Setting Up a LAN (again)

[W. Watson]

Recently, we adquired DSL, and I need to reconfigure my LAN in the house and
garage. Here's what I'm trying to work with at the moment:

1. WXP Pro PC, in the den. Call it Home
2. W2K PC, in the garage. Call it Garage
3. WXP Media PC laptop, goes wherever I want to put it. Call it Rover.

Rover and Home talk to one another when I have a simple 5' ethernet cable
between them.

Rover and Home talk to one another when I'm connected to a 100' ethernet
cable between the garage and the den.

Garage doesn't want to talk with anyone, seemingly.

I've got all of them on DHCP. Garage is a little odd in that respect though.
I think the TCP/IP properties show a choice between fixed IP and varaible
(self-determining?) (DNS?) configuration. I have the property set for
self-determining.

After playing around with a 5' ethernet cable between Garage and Rover, I
finally got to the point where I could log onto Garage from Rover. However,
Rover doesn't know Garage exits. In other words, it cannot see Rover through
My Network Places. It also cannot see Home. All of these computers are on a
workgroup called GALAXY.

What do I need to do to fix Garage?

 

[pcfascist42]

We need more information about how you are connecting the computers to
each other. Describe if you are testing the connection between Rover
and Home with a direct cable, or if you have a hub/router between them,
and the same for the other tests that you have tried.

I would then try setting Rover to a static IP (eg. 192.168.0.2)
Then set Garage to the static IP of 192.168.0.3)
at the dos prompt the try to ping the computer your not sitting on.
so at rover you would type:

ping 192.168.0.3


This will let you know if the computers can talk two way on your
network.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[W. Watson]

All the connections I've described in the above are pure ethernet cables. No
routers, no switches, no hus -- no nuttin', just cables.

I'll try the fixed addresses. However, note from my earlier comments that I
can reach Garage from Rover. Neither computer sees the other from "My
Network Places". Later ... after I try the fixed addresses.

 

[W. Watson]

Well, that didn't take long to run into a problem. On Rover, I tried setting
the address to 192.168.0.1. To a point that was OK. I did notice that I only
had once choice for DNS, "Use the following DNS server address". Below that
were two places to add an IP address and a mask. I had no idea what to
enter, so clicked OK. That gave me a message that said, in part, "IP address
of 192.168.0.1" have give is already assigned to another "3 ComInterlink XL
10/100 PCI ... blah ... Complete PC Mgnt NIC (3C905C-TX) is hidden from the
network ... blah"

What's that about?

 

[pcfascist42]

You can only use an IP on one computer on a network. Just change the
last number and try again. You shouldn't need DNS unless you want to
use each computer on the internet. If you are using the internet share
feature I'd suggest going to ebay and looking for a cheap router you'd
prolly have better luck.

 

[W. Watson]

Sure. I'll change it, but who is in conflict on this two computer network?
It seems like some artifiact of the past. I'm sure I've had one of three
computers I typically have used in the past (not including Rover) with that
address, which I'm longer using. In fact, it was probably Garage, the
computer that was objecting. Odd.

No thanks on the share feature you mention.

 

[W. Watson]

OK, I changed Garage to 198.162.0.4 and Rober to 198.162.0.5. I could not
ping one from the other.

 

[Ryan Hanisco]

Hello,

In your posting you talk about directly connecting computers using a
cable. When doing this you need to use a crossover cable. A normal Cat
5 (or whatever) cable is not made for this and usually will not work --
though some newer computers can "autocross" and will try to handle it.
This can be buggy and is never a recommended solution. With the
prices on network equipment these days, you should head out to your
nearest big box retailer and snag a neat router/ switch combo device.
This will meet your needs. Besides, it's cheaper than all the time
you've spent trying to get this to work.

Ryan Hanisco

 

[W. Watson]

In all cases, a crossover cable was present. The 100' cable has a crossover
at the end near Garage. The 5' cable is a crossover cable. It worked well
simply connecting between Rover and House. In all likelihood, the problem is
in Rover, and not the cables.

 

[W. Watson]

I tried uninstalling the TCP/IP on Garage, which I believe is the trouble
maker, and W2K wouldn't allow it. I tried another short ethernet cable that
I use for a camera application, and got nowhere. Tomorrow I'm going to hire
a local independent network guru and let him worry about this. This has got
to be something simple. Networks like this shouldn't be that hard to configure.

I guess there is one other possibility to use here. My W2K book, MS Win 2K
Professional, showed quite a few tools for debugging networks, including one
called net gear, which is on the secondar pack for W2K. If that fails, I'll
head for the guru. Hmmm, I just realized I have another computer that I
could replace Garage with that I just brought up on W2K. Well, that's
probably worth a shot. Garage1, the son of Garage!

 

[W. Watson]

Well, that was money well spent. The guy took one look at the Properties
screen for showing the TCP/IP address and in what seemed like less than 30
seconds the suspect W2K machine was connected into my LAN. We spent the rest
of the time hooking up the other computers and a ethernet camera. My LAN and
connections into DSL are all working well now.