Internet Connections and Internet Gateways...

[Beringer]

I seem to have a problem with my Internet Connection, not the physical
connection but the "bridge" that connects my computer to the internet in XP,
found in the Network Connections folder under Internet Gateway.

At times, the internet gateway doesn't exist and I can't access the internet
(seems logical). Other times, it exists but when I check the status there
is no flow of packets for several minutes at a time really affecting my
bandwidth.

I use a wireless network in my home. At all times, I have an
established/enabled network connection with excellent signal strength (my
router sits right next to the network adapter on my pc).

I guess my real question is this. Do I really need an Internet Gateway?
Can't my router do all the sharing of internet access? If I don't, how do I
get rid of it? If I do, why does it act so poorly?

System: Asus P4PE 2.4, XP SP1, Lynksys wireless router (befw11s4 v.2),
motorola sufboard cable modem, Cox cable for internet acess.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[CheshireCat]

The internet gateway "is" your router - unless you're running as an ICS
server in which case your pc is the gateway.
The bridge in your network connections is a network bridge that connects
different network adapters together so they can talk on the same subnet.
Similar to turning a PC into a network hub.
For example, on my pc I had my local area connection bridged to my Firewire
1394 connection (done automatically by XP) . That meant I could plug a
laptop into the firewire connection and the laptop could become a part of my
home LAN. Otherwise the laptop would have to use a network card and cable to
plug into a hub instead.
You don't need a network bridge if you're just planning to plug into a
hub/router/switch. Ive deleted mine with no problems, it's easy to reinstall
if you need it.