Lost Internet access on client pc, though still have network access

[AndyCooll]

Running: Windows XP, Zone Alarm, Norton AntiVirus, Internet Explorer 6 on both pc's. Broadband Internet connection.

Have two set up two pc's as a mini network. Client accesses the Internet via the servers network card. Was using Norton Internet Security at the time the fault began.

Everything was running fine. Then one day I suddenly found I couldn't access the Internet on the client pc (the one I use)! Can still access the network but even after uninstalling all firewall and anti-virus software I still cannot access the Internet on the client pc. Can access the Internet fine on the server.

Indeed the client won't even ping the Internet IP address. Have looked at every setting I can think of, and nothing seems untoward. I.E., Zone Alarm, XP's own firewall (disabled) etc are set as they should be

Most frustrating. Don't really want to rebuild the client pc from scratch. Have since installed a new version of Norton Antivirus and Zone Alarm, but as I said even when I had no firewall or antivirus software on the client.

Any suggestions?

[DVOM]

It's difficult to tell from what you've posted exactly what you've tried on which machine.

When I had a similar network using ICS, free ZA on the server would allow the client to access the network but not the internet. I switched to Sygate firewall on the server and solved that problem.

I also found letting ICS assign IP's was hit or miss so I set them all statically.

[ylen13]

shut down the firewall for a minute and see if that will do the trick. Is norton firewall also installed on both machine on which zonealarm is installed?

[AndyCooll]

Sorry for the delay in the reply guys.

And also for the confusion it seems. I've got Zone Alarm running on both pc's, and Norton Antivirus on both as well. Have completely (I think) uninstalled Norton Firewall from both pc's.

DVOM - Have tried all kinds of combinations, including at one stage no antivirus and no firewall on either machine, i.e not a single piece of firewall or antivirus software on the network. Even at that point, I still couldn't get I.E. to work on the client!
And tried assigning a static IP address. Still wasn't happy.

ylen13 - Tried shutting down Zone Alarm on both pc's. No success.
Have uninstalled Norton Firewall. now just running Zone Alarm on both. However, the problem started BEFORE I was using Zone Alarm. Wondering if despite uninstalling Norton Firewall there is still some setting hidden away that has been left behind.

[DVOM]

Have you tried hooking the client machine directly to the modem? That would provide some additionaly clues.

[AndyCooll]

Thanks for the replies guys and sorry for the delay in replying.

Things are really weird! Last weekend I was backing up all my files with the intention of rebuilding the client, when suddenly everything was working again! Internet access on the client!!Indeed everything has been working fine all week - full Internet access on both pc's... until tonight!
Come home from work tonight, no Internet access on the client pc, but access on the server is fine (I'm on cable broadband)

Hmmm...

[Daufuski]

Replace the cable going from the client to the server. Cables can and do work intermittently when they're going bad. If nothing has changed, yet your network mysteriously works again, this is the cheapest thing I can think of right now. Otherwise, it's hte NIC or software related or a Thanksgiving miracle.

[alphanumeric]

Next time it happens open a command window and run ipconfig/all. If your IP address is all zero's, the client didn't get an ip from the host. The one I would be more interested in is the DNS info. If it's all zeros you won't be able to go on the WWW. If you have an IP but no DNS your LAN side will work but the WAN won't. I am so glad I got rid of ICS and got my router. A trick that has worked for me when ICS doesn't, is to uninstall it, reboot and install it again. Then run the wizard again. I use static IP on my lan, I find it makes for less trouble. You can use a static IP for the client. Just remember you have fill in all the blanks, IP, subnet, gateway, and DNS.

[AndyCooll]

Sorry to take so long to reply guys only just got things working. Thanks for all your help.

In the end I bought a router as you suggested... and this in itself caused me connection problems! For ages I couldn't get the router to work through my cable network. Finally got that sorted and then had problems sharing files which I think I've got sorted too through adding a different protocol (NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS).

Anyway, it's working now.

Just one query. Why does one of my pc's go detecting the Proxy Server each time I wish to use the Internet (and hence a slight delay), while the other one (and the slower pc of the two) automatically jumps on to the net without any delay??

[alphanumeric]

There is a setting in Internet explorer for that. Tools, internet options then go to the connection tab and look in the Lan settings, remove the checkmark for automatically detect. If that's not it post back and I'll have another look.

[alphanumeric]

Just a guess, but I bet your cable company reads the MAC address of your NIC that is connected to the cable modem. Mine does that so my router wouldn't work until I called them to update my account. I use Netbeui for file and print sharing. I make sure file and print sharing and client for microsoft networks are only bound to Netbeui and not to Tcpip. This makes my shared folders invisible to any one on the Wan side of my router. Netbeui is a non internet protocol, so it's perfect for hiding your shared resources behind a router.

[AndyCooll]

Originally posted by alphanumeric
There is a setting in Internet explorer for that. Tools, internet options then go to the connection tab and look in the Lan settings, remove the checkmark for automatically detect. If that's not it post back and I'll have another look.

I'm at work at the moment so will check later. Just a thought though... when setting up my router I'm sure one of the instructions specifically asked me to ensure this was enabled

[AndyCooll]

Originally posted by alphanumeric
Just a guess, but I bet your cable company reads the MAC address of your NIC that is connected to the cable modem. Mine does that so my router wouldn't work until I called them to update my account. I use Netbeui for file and print sharing. I make sure file and print sharing and client for microsoft networks are only bound to Netbeui and not to Tcpip. This makes my shared folders invisible to any one on the Wan side of my router. Netbeui is a non internet protocol, so it's perfect for hiding your shared resources behind a router.

Your guess is correct! That was the problem connecting the router, had to run through the process of adding the routers "address" before it would work.

Noted your suggestion for Netbeui. Sounds perfect for security purposes and will be looking at putting that in to practice (also when I get home!)

Thanks for your thoughts

[alphanumeric]

Originally posted by AndyCooll
I'm at work at the moment so will check later. Just a thought though... when setting up my router I'm sure one of the instructions specifically asked me to ensure this was enabled

It really depends on your ISP, weather they use a proxy or not. Mine doesn't and recommend "not checking the box" it in their FAQ. As far as the router goes checking the box is a fail safe option. If you do use the proxy it will work, and if you don't use the proxy it will still work. As you noted with a short delay while it tries to find the proxy that isn't there.

[AndyCooll]

Yeah! Found the settings in Internet Explorer, and as you say didn't need to be ticked (wasn't ticked on my slow machine with fast Internet access!)

So... once again thanks for your help!

How do you make sure file and printer sharing and client for microsoft networks are only bound to Netbeui?