Lan + Broadband

[sinz]

Ok, this problem probably has a simple answer but I'm failing to find it. I've got two computers, each with their own IP from my ISP, they're both connected to a hub via NIC cards. Both computers are running Windows XP Professional. For the majority of the time that they've been hooked up to the hub I havn't been able to enable file sharing. At one point it worked for no reason what so ever, but then for no reason again, it just stopped working. After that I gave up on the hub except for the fact that it allows me to connect two computers via a single modem. My next step towards a LAN was the purchase of two 1394 (FireWire) cards and a 6pin/6pin cable. I've got both of them installed and each has a local IP (169.xxx.xxx.xxx). I can access both of them via Network Places in windows, I can also access them via ftp using local IPs, the problem is I cannot transfer files. Navigating around the systems is lightning fast, but when I attempt to transfer files with MS file sharing, the window freezes up and when I try via ftp the speeds start out at around 4KB/s then drop to 0KB/s and time out. Both 1394 connections are set to MS file sharing and TCP/IP protocols. I can't seem to find an explanation for the lack of file moving/viewing capabilities. I'd appreciate any suggestions or solutions.

Thank you,
Sinz

 

[StarTAC]

u might need to check the following:

1. what's the speed rate of your hubs, and is it manually configurable..

2. what's the speed set on your network cards.. at the OS level.. u will need to set your speed to the hub speed.. if your hub isn't manually changeable, then i would recommend setting your cards to full-duplex 10Mbps.. if the hub's changeable, then set the speeds to match...

3. check drive write permissions on your machines... if you can't write to another machine, it could be permission problems...

good luck..

 

[sinz]

1.The Hub is 10Mbit and no, it is not manually configurable.

2.The network cards are 10/100 and I have no idea how to change the speed of the NICs.

3.As far as I know drive permissions are set correctly but I may be wrong.

4.My intention is to try and remove the hub and NICs from the equation. I've disabled filesharing across the NICs and enabled it across the IEEE 1394. I've also set priority higher for the 1394 than the NICs. As I said in the first post, I can access both computers from eachother across the 1394, I just can't move files at all. The window freezes and I have to close it via task manager. I've figured out filesharing across the hub by manually adding the routing information like this: Start > Run "ROUTE ADD other.ip MASK 255.255.255.255 this.ip" and it allows me to access the other computer via Start > Run \\other.ip. However, I don't get the 10Mbit across the hub, I get about 15K, which is my current upload cap. I just can't figure out why I can't move files across the firewire cable. Is there a special crossover type firewire cable that I need? At the moment I'm just using a 6pin/6pin cable plugged directly into each 1394 card and It seems to me that it might be what is causing the problem, although I havn't seen a crossover cable in 1394 form anywhere online. If anyone has, please enlighten me.

Sinz.

 

[Jsteve]

Sounds to me like a OS problem.

If you can see each computer in the Neywork neigh and can access the shared resources, then the problem is with XP.

It might be a bug in the os or a compatibility issue with
the NIC drivers and XP.

 

[sinz]

The point is that the NICs are removed from the LAN equation and replaced by the 1394 but left as the inet connection, so it can't be the NIC drivers, it's quite possible that it's XP though, but I wouldn't see how the movement of files over Cat-5 cable vs. 1394 cable would be any different.

 

[dilettante]

Are you sure it isn't a routing problem?

XP will only use one default gateway if it has two network connections. And I'd even guess your FTP is going over the NICs (and spilling out to everyone on your ISP's subnet). Maybe they are throttling you down? Can't see why it'd be going through their router though.

My guess is that you need to configure static routes in the XP boxes so they can "find" each other. Look up route add in the Help and Support Center, or type route help at a command prompt.

Is there a good reason not to use a single network and a router? Yeah, I know that most cheap "cable/DSL" routers won't support two "upstream" IP addresses - they usually only offer NAT behind a single address.

You must be bare-butt exposed to nastiness via your ISP this way though too.

 

[dilettante]

You might try route print at a command prompt to see what's going on too.

 

[dilettante]

Gee, just looked at my router's admin/configuration web pages tonight and realized that my last firmware upgrade added some new features.

One of these is a "virtual computer" function that let's me map up to 5 "global" IP addresses (from my ISP) to 5 computer's on "my" side of the router.

So this router would support up to 6 IP addresses, 5 for dedicated computers and one to be shared by the rest of the LAN for Internet access.

This is separate from the "virtual server" function that lets me map up to 20 inbound ports by number to up to 20 machines on the shared IP as well.

So... I guess you CAN use more than one ISP IP address with these routers, though it isn't as simple as combining their allocated bandwidth as an aggregate for the LAN on the "inside."

 

[sinz]

The point is to avoid the router completely. It's not going out over the NICs, that's not the problem, the configuration goes something like this:
ISP
|
cable modem
|
hub
/ \
computer A-----1394----ComputerB

Each computer has an ISP IP, yes, but the firewire cards also have local IPs set to them. The problem is that I can't transfer files over the 1394. To prevent confusion about things being sent over the NICs I removed them from both computers and still could connect the two computers via my workgroup and browse folders lightning fast, but again, I could not transfer files. If anyone has a 1394 LAN set up or has worked with one, please try to shed some light on this subject and I appreciate all comments/suggestions previously posted.

Sinz.

 

[sinz]

In the diagram above, the right branch down from the hub is meant to go to computer B and the left to computer A.

 

[thisistest]

Hey dude. Just read about your problem which is EXACTLY what I encountered. I think MS assumed that people would be setting up home networks for cable through a router. But in our case we had multiple IP addresses assigned (probably for games - at least thats why I have it).

I got file sharing to finally work well over the LAN. Before it was pretty intermittent.

What I did was change the cards TCP/IP properties\advanced\options\properties\ and checked off Enable TCP/IP Filtering [all adapters]. It works like a charm now.

I'd imagine this opens up a slight hole in your home network. May pay to install zone alarm. Or if your bold- you can the adapter manually within the filtering section.