Network - USB scrapped

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Kelsey
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David Kelsey

I have given up on my attempts to set up a USB 2 network, mainly due to two
successive hardware failures, although while it was working, it was fine. I
have now set up a normal NIC type network, which works well enough, but I
have a question, if anyone can answer it please. When I switch on both
computers and go online, it takes about ten minutes for the network to
connect and respond on the client machine. What is happening during this
period - what can possibly take ten minutes for 3 GB and 1.13 GB machines to
carry out?

David Kelsey
 
David said:
I have given up on my attempts to set up a USB 2 network, mainly due
to two
successive hardware failures, although while it was working, it was
fine. I have now set up a normal NIC type network, which works well
enough, but I
have a question, if anyone can answer it please. When I switch on
both computers and go online, it takes about ten minutes for the
network to
connect and respond on the client machine. What is happening during
this period - what can possibly take ten minutes for 3 GB and 1.13 GB
machines to carry out?

David Kelsey
Click to expand...

It sounds like they are looking for a network resource that no longer
exists and then timing out. Since you had the USB network set up, make
sure you've uninstalled/removed all the items relating to it.

Malke
 
Thanks Malke. I did uninstall everything I could find, using the uninstall
feature in the USB software, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was
something left behind. I'll have another search round.

David
 
Does your "normal NIC type network" use a router or just connect the two PCs
together? If you have no router, and if you are not using "Internet Connection
Sharing," your network probably does not have a DHCP server to assign IP
addresses. However, the dafualt setting for TCP/IP protocol is "obtain an IP
address automatically," which means that XP will look for a DHCP server to get
an IP address. Eventually, the system decides that there is no DHCP server
around and assigns itself an IP address. This feature is automatic TCP/IP
addressing (which MS calls "automatic private IP addressing, or APIPA). The
system takes some time (although 10 minutes seems way too extreme--I've seen it
take 2-3 minutes) to decide that there is no DHCP server before it self-assigns
IP addresses.

If you do ipconfig /all from a command prompt and the IP of your PC is
169.254.xxx.xxx you're using APIPA. You might want to try assigning static IP
addresses to each of your PCs instead (under TCP/IP "properties" click the
radio button to "Use the following IP address" and set the IP address and
subnet masks appropriately (something like 192.168.1.x and 255.255.255.0
respectively)
 
Hi Lem

I had a bit of a dog's breakfast - one machine on auto assign, the other on
manual. I have now put both on manual, using 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2,
with the automatic subnet. By the way, should the third number be 1 or 0,
or does it matter?

I am not using a router, just a Cat 5 crossover cable, but I have enabled
ICS, because the connection did not work without it. Ipconfig now shows
DHCP not enabled on both machines. I'll give it a whirl with the new
settings and report back.

Thanks for your interest.

David
 
David:

0, 1, or 2. See http://www.michna.com/kb/IpAddressesPrivate.htm --
"If you need fixed IP addresses and the choice doesn't matter, use Class C
addresses from only one of the following three ranges. These are most common in
private networks."
192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.254
192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.254
192.168.2.1 - 192.168.2.254

ICS provides a DHCP server, so things should work with both on auto (or both on
manual). I don't know enough about networking to comment with respect to mixing
auto and manual, except to note that you have to ensure that any
manually-assigned IP doesn't end up duplicating an automatically-assigned one.
 
Hi Lem
I started again, and made both auto addresses, set up the networks on both,
and it all worked as it should, including connecting very quickly. I will
now move around very quietly, so as not to disturb it, and maybe it will
stick.
Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
David
 
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