Internet connection sharing: WinXP sharing with Win2k

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

I'm trying to set up a home network that can connect to the internet where one PC shares its connection with the rest (there are 3 PC's in all); the PC's have different OS's.

 

The PC that is sharing its connection is running Windows XP Pro. The other two PC's are to access the internet via the XP PC though a simple LAN. One of them has Windows 98 (not SE), the other Windows 2000 Pro. I have no problems getting the Win98 PC to access the net. The Win2k PC on the other hand is a challenge to me - it won't run the Network Setup Wizard file generated by WinXP, nor will configuring the network properties to the setup similar to the Win98 PC work; whatever the case, the Win2k PC won't connect to the internet. Has anyone gotten the setup I want to work (the support pages at Microsoft's website claim this is possible, but no specific steps are given)? Or should the Win2k PC be the one to share its internet connection with the WinXP PC (and the Win98 PC)?

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Never mind. Got it to work after re-running the Network Setup Wizard on the XP machine.

[packman 0]

Your problem, which you say is now resolved, is interesting because I'm ALSO trying to set up a small network, consisting of just two machines, each running Win2K, and I'm blowed if I can get Internet Connection Sharing to work. No matter what form of IP allocation I try to use, the client PC just can't find the server when I try to dial up from it. My IP addresses check out okay.

 

Did you find a crucial setting that did the trick?

 

The LAN itself definitely works because the host machine successfully gives out the IP address across it, and also shared printing works.

 

Any clues would be welcomed.

[packman 0]

Yup, I've had Client for MS Networks on both machines for ages and ages. Incidentally DON'T install or enable Client for MS Networks on the ISP connection, as it'll lay your network completely open to hackers, etc , who could completely wreck the contents of your drives.

 

I'm not sure I've followed exactly what you've said in your final paragraph but if you're saying that I should try using NetBIOS protocol, then again, I've already done that, with no result.

 

Don't assume that the configuration required for XP will be the same as for Win2K because it ain't. And Win95/98 are different again.

 

For some hours of utter confusion, try taking a look at the otherwise very good networking website www.wown.com.

 

For now, all I can say about my own problem is: Aaaaargh!

[packman 0]

I'm not using mixed OSs.

 

Do take seriously what I said about File & Printer Sharing. On the local network, it needs to ENABLED but, unless you're doing secure PC-to-PC Connection Sharing over the Internet, it needs to be DISABLED on the ISP Connection. Otherwise, you run the risk of someone on the Internet possibly wiping your hard drive clean or wrecking something else. It's easy to miss that setting, especially as Client for MS Networks, File & Pr Sharing, and TCP/IP look exactly the same in the components box in the ISP's properties and the Local Area Connection properties. Microsoft specifically warn about File & Pr Sharing on the Internet side.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Quote:

Your problem, which you say is now resolved, is interesting because I'm ALSO trying to set up a small network, consisting of just two machines, each running Win2K, and I'm blowed if I can get Internet Connection Sharing to work. No matter what form of IP allocation I try to use, the client PC just can't find the server when I try to dial up from it. My IP addresses check out okay.

Did you find a crucial setting that did the trick?

The LAN itself definitely works because the host machine successfully gives out the IP address across it, and also shared printing works.

Any clues would be welcomed.

In my case it turns out I changed the LAN card on the WinXP machine, but I did not remove the old drivers first. So what happened was ICS was still for some reason implementing sharing on the old LAN card and not the new one. Thus I had to run the Network Setup Wizard again.

For the Win2k client to see the internet (this is assuming Static IP allocation, which I prefer), what's important are these (I read them from practicallynetworked.com http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/ics/ics_win2k_client.htm ):
1. The IP address of the client must be within the range of 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254, with subnet mask 255.255.255.0 (Class C)
2. The IP address of the LAN interface of the computer sharing its internet connection (which of course will be 192.168.0.1) should be entered as the Default Gateway and Preferred DNS Server on the LAN card properties of the client PC.
3. The Autodetect proxy server setting must be left unchecked on the client PC's browser settings.


Good luck!

[packman 0]

Many thanks, Phalanx. I've followed up all of your suggestions and my setup is now ALMOST working. I've also gone to that website you recommended and have printed out the guides for configuring Win2K ICS as either auto or static addressing. Because it makes it more feasible to configure my firewalls, I've chosen to use static addressing. Printing from client to host definitely works with static, though I've found it'll only do it with 'NetBIOS over TCP/IP' enabled on the LAN.

 

Now, bear in mind my setup - it's just two Win2K machines, one a host and one a client, each with identical Ethernet adaptors. The dial-up modem is attached to the host.

 

What happens now with ICS is that I initiate IE from the client and, hey presto, the host dials up and makes the connection with the ISP. However, the client then times out, saying again that it can't find the server. Meanwhile (and correctly), the host doesn't download any homepage. However, I find that if I just refresh the search for the homepage on the client (by pressing Enter after its URL), it'll download to the client. So, I'm NEARLY there. (I thought that the DNS server address was one that you had to configure in the host and which was the ISP's DNS address. Was I wrong about that?).

 

Also, I can't figure out why my e-mail client on the client machine is disabled for Send/Receive. In a setup like this, does the ISP account have to be installed on the client as well? I thought not.

 

Incidentally, what exactly did you mean by 'uncheck Autodetect proxy server'? I know where that setting resides but, on that tab, there's:

 

automatic detection of settings

use a proxy server

 

Which one of these should be unticked? Should the other setting there be ticked, or not? And should this be repeated on the host?

[packman 0]

Two further questions:

 

On the Host machine, is the default gateway supposed to be configured to be the same as the host's own address, ie 192.168.0.1?

 

Should the DNS server address be 192.168.0.1 on BOTH the host and Client machine?

 

Remember, this is for ICS running on the host machine and both machines using manual IPs.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

On the client, the DNS Server IP that you will enter in its NIC properties should be the IP address of the host, not the ISP (so it should be 192.168.0.1). On the host, the DNS Server setting for the NIC should be left blank (If DNS server settings are required by the ISP, they are to be entered in the Dialup settings of the host, not the NIC settings).

 

Not sure about the email client - in my setup I only use the email from the ISP on the host computer. The client only uses web based email.

 

On the host machine, the default gateway setting on the NIC should be left blank, while on the dial-up properties it should be whatever is recommended by your ISP (thankfully my ISP says it should be left blank).

 

Web browser settings - "automatic detection of settings" should be unchecked. I haven't checked to see if a proxy is still needed on the client since my ISP does not require a proxy server.