Problems setting up a two-PC home network - Please help!

[Serban Andrei Dumitrescu]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to set up a home network consisting of two PCs, in order to
share the one dial-up connection I have on one of them. I've tried
several different configurations but it still won't work - please help me
out with this.

Here's the setup: one PC running Win2000 (the dial-up connection is setup
on this one) and another (much older) PC running Win95. (No point further
upgrading that one anyway.)
I've bought 30 m (some 90 ft. I believe) of crossover cable and connected
the two PCs.
I've installed (if it wasn't already) NetBEUI and TCP/IP on both PCs, set
their IPs to 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2, respectively (subnet mask:
255.255.255.0), set the Win2000 machine (192.168.0.1) as the default
gateway, added (if not already there) "Client for MS Networks" and "File &
Printer Sharing", set up a common workgroup, added on the Win2000 PC
another user named exactly as the default user on the Win95 machine (and
with the same - blank - password) because some guys on the 'net said it
would be a good idea. Also I've created an entry for each PC in both the
hosts file and the lmhosts file on both computers (disabling WINS and
specifying to use LMHOSTS instead). All to no avail; NETBIOS names aren't
translated to IP adresses, and pinging another PC by its IP number won't
work either.
Needless to say, there isn't any "personal firewall" running that could
block requests.
Now here are some more specific questions:

- Do I need to have NETBEUI installed at all? Not necessarily, according
to my previous experience with Win95/WinNT networks, however those were
large corporate networks with dedicated DNS servers, WINS servers,
gateways etc. With my 2-PC-network I tried it both with and without
NETBEUI (that is, with only TCP/IP as the default protocol), with no
success either way.

- Enable NETBios over TCP/IP or not? I've actually tried both already in
different configurations; no luck.

- Enable or disable DNS? Since I've no DNS server software running on
neither PC, it seemed obvious to me to disable it; I also tried a
configuration with DNS enabled, but no DNS server specified, and still
another one when I specified the Win2000 machine as DNS server. None
worked.

- I hear contradictory stuff about "Master browsing". Indeed, on the Win95
system there are to options (variables) that can be set up under "File and
Printer Sharing": the first one (the upper one) is called something like
"LM-Service" (default: "No") and another one below it called something
like "Browsing" (default: Auto). I can't tell the exact English names
because I'm actually running the German version of Windows. Should I
change any of these two values?

- Finally, anything obvious I might have overlooked? Any way to test the
cable itself?

Thanks a bunch - any suggestions would be highly appreciated!

TIA,

Andrei

 

[philo]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to set up a home network consisting of two PCs, in order to
share the one dial-up connection I have on one of them. I've tried several
different configurations but it still won't work - please help me out with
this.

Here's the setup: one PC running Win2000 (the dial-up connection is setup
on this one) and another (much older) PC running Win95. (No point further
upgrading that one anyway.)

<snip>

win95 does not have internet sharing connection

but you can get a small app to do so

if you look for vsocks on google...last time i checked...it was freeware

 

[Madhur Ahuja]

Hi folks,
[snip]
I've installed (if it wasn't already) NetBEUI and TCP/IP on both PCs,
set their IPs to 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2, respectively (subnet
mask: 255.255.255.0), set the Win2000 machine (192.168.0.1) as the
default gateway, added (if not already there) "Client for MS
Networks" and "File & Printer Sharing", set up a common workgroup,
added on the Win2000 PC another user named exactly as the default
user on the Win95 machine (and with the same - blank - password)
because some guys on the 'net said it would be a good idea.

Yes, you require the common username and password for resource sharing.

Also I've
created an entry for each PC in both the hosts file and the lmhosts
file on both computers (disabling WINS and specifying to use LMHOSTS
instead). All to no avail; NETBIOS names aren't translated to IP
adresses, and pinging another PC by its IP number won't work either.
Needless to say, there isn't any "personal firewall" running that
could block requests.

If you cannot ping the other machine by IP number, then dont expect anything
to
occur through netbios. ping determines the basic network connectivity. To
resolve this
make sure that LAN connection is enabled in Win2k, and the lights on the
ethernet card
are on.

Also paste here the contents of *ipconfig /all* of both computers.

Now here are some more specific questions:

- Do I need to have NETBEUI installed at all? Not necessarily,
according to my previous experience with Win95/WinNT networks,
however those were large corporate networks with dedicated DNS
servers, WINS servers, gateways etc. With my 2-PC-network I tried it
both with and without NETBEUI (that is, with only TCP/IP as the
default protocol), with no success either way.

Dont know about this one.

- Enable NETBios over TCP/IP or not? I've actually tried both already
in different configurations; no luck.

If you need to see shares with \\computer , you need to enable netbios.

- Enable or disable DNS? Since I've no DNS server software running on
neither PC, it seemed obvious to me to disable it; I also tried a
configuration with DNS enabled, but no DNS server specified, and still
another one when I specified the Win2000 machine as DNS server. None
worked.

It depends on how you to choose the share the Internet. If you are using
built in Internet Connection sharing(ICS) then you have to set both DNS and
gateway to 192.168.0.1

- I hear contradictory stuff about "Master browsing". Indeed, on the
Win95 system there are to options (variables) that can be set up
under "File and Printer Sharing": the first one (the upper one) is
called something like "LM-Service" (default: "No") and another one
below it called something like "Browsing" (default: Auto). I can't
tell the exact English names because I'm actually running the German
version of Windows. Should I change any of these two values?

No, keep them as it is.

- Finally, anything obvious I might have overlooked? Any way to test
the cable itself?

Yes, if you cannot ping by IP, this could be an issue. Try replacing the
cable.

 

[Arkady Frenkel]

Maybe www.wown.com will be helpfull for you
Arkady

 

[Serban Andrei Dumitrescu]

Hi all, hello Madhur,

thank you for your input. I configured everything as you said; here's the
output of ipconfig /all on the two PCs:


1 - on the Win2000 machine:
---------------------------

Windows 2000-IP-Konfiguration

Hostname. . . . . . . . . . . . . : svejk
Primäres DNS-Suffix . . . . . . . :
Knotentyp . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcastadapter
IP-Routing aktiviert. . . . . . . : Ja
WINS-Proxy aktiviert. . . . . . . : Nein

Ethernetadapter "LAN-Verbindung":

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . . . . : Sitecom PCI Fast 10/100
Ethernet Adapter LN-020
Physikalische Adresse . . . . . . : 00-50-BF-A6-37-56
DHCP-aktiviert. . . . . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnetzmaske. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Standardgateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS-Server. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

PPP-Adapter "ZEDAT/Mediaways/Andrei":

Verbindungsspezifisches DNS-Suffix:
Beschreibung. . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physikalische Adresse . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP-aktiviert. . . . . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
Subnetzmaske. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Standardgateway . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
DNS-Server. . . . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
[I XXX-ed out the actual IPs of my dialup connection; they're irrelevant,
besides, you never know...]
NetBIOS über TCP/IP . . . . . . . : Deaktiviert

2 - on the Win95 machine:
-------------------------

Windows 98 IP-Konfiguration
[It says "Windows 98" although it's Win95 because the original Win95
installation didn't include the ipconfig.exe program; it was installed
later with some update package.]
Hostname . . . . . . . . . : compaq
DNS-Server . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Knotentyp . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS-Bereichs-ID . . . . :
IP-Routing aktiviert. . . . : Nein
WINS-Proxy aktiviert. . . . : Nein
NetBIOS-Auflösung mit DNS . : Ja

0 Ethernet Adapter :

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . : Novell 2000 Adapter.
Physische Adresse . . . . . : 08-00-17-08-DF-A3
DHCP aktiviert. . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Standard-Gateway . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Erster WINS-Server . . . . :
Zweiter WINS-Server . . . :
Gültig seit. . . . . . . :
Gültig bis . . . . . . . :

1 Ethernet Adapter :

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . : PPP Adapter.
Physische Adresse . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-00-00
DHCP aktiviert. . . . . . . : Ja
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Standard-Gateway . . . . . . :
DHCP-Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Erster WINS-Server . . . . :
Zweiter WINS-Server . . . :
Gültig seit. . . . . . . :
Gültig bis . . . . . . . :


However, pinging between the two computers still doesn't work.

I thought maybe the cable's no good, but some type of electrical impulses
must be getting through since Win2000 senses when there's a cable
connecting the two PCs; unplug either one and Win2000 will notify you
through a small tray symbol.

Of course, that doesn't rule out that the cable doesn't work _properly_...
Also I know there's a cable length limit between two nodes of an Ethernet
network; however I believe my 30 m cable doesn't exceed it.

Anything left for me to try?

Thanks in advance,

Andrei

Hi folks,
[snip]
I've installed (if it wasn't already) NetBEUI and TCP/IP on both PCs,
set their IPs to 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2, respectively (subnet
mask: 255.255.255.0), set the Win2000 machine (192.168.0.1) as the
default gateway, added (if not already there) "Client for MS
Networks" and "File & Printer Sharing", set up a common workgroup,
added on the Win2000 PC another user named exactly as the default
user on the Win95 machine (and with the same - blank - password)
because some guys on the 'net said it would be a good idea.

Yes, you require the common username and password for resource sharing.

Also I've
created an entry for each PC in both the hosts file and the lmhosts
file on both computers (disabling WINS and specifying to use LMHOSTS
instead). All to no avail; NETBIOS names aren't translated to IP
adresses, and pinging another PC by its IP number won't work either.
Needless to say, there isn't any "personal firewall" running that
could block requests.

If you cannot ping the other machine by IP number, then dont expect anything
to
occur through netbios. ping determines the basic network connectivity. To
resolve this
make sure that LAN connection is enabled in Win2k, and the lights on the
ethernet card
are on.

Also paste here the contents of *ipconfig /all* of both computers.

Now here are some more specific questions:

- Do I need to have NETBEUI installed at all? Not necessarily,
according to my previous experience with Win95/WinNT networks,
however those were large corporate networks with dedicated DNS
servers, WINS servers, gateways etc. With my 2-PC-network I tried it
both with and without NETBEUI (that is, with only TCP/IP as the
default protocol), with no success either way.

Dont know about this one.

- Enable NETBios over TCP/IP or not? I've actually tried both already
in different configurations; no luck.

If you need to see shares with \\computer , you need to enable netbios.

- Enable or disable DNS? Since I've no DNS server software running on
neither PC, it seemed obvious to me to disable it; I also tried a
configuration with DNS enabled, but no DNS server specified, and still
another one when I specified the Win2000 machine as DNS server. None
worked.

It depends on how you to choose the share the Internet. If you are using
built in Internet Connection sharing(ICS) then you have to set both DNS and
gateway to 192.168.0.1

- I hear contradictory stuff about "Master browsing". Indeed, on the
Win95 system there are to options (variables) that can be set up
under "File and Printer Sharing": the first one (the upper one) is
called something like "LM-Service" (default: "No") and another one
below it called something like "Browsing" (default: Auto). I can't
tell the exact English names because I'm actually running the German
version of Windows. Should I change any of these two values?

No, keep them as it is.

- Finally, anything obvious I might have overlooked? Any way to test
the cable itself?

Yes, if you cannot ping by IP, this could be an issue. Try replacing the
cable.

Thanks a bunch - any suggestions would be highly appreciated!

TIA,

Andrei

--
Madhur Ahuja [madhur<underscore>ahuja<at>yahoo<dot>com]

Homepage
http://madhur.netfirms.com

 

[philo]

Anything left for me to try?

yes...see the answer i have already given you

 

[Madhur Ahuja]

Hi all, hello Madhur,

thank you for your input. I configured everything as you said; here's
the output of ipconfig /all on the two PCs:


1 - on the Win2000 machine:
---------------------------

Windows 2000-IP-Konfiguration

Hostname. . . . . . . . . . . . . : svejk
Primäres DNS-Suffix . . . . . . . :
Knotentyp . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcastadapter
IP-Routing aktiviert. . . . . . . : Ja
WINS-Proxy aktiviert. . . . . . . : Nein

Ethernetadapter "LAN-Verbindung":

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . . . . : Sitecom PCI Fast 10/100
Ethernet Adapter LN-020
Physikalische Adresse . . . . . . : 00-50-BF-A6-37-56
DHCP-aktiviert. . . . . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnetzmaske. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Standardgateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS-Server. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Do not set the gateway and DNS server on this machine. Set this on the
client machine. This machine is directly connected to the Internet, right?.
This machine will get the DNS servers from the DHCP(modem). Set your Win95
PC's default gateway annd DNS servers to 192.168.0.1

PPP-Adapter "ZEDAT/Mediaways/Andrei":

Verbindungsspezifisches DNS-Suffix:
Beschreibung. . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physikalische Adresse . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP-aktiviert. . . . . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
Subnetzmaske. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Standardgateway . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
DNS-Server. . . . . . . . . . . . : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
[I XXX-ed out the actual IPs of my dialup connection; they're
irrelevant, besides, you never know...]
NetBIOS über TCP/IP . . . . . . . : Deaktiviert

I dont know this language, but I think its correct.

2 - on the Win95 machine:
-------------------------

Windows 98 IP-Konfiguration
[It says "Windows 98" although it's Win95 because the original Win95
installation didn't include the ipconfig.exe program; it was installed
later with some update package.]
Hostname . . . . . . . . . : compaq
DNS-Server . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Knotentyp . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS-Bereichs-ID . . . . :
IP-Routing aktiviert. . . . : Nein
WINS-Proxy aktiviert. . . . : Nein
NetBIOS-Auflösung mit DNS . : Ja

0 Ethernet Adapter :

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . : Novell 2000 Adapter.
Physische Adresse . . . . . : 08-00-17-08-DF-A3
DHCP aktiviert. . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Standard-Gateway . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Erster WINS-Server . . . . :
Zweiter WINS-Server . . . :
Gültig seit. . . . . . . :
Gültig bis . . . . . . . :

If this is the LAN connection on which you are sharing the Internet, then
set the DNS and default gateway as 192.168.0.1. Its already done.

1 Ethernet Adapter :

Beschreibung. . . . . . . . : PPP Adapter.
Physische Adresse . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-00-00
DHCP aktiviert. . . . . . . : Ja
IP-Adresse. . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Standard-Gateway . . . . . . :
DHCP-Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Erster WINS-Server . . . . :
Zweiter WINS-Server . . . :
Gültig seit. . . . . . . :
Gültig bis . . . . . . . :


However, pinging between the two computers still doesn't work.

All above the above setup won't work if you cannot ping each other machines.

I thought maybe the cable's no good, but some type of electrical
impulses must be getting through since Win2000 senses when there's a
cable connecting the two PCs; unplug either one and Win2000 will
notify you through a small tray symbol.

Sometimes, connector can be wrongly connected with wires.

Of course, that doesn't rule out that the cable doesn't work
_properly_... Also I know there's a cable length limit between two
nodes of an Ethernet network; however I believe my 30 m cable doesn't
exceed it.

No, its 100 metres

Anything left for me to try?

Make sure that you are not running any firewall. The best you can do is
try replacing the cable. Also remove the DNS server and default gateway from
the Win200 machine.
Paste the contents of *route print* here of both machines and let me see if
anything is wrong.