Router Config with Switch LAN on SBS

[zaineyma]

Hello,

I have made progress!

I have a BT 2Wire Router with one Small Business Server running 5 clients through a switch. I have setup the network and all clients have been added to the domain, with a networked printer and network drives mapped and everything runs fine there. The server has a static I.P and so do the clients. The Router connects to the network. DHCP has been disabled on the Server. The DNS server address of the clients is the same as the Server.
The clients run Windows Vista Business. What the problem here I am facing is that the clients have a massively intermittent internet connection. I will get the internet for 5 minutes if that then the connection would drop for another 10-15 minuts, however, times of connection/disconnection are very variable. BT have stated that the router is fine, the network is fine and the firewall settings on the router are fine. There is no firewall on the clients, everythig is off in that area. I dont know what to do with this, the connection comes, then goes, comes then goes.
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[noveyron]

Can you post an ipconfig /all for the server and one of the clients, that is probably the best place to start.

 

[zaineyma]

I am not there at the momnent but I remember the settings if that helps:

I.P Address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.254
DNS: 192.168.1.1

IP Address on Clients:
192.168.1.x
DNS on clients: 192.168.1.1

Is this ok?

 

[noveyron]

That looks correct.

Have a look at this, it may have some useful pointers, especially the DNS bits?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825763

 

[ShackDaddy]

Are the clients and the server all plugged into the switch, or are some plugged directly into the 2Wire?

Does the server point to itself for DNS? It should.

Have you configured DNS forwarders on the server or not? It's optional, but if you have some unideal servers configured as forwarders, that would introduce issues with regular external name resolution.

Have you narrowed down whether the problems with internet is a name resolution issue or a traffic issue? For example, when internet is working, set up a steady ping to an outside IP address like this: ping 216.45.19.33 -t

Then leave that going. When "internet doesn't work," is that ping still getting replies? If it is, then it's not actually a connectivity issue. If the ping stream breaks, then it's a connectivity/routing issue.

When it's broken, do a tracert: tracert 216.45.19.33 and see how far it gets. That should tell you if the problem is right on the other side of your default gateway, in front of it, or a couple of hops beyond it.

Let us know what you get.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting