm connected to the Win2K server, my dialup connection succeeds with the ISP, but when I launch IE 5, it seems to only look at my intranet for the location of any url I enter. I can access my intranet site without any problem, but I cannot access any internet sites (IE just sits there trying to find the site).

If, on the other hand, the laptop is not connected to the Win2K server, I can access internet sites via the dialup connection without any difficulty.

I have a desktop machine that is also connected to the Win2K server and it has no problems switching between the intranet and internet sites. And it also uses a dialup connection to get to connect to the internet. So the laptop and desktop are pretty much attempting to do the same thing. I've tried comparing the settings on both machines (both are Win98 machines) and I don't see any differences (obviously, there must be).

Any ideas?

 

[Comtech]

Are you using TCP/IP for the LAN?
Is IE set to use the dial-up as default (I think not), thus it uses the LAN if available, and if the LAN is not active, it uses the dial-up.

Jim
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[FVTrainer]

Yes, I'm using TCP/IP for the LAN. As for whether IE is set to use the dial-up as default, I have played with the settings under Tools | Internet Options | Connections (Never dial...,Dial whenever..., and Always dial...) and it doesn't seem to matter which I choose, I still cannot connect to the internet if I'm connected to the LAN. Is there a different setting I should be looking at to determine whether or not IE is using the dial up as the default? I take it from your answer that IE should be set to use dial-up as the default.

Additionally, and I don't know if this is relevant or not, but on the Internet Options | Connections tab, there is a Settings button that allows you to see settings for each connection. When I look at the settings tab for my dial-up connection on the laptop, the Dial-up Settings have entries (correct ones, I believe) for the user name and password fields. On my desktop machine, these same fields are grayed out. Again, this is in IE's Internet Options | Connections | Settings tab. And since the desktop has no problem switching between finding sites on the intranet vs the internet, I thought maybe this offers a clue to someone who's familiar with this stuff.

 

[Comtech]

Have you got TCP/IP for your dial-up adapter set as default protocall? Look in Networking, Properties of the dial-up-adapter. Look in Networking, Properties of the Network adapter.

Jim
reboot@pcmech.com

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

Current moderator at

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Staff contributor/moderator at

http://www.pcmech.com

Windows 9x/ME instructor.

Jim's Modems:

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/modems/

 

[dxd]

Your problem appears to be related to routing of IP packets.
When your LAN is accessible it will attempt to use the default gateway of your LAN instead of that of the Dial-up adapter. To confirm this, run WINIPCFG to view the IP settings for the LAN adapter. Click the button to release the IP address. Then attempt to connect to the internet via dial-up. If this works, you may want to get the latest IE, TCP/IP, and Winsock2 updates to see if the issue goes away.

What type of network adapter/modem is being used on the laptop...i.e. - a Pcmcia combo card.....

Actually, the situations I have come across are almost the opposite. The computer can not get anywhere via a dial-up connection when not connected to the LAN. The root cause is similar though, as you need to release the IP address of the LAN adapter. However, newer drivers for various LAN/Modem combo cards have a feature called "DynamicLinkDetect" or something similar that allows you to disable the NIC when there is no cable attached.

If all else fails, you may have to set a static route in the route table so traffic will be sent out the DUN adapter.
Doug
dxd_2000@yahoo.com

 

[DCI962]

It's the "Use default gateway on remote network" under Advanced TCP/IP setting of your dial-up adapter.

It is by design... since a computer can have only one gateway at a time.