LAN / WAN problem on win xp home

[drsyko]

Hello Every1

I am in a bit of a mess. THe problem I am experiencing is as follows.

I have 2 computers (Let's call them pc1 and pc2). Pc1 has an adsl connection and a lan connection. Two network cards therefore. The ADSL ip is static as well as the LAN ip.

On pc2 I have one network card that is used to connect to pc1 via a crossover ethernet (no hub or router). The ip on pc2 is dhcp.

The problem is, as soon as I configure the ip on pc2 as dynamic it cannot connect to pc1. But when I configure the ip on pc2 as static it connects fine, but then I cannot get pc2 to use the internet connection from pc1 over the lan. This seemed to have been a dchp issue as i eventually got it working some time ago. However I installed a new HDD with a fresh win xp home edition and now it's back to square one.

Any help will be much appreciated

Thanx in advance!
wvw

 

[Rick]

Step 1: Forget DHCP

In order for PC2 to use DHCP for its address, PC1 needs to be a DHCP server. Chances are, you don't have this setup.

Good thing is, it isn't really necessary to setup a DHCP server. Using static IPs for a two PC setup is probably ideal anyway.


Step 2: Get your gateway right

The problem you having is probably caused by not assigning the gateway address. Networked computers have the following information you'll need to fill out:

PC2 (Client)

IP: 192.168.0.2
SUBNET: 255.255.255.0
GATEWAY: 192.168.0.1
DNS SERVER: 192.168.0.1

Now, the above will work fine on PC2, assuming PC1's IP address is 192.168.0.1. If it is a different IP address, then change all instances of 192.168.0.1 with the appropriate number.

PC1 (Server with ADSL connection)
(You already have this information configured if PC1 has a static LAN IP, but the above assumes your settings look like this)

IP: 192.168.0.1
SUBNET: 255.255.255.0

Gateway and DNS aren't necessarily important, depending on your modem / router setup.

The important thing here is the gateway. It tells the computer what IP address to go to for Internet traffic. So if PC1 is 192.168.0.1, then the gateway on PC2 will need to be 192.168.0.1 as well. PC2 will need to have a different IP address from PC1 though.. It is not important what it is, but may be 192.168.0.2 to keep things simple.

Enabling the Windows ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on PC1 will cause PC1 to have the IP address of 192.168.0.1 by default. Windows doesn't really give you any flexibility with this number. This IP may or may not work with your ADSL modem (this IP address may be reserved). You should be able to avoid ICS completely and assign the GATEWAY address on PC2 based on the IP address though.

At home, I'm using two Windows XP computers. My laptop connects to my neighbor's wireless (shhhhh!) and a cross-over cable connects my desktop to my laptop. This is a very simliar setup to yours and works fine.

Home networking should be basic, but it doesn't always makes sense. Please ask if you have any more questions. Someone can help you out for sure.

 

[drsyko]

Hi Ric

Thanx for the advice The irony is that I had the setup like you pointed out (ie statics & g/way on the client etc etc) and everything (LAN + WAN) were working fine for both pc's. Yet one day when I went back to fix a LAN problem I discovered the 2nd pc's statics were taken out. Upon enquiring my friend told me that the vendor who installed the wireless connection said the 2nd pc must not have a static ip else it won't work. The primary pc must assign an ip. I met with the vendor and he said his wireless router acts as his dhcp with the setup he is running at home. Now that's all fair and well, but I don't believe windows cannot do as good a job as the router. Granted windows has got bugs etc etc, but still...

But all that side, thanx very much for the assistance!!

regards
wvw