stange behaviour with ICS

[Sephir0th]

i have succesfully configured ICS in a small lan
i have the "server" pc with windows xp pro sp1
i have another pc with win xp pro sp1
another one with win 2000 sp3
another one with win xp home sp1

well , here´s what i did

i configured the server pc with the wizard, all ok
i wizarded P) the other pcs
they all resulted in dhcp, and the server pc seems to give them addresses (i don´t really know there the dhcp server is, cause there´s not a service... and i don´t see any configuration or monitoring option for this... )
well, the win2000 pc works PERFECT
i put the explorer, messenger, etc, etc to work with automatic configuration and it connects to the server and i can use it normally.
haven´t tried the xp home yet cause i can´t, if i have any info or it helps in solving the problem i´ll post it later
the problem resides in the xp pro that´s not the server
i can use messenger, azureus, kazaa, whatever program EXCEPT explorer, firefox or any browser. i have configured EXACTLY the same as the other pc that works... but to no avail
if i have JUST turned on the pc, it works... but after a while it doesn´t work. i think it´s very weird because things like messenger, etc still work OK.
i don´t know if it´s a bug, or something in particular
any information about it will be appreciated
thanks a lot

 

[Jump1ng]

Have a look here for information about setting up ICS

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/ics

Although when you have that many pc's to connect I would recommend you to get a router. That way you don't have to depend on the pc sharing the connection being turned on etc. Plus most routers comes with some kind of firewall capabilities which will protect your network from various threats.

If its an adsl connection you have a router for this should be around £50-100 depending on how many features and ports that you need.

 

[Sephir0th]

i´ll try the procedures described at the page and tell you how it resulted

i tought of the router option, but the problem is some isp´s don´t support some routers depending on the model, and i wouldn´t want to buy a router that works with my current isp, and if i change it for some reason the router may not work with the new isp

 

[Sephir0th]

I tried configuring the pc to use static ICS as described, but to no avail... the effects are exactly the same
i´m beginning to think that it´s something related to browsing?

 

[Jump1ng]

Any router should work with any ISP, they might not be able to help you with a problem if you use a router that they don't sell but don't let that stop you. Most routers are more or less that same to setup.

If you want to make sure to get support from your ISP ask them what routers they recommends and buy that model.

I think you will find that once you get your router that you will have A LOT more time to do other things and worry about the Internet connection.

I really don't like the ICS approach to things its just to much that can go wrong, I have had to set it up for clients in the past but it works for X days then some programs doesn't work and you have to go out and sort it out again.

What machines works with ICS and which doesn't? I found out that the easiest way to get windows xp machines to work through ICS is to create the setup disk on the machine you are setting up ICS on and then use it on the xp workstations that needs to go through ICS.

To get win2k and win98 (if I remember right) I just set it up manually as outlined in the link I posted earlier.

Not sure if i said get a router mate

 

[Sephir0th]

yes, i think the most productive approach will be to buy a router
just to make sure, the procedure will be to buy the thingy, configure it to relay every inbound-outbound traffic according to the internal ips, and that´d be it right?
about the connection.... using the router it would be something like

inet ---- dsl modem --- router ------hub -----pc1,pc2,pc....

do all routers have the cappability to dial up the dsl modem??

thanks

 

[Jump1ng]

Using a router you will not have any need for a modem. Also most routers these days comes with atleast 4 network ports so in theory all you need is.

inet---router---pc1,pc2,pc.....

You dont need to configure anything to relay in the router. Depending on what kind of setup your dsl has you have the option of running it in NAT mode or using fixed ip's.

At home I have dsl and I have 8 fixed ips (5 usable), all I have to do to get my pc on the net is configure my ip number subnetmask and set my routers ip as gateway. Set the DNS to your ISP's DNS server and you can now surf the net.

If you don't have multiple fixed ip's I would recommend you to set your router up to use NAT. This will mean that all your pc will have the same ip number to the world.

Altho your isp should be able to advice you how to configure your router what settings you need etc.

 

[Sephir0th]

mmmmmm but i have heard of friends complaining about the following : i don´t really know how the isp may implement the system, but they told me that, for example, if you don´t use the dsl modem that the isp provides (they sell it or lend it to you when you rent the service) then it doesn´t work...
maybe it´s some configuration stuff, maybe not.
the ip is dynamic, so the isp gives a new one on each reconnection
and the only configuration settings that they provide is the dns.....
any ideas?

 

[OzCDN]

I agree with Jump1ng that a router is the way to go but you do need a DSL modem to connect to your ISP's system. I have not heard of a router that has a modem built in (I have heard of modems that have routers built in but they usually come from the ISP). What you won't need is the hub (unless you want more than 4 pc's). 90% of all the routers are 4 port switches as well (a few are 1 port and there are 8 port ones as well). So the configuration I recommend is:

isp --- dsl modem --- router --- pc1,pc2,pc3 ...

While it is true that many ISP's do not like routers (they want you to pay for extra IP addresses), the router appears to the ISP as just a PC ... you do not need to tell them otherwise. The routers have all the software inside of them to make the PPPoE connection that most DSL providers use plus about 4 other connection types which are designed to be compatible with most providers in North America (my experience is almost exclusively with Linksys brand routers btw). On top of that, the port forwarding and DMZ features are very simple to configure and they handle all the DHCP for your home network as well.

Later ...

 

[Sephir0th]

thanks for all the answers
i wanted to know if it was possible to connect the router to the dsl modem and make the router dial it
i´m not in the us, but i don´t think there´ll be a lot of difference
i have the arescom 800 dsl modem....

 

[Jump1ng]

Most dsl routers here in the UK comes with a modem builtin. But you might be able to save a few £ getting a router without modem builtin and keep using your old modem.

I just find it so much easier having just one box that does it all for me dialing/routing/networking.

If you want to save even more money you might get a router with only one network port and then keep using your old hub.

Sephirt0th do you live in the UK?

 

[Sephir0th]

nope, unfortunately i live in argentina =(
but i´ll search for the models sold here, and i´d like to hear comments about the quality of the routers i´ll mention in another post
thanks!!