How do I setup ICS with dialup and wireless router?

G

Guest

How do I setup ICS with dialup and wireless router?

I've been reading lots of threads/information but can't find/figure out what
to do in my case. Sorry!!!

My situation:
Computer 1: Desktop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, with dial up
connection to Internet
Computer 1 is connected by cable to Port 1 of Dlink DI-524 Wireless Router

Computer 2: Laptop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, with wireless
connection to DI-524 router.
Computer 3: Desktop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, connected by cable
to Port 2 of DI-524 router

There is NO DSL, Cable Modem, or other Internet connection. The only
Internet connection is the dialup connection on Computer 1.

File sharing and printer sharing work just fine on all computers with no
problems.

Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) does NOT work. I've tried running the
Network Connection Wizard on all PC’s, but the results seem ambigous. First,
on Computer 1, when I try to dialup onto the internet, it seems to try to
connect to the DI-524 router first. My desktop machine WILL eventually dial
out, but it seems to wait a while, and the network light is flashing while I
wait.

And when I try to connect to the Internet from the laptop, it tries to dial
out directly instead of accessing the network connection to use the dialup
connection on the desktop machine. I HAVE used the laptop to dial out
directly in the past but I want to make it use the router and the network
connection to the dialup connection on the Computer 1.

DLink Technical support says my setup is possible to use, but that it’s a
Microsoft problem and they don’t have any further information to give me.

Here is additional information that I found:
Microsoft article 306126 says in part:
"When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set
to use IP address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other
computers on your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses,
it is a good idea to set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are
you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing? "

But the DI-524 automatically claims IP address 192.168.0.1. In fact, I have
to use that address to access the DI-524 setup.

So do I need to change the IP address of the DI-524? But if so, then how do
I access the DI-524 setup ? Or do I do something to my PC to change the IP
address of its LAN adapter? If so, how do I do that, since ICS apparently
sets the IP address automatically of the LAN adapter of my computer.
(Clarification: I assume that the LAN adapter that the Microsoft article
mentions is in fact in my desktop PC. If that is not correct, please let me
know)

Sorry this is so long. I have a small wired network that uses a hub/switch
that doesn’t seem to have these problems. In addition, I am NOT very
experienced with IP addresses and all the LAN network terminology, so I
easily get confused when reading other sources of information that include
undefined terms like NAT, DHCP, and a veritable alphabet soup of other
acronyms. So if anyone can explain this relatively simply, I would REALLY
appreciate it (and/or point me to a website that already describes what I am
trying to do.)

THANKS for any comments.
 
R

Richard G. Harper

To set up ICS on a router, you need to disable the router functions (DHCP,
NAT, etc) and set up the dial-up computer as your ICS host. Once this is
done ICS should function as you expect it to.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
N

N. Miller

How do I setup ICS with dialup and wireless router?

It is rather tricky; I am not sure that it can be done without some kind of
registry hack.
I've been reading lots of threads/information but can't find/figure out what
to do in my case. Sorry!!!
My situation:
Computer 1: Desktop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, with dial up
connection to Internet
Computer 1 is connected by cable to Port 1 of Dlink DI-524 Wireless Router
Computer 2: Laptop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, with wireless
connection to DI-524 router.
Computer 3: Desktop Windows XP Pro/SP2, fully updated, connected by cable
to Port 2 of DI-524 router
There is NO DSL, Cable Modem, or other Internet connection. The only
Internet connection is the dialup connection on Computer 1.
File sharing and printer sharing work just fine on all computers with no
problems.
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) does NOT work. I've tried running the
Network Connection Wizard on all PC¢s, but the results seem ambigous. First,
on Computer 1, when I try to dialup onto the internet, it seems to try to
connect to the DI-524 router first. My desktop machine WILL eventually dial
out, but it seems to wait a while, and the network light is flashing while I
wait.

The router is acting as a router. The computer thinks that the router is
the gateway to the Internet. It won't try to dial until it fails to access
the Internet, if the connection properties are set to prefer the LAN for an
Internet connection.
And when I try to connect to the Internet from the laptop, it tries to dial
out directly instead of accessing the network connection to use the dialup
connection on the desktop machine. I HAVE used the laptop to dial out
directly in the past but I want to make it use the router and the network
connection to the dialup connection on the Computer 1.

ICS failed to install on the Internet connected computer. Again, it sees
the router as the Internet gateway.
DLink Technical support says my setup is possible to use, but that it¢s a
Microsoft problem and they don¢t have any further information to give me.

Your setup is impossible, as configured. The reason is that the router is
issuing IP addresses, but it isn't the gateway. If you install ICS, it will
be the gateway, but it will also want to issue IP addresses. You can't have
both the router and the ICS gateway computer trying to issue IP addresses.
Here is additional information that I found:
Microsoft article 306126 says in part:
"When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set
to use IP address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other
computers on your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses,
it is a good idea to set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are
you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing? "

But the DI-524 automatically claims IP address 192.168.0.1. In fact, I have
to use that address to access the DI-524 setup.

Precisely; and the reason why you can't do what you want without some kind
of registry hack on the Windows ICS gateway computer; OR! demoting the
wireless router to a wireless access point/switch.
So do I need to change the IP address of the DI-524? But if so, then how do
I access the DI-524 setup ?

You would have to disable the router's DHCP server, and then manually set
an IP address on a LAN port; could be iffy with ICS acting as a DHCP
server. Maybe set an IP address at the high end of the range, say,
192.168.0.254 (but NOT 255; 254 is the last viable IP address).
Or do I do something to my PC to change the IP
address of its LAN adapter?

If so, how do I do that, since ICS apparently
sets the IP address automatically of the LAN adapter of my computer.
(Clarification: I assume that the LAN adapter that the Microsoft article
mentions is in fact in my desktop PC. If that is not correct, please let me
know)

This is where a registry hack would be needed, if it could be done. That is
completely outside of my expertise, though; I can't advise you about what
needs to be changed.
Sorry this is so long. I have a small wired network that uses a hub/switch
that doesn¢t seem to have these problems. In addition, I am NOT very
experienced with IP addresses and all the LAN network terminology, so I
easily get confused when reading other sources of information that include
undefined terms like NAT, DHCP, and a veritable alphabet soup of other
acronyms. So if anyone can explain this relatively simply, I would REALLY
appreciate it (and/or point me to a website that already describes what I am
trying to do.)

NAT - Network Address Translation. Translates the WAN IP address to a LAN
IP address in the context of either ICS, or NAT router.

DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. The protocol behind dynamic IP
address assignment.

On a LAN, the gateway device to the Internet is a NAT router, and a DHCP
server. There can be only one gateway (usually; there are exceptions, which
would only confuse you even more than you already are!), and only one DHCP
server. Normally, they will be the same device.

When you set up the DI-524 as a router, all the computers will obtain their
IP addresses from the router dynamically, and will build a routing table
which points to the DI-524 as the gateway to the Internet. That is a
problem, because it does not have an Internet connection.

Then you try to set up the Internet connected computer to be the gateway to
the Internet, using ICS; this computer now becomes a DHCP server, which
will be in conflict with the DHCP sever in the DI-524.

I can think of two ways (not including registry hacking, which I can't do)
to set up your LAN. The second way will effectively isolate the Internet
connected computer from the rest of the LAN.

A.) Set up the Internet connected computer as the gateway, using ICS. Set
up the DI-524 as a wireless access point/switch. You do this by connecting
the ICS computer to a LAN port of the DI-524, and turning off the DHCP
server in the DI-524, configuring it to use a LAN IP address; pick a high
address so it won't conflict with IP addresses handed out by the ICS
computer. AFAIK, the ICS computer gives itself 192.168.0.1, then issues
successive IP addresses in sequence. Since you are not likely to need all
253 viable IP addresses for the ICS LAN segment, setting the router LAN IP
address to 192.168.0.254 should work.

B.) Set up the Internet connected computer as the gateway, using ICS. Set
up the DI-524 as a "downstream" router, in a "cascaded NAT" fashion. Wire
the DI-524 WAN port to the ICS computer. Set the DI-524 WAN connection to
"obtain an IP address"; this will be the same option as a cable modem user
would select for a cable service with dynamic IP address assignments. Set
the LAN IP address of the DI-524 to be 192.168.x.1; where 'x' is any number
from 1 up to 255. In this configuration, the ICS computer will not be able
to access the computers behind the DI-524 for file and printer sharing; so
this may not be viable, if your intent is for all computers to have file
and printer sharing capability.

A better solution would have been to select a route with an EIA-232 serial
port. You could have connected an external dial-up modem to the router. If
you needed wireless, you could either set up a wireless router as a
wireless access point/switch, as outlined above, or just purchased a
dedicated WAP along with the router. You wouldn't need to set up an ICS
computer in this fashion. Netgear, D-Link, and SMC all have a model with a
serial port. I don't think that D-Link does, but they are part of Cisco,
now, and Cisco has a low-end router with a serial port.
 
G

Guest

Thanks to both Richard Harper and Norman Miller for your responses. After
studying both of your comments, it seems that I need to do three things
(please let me know if this list is incomplete or incorrect):

1. Disable the DHCP function in the DI-524 router
2. Give the router a default IP address different than 192.168.0.1 (because
Windows XP will automatically claim 192.168.0.1 for itself when I set it up
to share its Internet connection)
3. Setup my PC which has the dial up connection as a DHCP server so that it
can give out the IP addresses.

I think I know how to do number 1 and 2 above.

However, when I tried to do number 3, I did the following:

I selected Control Panel->Network Connections->right click (my dial up
ISP)->Properties->Advanced->
Check “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s
Internet connectionâ€->
Settings->
The settings listed 14 unchecked options and 15 checked “msmsgs†options. I
assume the “msmsgs†are irrelevant and ignored them.

The 14 unchecked options are: DNS, DHCP Client, DHCP Server, FTP Server,
IMAP3, IMAP4, SMTP, POP3, Remote Desktop, HTTPS, SSDP component, Telnet
Server, UPnP Framework, and HTTP.

The only one that looked like what I wanted was “DHCP Server†so I checked
it.
Then a screen appeared which asked the following:

Name or IP Number of computer hosting this service on your network:
HomeDell2004 (default, which seems correct)
External Port number for this service: 67 (default) TCP (blank) UDP
(checked)
Internal Port Number for this service: 67 (default)

“HomeDell2004†IS the name that I gave to the computer that I am using so
that seems correct.

However, I do not know what the External/Internal Port Number refer to or
whether the defaults are correct. Does “External†refer to some request that
might come from the Internet, rather than some other PC on my own network?
And what does the “port number†mean? Or does this matter? I was afraid to
try it for fear of seriously disturbing my small existing network.

So am I on the right track here? and how should I continue? Thanks again
for any response. (I’ll be out of town next week, so if I don’t get this
figured out tonight, (and it doesn’t look likely) I won’t be back online for
a while. I WILL be back, however, so I would appreciate any response.)
 
R

Richard G. Harper

All you need to do for #3 is enable (or install if it is not already
installed) ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). That will correctly configure
networking to share the dial-up connection without your fiddling with other
settings.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
G

Guest

Thank you Richard, for your final advice. It worked !!! only three steps,
as I reported before:

1. Disable the DHCP function in the DI-524 router (using the DHCP button on
the main screen of DI-524 setup)
2. Give the router a default IP address different than 192.168.0.1 (because
Windows XP will automatically claim 192.168.0.1 for itself when I set it up
to share its Internet connection) (using the LAN button on the main screen of
DI-524 setup)
3. Enable ICS on the Windows XP PC with the dial up connection.

It only took me five minutes once I knew what to do. I am surprised it was
this easy, although I will continue to test it to see if anything is wrong.

And I am also surprised that this arrangement is apparently so unusual
and/or obscure to set up. Lots of people still have dialup and I would think
that they would want to do this sort of thing if they have more than one PC.

In any event, THANKS again !!
 
R

Richard G. Harper

I knew it would be that easy, because until last year when civilization came
to my remote Northern Michigan town that's exactly what I did. :) The
only really hard part is the router configuration and that only because
every router is configured differently.

And you're entirely welcome. Enjoy!

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 

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