Residential Gateway, Host Computer or Peer to Peer

[Guest]

Cable modem, D-link DI614+ wired/wireless router.
Wired: 2 XP Home, SP2 PCs; 1 ME
Wireless: 1 XP Home SP2 laptop

Used Network Setup Wizard to configure all wired PCs including XP network
configuration on ME. On all 3 I chose "This computer connects to the
internet through a residential gateway or through another gateway on my
network."

All 3 wired, plus laptop, able to connect to internet at same time, no
problem, for a little while. Then connection fails on individual computers,
but can be reestablished with reboot or Windows "repair this connection."
Evidence of XP wired machines fighting for control of ISP addresses.

Should I make 1 XP PC the host, even though they all connect through the
residential gateway or should I intall Windows peer to peer for small
businesses? Other?

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[Chuck]

Cable modem, D-link DI614+ wired/wireless router.
Wired: 2 XP Home, SP2 PCs; 1 ME
Wireless: 1 XP Home SP2 laptop

Used Network Setup Wizard to configure all wired PCs including XP network
configuration on ME. On all 3 I chose "This computer connects to the
internet through a residential gateway or through another gateway on my
network."

All 3 wired, plus laptop, able to connect to internet at same time, no
problem, for a little while. Then connection fails on individual computers,
but can be reestablished with reboot or Windows "repair this connection."
Evidence of XP wired machines fighting for control of ISP addresses.

Should I make 1 XP PC the host, even though they all connect through the
residential gateway or should I intall Windows peer to peer for small
businesses? Other?

Thanks in advance,
David

David,

You have the right basic setup. The DI-614 is a residential gateway.

If you have individual computers losing connectivity, with connectivity restored
by reboot or connection repair, try "ipconfig /release" then "ipconfig /renew".
Or check power settings for the network card.

 

[Guest]

Ipconfig rel and renew is a step in the right direction but not everything or
I'm doing it wrong.

Did ipconfig rel/ren on all 3 wired computers. Dlink router showed up in My
Network Places. But click and: "The device you are trying to use is not
currently avaiable on your network." Dlink icon disappears from My Network
Places. Internet accessible from all 3 after ipconfig but soon fails.
Reboot restores.

Next did ipconfig rel/ren on each computer followed by Network Connection
Wizard.

Wizard now offered: "Yes, use the existing shared connection available."
(not offered before ipconfig). Chose that option.

Chose "turn off file and printer sharing" but have Windows Firewall
disabled - use EZ Armor firewall.

Applied Network Settings: "Connecting via ICS through: Unknown internet
connection sharing device"

Go to My NW Places. Dlink router icon is gone. Access internet
successfully, but connection fails later.

REDO ipconfig rel/ren Dlink router back but click: "The device you are
trying to use is not currently available on your network."

David

 

[Guest]

I finally resolved the problem by uninstalling EZ Armor Firewall on all
computers. Even though I had turned off Windows XP Firewall, the Network
Configuration was turning it back on to block sharing files and printers.

With that gone, Ipconfig rel/ren and Network Configuration Wizard worked.

David Reddy

 

[Chuck]

I finally resolved the problem by uninstalling EZ Armor Firewall on all
computers. Even though I had turned off Windows XP Firewall, the Network
Configuration was turning it back on to block sharing files and printers.

With that gone, Ipconfig rel/ren and Network Configuration Wizard worked.

David Reddy

Thanks for the update, David. Personal firewalls are probably the most common
source of problems here.