Can't access internet through shared connection

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Well, that's not strictly true...

I've just configured a home network consisting of my pc and my gf's laptop, where my pc is connected to the internet and she shares my connection through my pc (which has ICS enabled).

On her laptop she has an Internet Gateway showing that she is connected to the internet through my pc. But when she launches a web browser (firefox or IE) they can't find any web pages. IE says that it cannot find the DNS server.

I can ping the DNS server from the laptop and it has no problems finding it, in fact it returns the packets quicker than my pc!!

I'm not sure whether this is an ISP problem or i need to configure the web browsers for something??

Can anyone shed any light on the matter?

Thanks,

Paul

 

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Will it load a webpage if you enter the IP address of a site in the address bar? Is the laptop configured to automatically detect the DNS server? It sounds like that is the most likely problem.

 

Hey Baba,

The laptop is configured to Obtain DNS server addresses automatically. It is showing the DNS Server to be my PC 192.168.0.1, is this correct?

Not sure how to obtain the IP address for a website so I can't try that at the mo.

Cheers

 

Try this site - 216.227.215.97

[EDIT]Interestingly, that IP address takes you to the hosting company's home page, I'm not sure why that would be off the top of my head.

 

Nope, no joy.

It just says that it Timed out whilst trying to connect to the site.

 

Stoney,

Questions:
1. What operating system is running on the pc?
2. What operating system is running on the laptop?
3. How is the pc connected to the internet?
4. How is the laptop connected to the pc?

 

r.h.lee:

XP Pro with Service Pack 2.

XP Pro with Service Pack 1.

Through a USB ASDL WAN Adapter.

PC Network card 3COM Gigabit LOM (3C940), on mobo.
Laptop Network Card VIA something or other (not switched on the mo.)
Cross-over cable connects the 2.

I can transfer files from PC to laptop ok, I haven't tried laptop to PC although it asked for User info to browse the contents of the PC from the laptop and would only accept the built in Admin account's credentials.

Sparky:I'll set-it up again and try tracert and get back to you.

Thanks

 

Stoney,

Questions:
1. What make and model is the "USB ADSL WAN Adapter?"

 

Hey guys,

Sorry for not replying sooner but i've been away.

Anyway, I think the reason for ICS not working is down to Zone Alarm. I'm using the free version and from the info i've found out the free version doesn't support ICS.

So I now have 2 options; buy a router, or upgrade to ZA Pro.

 

Are they squeezing all of the features out of ZA? if you are going to buy a router, see if you can buy a switch, if not a hub will do... (learnt that today!) both should have a buildin firewall...

 

AFAIK ZA-free has never supported ICS.

And most decent routers include a switch. The price is usualy only £5 higher.

Harry.

 

Well for the time being you could uninstall ZA and just rely on the XP built in firewall that comes with SP2 - you should install SP2 on both computers and make sure they are up to date with all the latest critical updates. Running XP with ZA and SP1 is worse than running a fully patched SP2 and using the built in XP firewall IMHO.

 

Harry,

You confused me now...

when people referred to router i always thought they were referring to hubs, now i found out about switches, so when you say routers include a switch, are you on about hubs includes a switch or something else?

sorry Stoney about this being off-topic...

 

A hub is used to connect computers on the same subnet. They were very common in the old days before switches came along.

A switch is like an intelligent hub, it manages throughput and reduces chatter on the LAN.

A router is used to connect two or more different subnets. Hence the need for routing tables and routing protocols like RIP/OSPF these keep the routing tables up to date automatically.

 

Just a few of thoughts:

Is ZA configured to allow traffic to and from the laptop?

If this is a ZA compatibility problem, verify that the ADSL unit's firewall is up and correctly configured, then turn off ZA and give it a shot.

If the laptop is pointing to your PC for DNS and DNS requests are not being passed to the laptop, you might try manually setting the IP address for the DNS server on the laptop.

 

Harry: I've never tried configuring ZA for ICS until now. Thanks for the advice.

Bluerinse: I was considering doing that anyway, although I'm a little aprehensive about using Windows Firewall only.

Cheekmaster: No problems, I'm not to sure of the differences between hubs/routers etc either, so your input has answered some questions I had anyway.

Tripwire: Yes, the laptop and PC can communicate between each other, move files etc. I have that configured in ZA. Also tried telling the laptop which DNS servers to look for and that didn't help.