help plz.. with simple networking

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 10:00 am

i have a simple lan setup at home between 3 computers using SYGATE to share my cable internet. everything got all screwy(and i got bored over the weekend) so i decided to cleanup the whole lan reformatting all drives. i have that Linksys 10/100 network in a box kit with a 5 port switch.

on the server machine (sygate) i have 1 linksys 10/100 NIC and an old linksys ISA ethernet NE2000 combo NIC (is use the ISA for the network and the pci 10/100 for my cable internet), i think it's a 10 base T. the other 2 client machines have linksys 10/100's.

problem is i can't even setup simple peer2peer networking. i haven't done this in a while so i don't remember what i'm doing wrong!! on each machine i can only see itself on the network. obviously pinging to each machine timeouts. i'm sure everythings set right.. tcp/ip settings are right, workgroup name, ip's,client for ms networks, file & printer sharing, etc.

i did notice that there are no IPX/SPX settings for the NE2000 card. should this protocol be added to get the network running? should it be installed for all cards? are there any other settings, services or protocols that i'm missing for each machine? for each NIC what shows in the network neighborhood properties is basically the NIC's name and it TCP/IP settings.

i've done some browsing at work on the net and got some ideas to try when i get home later. some goood LINKS would also be helpful :-)

Kakarot · Post by **Kakarot** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 10:28 am

What OS's are you using on these machines? If its Win95/98/ME you have to turn on File and printer sharing in order for them to show up in Network neighborhood at all(winNT/2k should have the server service installed automatically). Also just make sure that the workgroup name is the same on every single machine and that they all have different Computer(host) names. Make sure Client for Microsoft Networks is loaded on all the machines(you can use windows logon if you don't want to have a logon prompt every time you boot). And make sure they are all in the same IP address range as each other(all nics except the one going to the cable modem). IE..

192.168.1.1
192.168.1.2
192.168.1.3

with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. And I think you would need to make the default gateway the LAN IP of the Sygate machine(not the cable modem NIC's IP).

Also, just a suggestion, I'd hook the cable modem up to the ISA NIC and use the PCI nic for the internal LAN. The cable modem will never even come close to the 10Mbs limit of the ISA nic let alone 100Mbs. On the other hand your internal LAN can and will readily use every bit of that 100Mbs bandwidth for file sharing etc. So that would be a more efficient use of your bandwidth.

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 10:47 am

thanks kakarot. thing is everythings already setup as you say. that's what has me stumped!! i'm using win 98se by the way and here are the basic settings:

server = ip 192.168.0.1 / subnet 255.255.225.0
client(1) = ip 192.168.0.2 / subnet 255.255.255.0
and so on.....

client for ms networks is installed, workgroup names are all one, etc. only thing i remember is the IPX/SPX protocol isn't installed. is this required??

your right. i once had my cable i-net run through the 10 base T / ISA NIC and the home network through the 10/100 NIC. i recently moved and had only one computer setup with cable so i used the 10/100 NIC. i'd change it over anytime but contacting tech support to get the NIC address verified can be a pain sometimes :-(

thanks anyway!!

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 11:35 am

one more thing... for those familiar with SYGATE, should I try the "ONE NIC FEATURE" and get rid of my old ISA NIC? obviously it's just taking up space. could i still get my "home network" running using this feature from SYGATE?

Kakarot · Post by **Kakarot** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 1:10 pm

IPX/SPX is just a protocol used for Netware. You don't need it unless you're connecting to a netware server. So no, its not required. As a matter of fact you want as few protocols running as possible. So its reccomended to just use TCP/IP alone if you can. Reason being is that if you have multiple protocols loaded and you're only using one, the computer will still try sending the info out using each protocol loaded in turn until it finds one that works. So it slows it down and creates uneeded traffic on the LAN. I don't know about that Sygate feature(I don't use sygate).

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 2:56 pm

I use Sygate, but it's version 3, not the new version 4 which has the simulated nic for sharing cable/dsl.

As Kakarot suggested, have you assigned gateways to the clients? I'm not at home to check mine, but if you right-click on network neighborhood, properties, select tcp/ip, and then select gateway. Add the IP address of the server and click on the add button.

Before you install Sygate, I would make sure that your network is working properly first. Once your network is working, then you can install Sygate and it will setup all the proper settings for tcp/ip.

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 3:44 pm

yes.. gateway's of 192.168.0.1 are installed on the "client machines".

this may sound weird but after installing sygate (yeah, network's suppose to be running first but i tried anyhow

and using the "Single NIC" feature, i am able to access the internet on all the client machines. despite this there seems to be no LAN connection. i can't see the other computers, share files and even pinging from whatever machine to the other gives timeouts.

here's the basic setup:

PC1 (server):
1-linksys 10/100 NIC / used for cable internet
1-linksys 10 base t NIC (ISA) / 192.168.0.1 ip / 255.255.255.0 subnet

PC2 (client):
1 linksys 10/100 NIC / 192.168.0.2 ip / 255.255.255.0 subnet / 192.168.0.1 gateway

PC3 (client):
1 linksys 10/100 NIC / 192.168.0.3 ip / 255.255.255.0 subnet / 192.168.0.1 gateway

all settings seem to be in the netwrok neighborhood properties for each machine. i checked all tcp/ip settings and everything seems ok. workgroup name is the same used on all machines. file and printer sharing is also enabled on both clients. client for MS networks is enabled.

i can't think of anything else that could be wrong :-(

VonJames · Post by **VonJames** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 4:55 pm

Add the Netbeui protocol, then UNbind file & print sharing from your TCP/IP protocol .
With file & print sharing bound to tcp/ip, your pc's will be visible to the internet, and enticing to hackers.

Netbeui should make your pc's visible on your LAN. (im not 100% on that but pretty sure).

Good luck!

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 5:15 pm

I think I know what may be missing. Bring up Explorer and select your C drive. Then right click on it and select sharing. You can do the same by double-clicking on My Computer and right click on the drives you want to share.

VonJames · Post by **VonJames** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 5:21 pm

Very good point Executioner. It's always one little forgotten detail......

Kakarot · Post by **Kakarot** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 10:30 pm

Originally posted by VonJames
Add the Netbeui protocol, then UNbind file & print sharing from your TCP/IP protocol .
With file & print sharing bound to tcp/ip, your pc's will be visible to the internet, and enticing to hackers.

Netbeui should make your pc's visible on your LAN. (im not 100% on that but pretty sure).

Good luck!

Good suggestion. Thats a good security practice. But will his client machines still show up on the public internet even though the clients are using a private address behind the sygate machine running NAT?

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 10:51 pm

thank for the help.. i think i temporarily fixed it. i was looking at speedguide.net and they suggest to add the NETBEUI protocol. looks like it works. sharing, gaming, etc. now works between all machines. there is a issue with security tho.

vonjames was right you got to unbind the tcp/ip for security.

thanks guys!!!

VonJames · Post by **VonJames** » Mon Aug 20, 2001 11:08 pm

Hmm... interesting Kakarot...
I'm not really sure, but I would definitely set it that way for the nic that is connected to the cable modem.
I've only fooled around with Sygate once, but thats been over a year ago.
I'm still trying to learn this stuff myself, I do find it interesting.

Come on Schwartz where are ya

Schwartz · Post by **Schwartz** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 4:20 am

Come on Schwartz where are ya

I'm here.

I was at work earlier

I dunno man, straight TCP/IP and Hardware solutions for me. I haven't played with that software stuff.

I have never used Sygate. I would run straight TCP/IP, make sure the gateway box is secured, and turn on whatever is needed to share the stuff between the PCs. The addressing of his network sounds ok but something is broke with his TCP/IP config because he can't ping between computers. I would think he would need to have TCP/IP, File and Print Sharing, and the client for MS networks installed and bound to TCP/IP if you go the straight TCP/IP route. Then you would need to enable your shares. Guess I'll have to try it and see if it works for me, for the sharing thing anyway, my NAT is hardware based.

RaT · Post by **RaT** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 11:57 am

yeah.. prolly when i get some extra cash i'll invest in a "hardware" router. with sygate the "server" computer has to be on at all times in order for the other machines to browse the net. that isn't a good thing with the "heatwave" going on and all.

it's weird tho that i can't get the network running thru TCP/IP alone. actually i don't know.. i found a pci based 10/100 NIC and replaced the 10 Base T ISA NIC. and after that i got the network up (i don't know if it's because of the new NIC or b'cuz i installed the NETBEUI protocol). i did notice that before, whenever i plugged the ISA NIC into the switch it wouldn't even light up at 10mbps, it just had power.

would it be advisabe to unbind the NETBEUI protocol to see if it'll work via TCP/IP with my new NIC? what are the security "issues" to this?

anyway i'll prolly install ZONEALARM on all machines even if i never tried it before. is it any good?