Internet connection sharing

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dragon

13 posts

Geek

#10163 7-Nov-2006 19:54

Hi
I really hope someone can help me with this one. I've just spent 8 hours around at the neighbours house trying to get ICS working on the PCs both running Windows XP - to no avail. I'm now wondering if ICS is at all possible with their setup, otherwise I've configured things very wrong.

The host (server) PC has a "WLAN USB 2.0 Wireless Network Adapter" for their wireless internet connection, and an onboard ethernet LAN connection. The client PC has a PCI ethernet LAN card. Communication is established both ways and they can share each others files and printers.

I used the network setup wizard to setup the network and enable ICS. The USB wireless adapter connection has ICS enabled (ticked) when you right-click the connection and select the Advanced tab.

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Here is the output from "IPCONFIG /ALL" on the client PC:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : upstairs
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : CNet PRO200 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-A1-2D-DF-29
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.20
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
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Here is the output from "IPCONFIG /ALL" on the host PC:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : downstairs
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WLAN USB 2.0 Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-6F-3D-69-A2
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.190.20
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.190.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.190.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 7 November 2006 3:13:32 p.m
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 7 November 2006 8:13:32 p.m

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-95-30-3D-24
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* I tried leaving the DNS server blank on the client,
* I tried using the IP address of the USB wireless adapter for the Default Gateway on the client
* I turned off the windows firewalls on both machines. The host machine has zonealarm installed which has the LAN connection set to trusted.

Any help would be VERY much appreciated.

freitasm

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#51528 7-Nov-2006 22:12

Welcome to Geekzone... First make sure you don't have a personal firewall software blocking anything! Zone Alarm and Norton Internet Security are particularly bad at this.

Now for your configuration: your server PC is connected to the Internet using the wireless connection, and you want to connect both PCs via cable. Is this correct?

On Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4, make sure it remains as 192.168.0.1, changing its DNS to 10.1.1.1.

Also make sure the ICS is set on Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection and pointing to Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4.

Once you do this are you able to ping 192.168.0.1 fron you second PC (upstairs)?

I think it's a problem with firewalls, really...

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dragon

13 posts

Geek

#51539 7-Nov-2006 23:15

Thank you for your reply Mauricio...

Welcome to Geekzone... First make sure you don't have a personal firewall software blocking anything! Zone Alarm and Norton Internet Security are particularly bad at this.

...and thanks also for your welcome. OK I will shut down Zonealarm, and if necessary will uninstall it.

Now for your configuration: your server PC is connected to the Internet using the wireless connection, and you want to connect both PCs via cable. Is this correct?

Correct.

On Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4, make sure it remains as 192.168.0.1, changing its DNS to 10.1.1.1.

Will do.

Also make sure the ICS is set on Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection

Yes I will again ensure that ICS is set on the Wireless Network connection (its USB, not ethernet).

and pointing to Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. How do I point the Wireless Network connection to the Ethernet Local Area Connection?

Once you do this are you able to ping 192.168.0.1 fron you second PC (upstairs)?

I think it's a problem with firewalls, really...

I will post back here after I've had a chance to try your suggestions. I hope you're right about the firewall thing.

If I still have no luck I wonder if it is worth trying the AnalogX Proxy program? (http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/proxy.htm)

Thanks so much for your help, at least I can try again now.

freitasm

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#51542 7-Nov-2006 23:18

An alternative to ICS is using the Bridge functionality...

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rcw

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#52435 15-Nov-2006 14:06

Not an actual fix but -- I've always had better luck handing this task off to a little router (they're pretty inexpensive now) instead of trying to figure out ICS.

tonyhughes

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#52470 15-Nov-2006 18:35

agreed - get a cheap router.... really. save the headache, and ask yourself what your time is worth.

dragon

13 posts

Geek

#52533 15-Nov-2006 23:21

OK, thanks for your suggestions!

I haven't had a chance to go back to the neighbours, things have been chaotic over the last week.

I will first try Mauricio's suggestion above, and if that doesn't work I'll try the AnalogProxy program as a temporary measure.

I had a quick look online for a suitable (for the people concerned cheap is suitable) router but I'm a bit confused about which type of router to get. Can the routers with ADSL still be used if their internet connection is via WiFi (USB WAN device)? For instance, is this one suitable: http://madkiwihosting.co.nz/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=54&products_id=106 ?

I've only ever setup ICS with Linux and it just works every time. After searching for help with this ICS problem in Windows XP I've come to the conclusion that its a very common problem and the solution is not at all common!

Pointers on the type of router would be much appreciated.

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freitasm

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#52534 15-Nov-2006 23:24

You mean Analog X Proxy, right?

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grant_k

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#52537 15-Nov-2006 23:43

dragon: Pointers on the type of router would be much appreciated.

Dragon: The difficulty you will have in selecting a router is that pretty much all of them expect the WAN port to use Ethernet or ADSL.

In your case, it is neither because you are connecting via WiFi. Further, your WiFi adapter uses a USB interface because it is designed to be a client to a Wireless Access Point.

One way to set up this installation (without using ICS) would be to ditch your USB WiFi adapter and buy a second Wireless Access Point which is then configured to Bridge Mode. That second access point would also likely have a 4-port Ethernet switch and Hey Presto, it becomes a router and you have a means of sharing the connection without needing to use ICS, and hence needing to leave one PC powered on at any time either PC wants to use the internet. Using an external router like this is far preferable to using ICS in my experience.

A Wireless Access Point (WAP) like this should do the job:

http://madkiwihosting.co.nz/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=54&products_id=111

There's just one thing you need to check:

==> Does this WAP support Bridge Mode? (most of them do in my experience)

I couldn't see any manual on their site (or the Edimax site that it links to) or I could tell you whether that's the case or not.

Maybe someone else can recommend a suitable Wireless Access Point they are familiar with. The important things are:

1) It must NOT have an ADSL modem built in
2) It needs to have a 4-port switch or hub
3) It needs to support Bridge Mode

Anything that meets those requirements should do what you want.

richms

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#52540 15-Nov-2006 23:53

rcw:
Not an actual fix but -- I've always had better luck handing this task off to a little router (they're pretty inexpensive now) instead of trying to figure out ICS.

Ive found the exact opposite, ICS is rock solid reliable with a USB adsl modem, whereas all in one routers need frequant power cycling, or else the upnp stopping and starting to get applications able to map ports again. Net at mums is now shared with a small PC with XP on it and the PPP for the internet set to redial on disconnect, with a short delay and a huge number of retrys, if it goes down, always comes back up again. Not so for all the routers I tried.

Instead of trying to ICS from a wifi to a wired card I would be tempted to get another usb wifi for the other compuer, or if its out of range then just plug a wireless bridge into the end of the ethernet cable. I have never had good luck with cascaded nat's

Richard rich.ms

Winter Dragon

22 posts

Geek

#54468 2-Dec-2006 11:17

I bought an Asus Wireless ADSL router with build in modem. I run my wireless through a wall and my flatmate uses his laptop in the lounge via ethernet. I'm using the TPLink USB adaptor - and I'm using the TWCU settings, NOT microsoft settings, but that's just me. We can both use the internet but I'm having a speight of other issues (I'll make a new post about those)