SonicWALL/cable Internet/dynamic IP configuration help needed

[John Blaustein]

Hi...

I have a small home/office network with 4 PCs running XP Home. Until today,
I used DSL and my ISP used static IP addresses. I have a SonicWALL/10
firewall/router connected to the DSL modem, and a switch connected to the
SonicWALL. The PCs are connected to the switch via Cat5 cable. Using the
static IP addresses, it all works fine.

Today, I had Comcast high speed Internet service installed. The tech
attached one of my PCs to the new cable modem and it works fine. I have
been struggling all day trying to configure the SonicWALL to connect all the
PCs to the Internet using dynamic IP addresses. I set the SonicWALL to use
NAT with DHCP Client. I can see that the SonicWALL is getting IP and DNS
addresses from Comcast -- these numbers show up on the SonicWALL setup
screen. I have enabled DHCP in the SonicWALL, and I've set the PCs TCP/IP
setting to automatically obtain IP addresses. After making all the changes,
I restart the SonicWALL and the cable modem. I am not able to connect to
the Internet.

I have talked to Comcast several times and they aren't familiar enough with
the SonicWALL to help. My SonicWALL is old and SonicWALL won't talk to me
because my service agreement expired a long time ago. They want $75 for a
one-time tech support call.

I have the feeling that I have one small incorrect setting in the SonicWALL
interface that's keeping this from working. It seems the SonicWALL setup is
a bit more complicated than other routers because the Comcast tech on the
phone said a Linksys, Netgear or D-Link router is pretty much plug and play.
I hate to have buy one of those since I have the SonicWALL.

Can anyone help? I am pulling my hair out.... what's left of it.

Many thanks.

John

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hi...

I have a small home/office network with 4 PCs running XP Home. Until
today, I used DSL and my ISP used static IP addresses. I have a
SonicWALL/10 firewall/router connected to the DSL modem, and a switch
connected to the SonicWALL. The PCs are connected to the switch via
Cat5 cable. Using the static IP addresses, it all works fine.

Today, I had Comcast high speed Internet service installed. The tech
attached one of my PCs to the new cable modem and it works fine.

I
have been struggling all day trying to configure the SonicWALL to
connect all the PCs to the Internet using dynamic IP addresses. I
set the SonicWALL to use NAT with DHCP Client. I can see that the
SonicWALL is getting IP and DNS addresses from Comcast -- these
numbers show up on the SonicWALL setup screen. I have enabled DHCP
in the SonicWALL, and I've set the PCs TCP/IP setting to
automatically obtain IP addresses. After making all the changes, I
restart the SonicWALL and the cable modem. I am not able to connect
to the Internet.

Did you remove whatever*&^%%! the cable tech installed on your computer, if
they used a CD? I never let these guys touch my PCs - just install the modem
& I'll do the rest. You shouldn't have had to change much at all on your
network just to get a new Internet connection hooked up to your Sonicwall -
only the WAN info changes.

I have talked to Comcast several times and they aren't familiar
enough with the SonicWALL to help. My SonicWALL is old and SonicWALL
won't talk to me because my service agreement expired a long time
ago. They want $75 for a one-time tech support call.

Check the following:

Firewall
In the Sonicwall, you get a valid IP address on the public IP network,
right?
Ping the default gateway/router within the Sonicwall page (diagnostic -ping
test)
Ping the DNS server IP in the same place - does that work?
If not, verify that you have the right settings in the Sonicwall network
config and perhaps restart it. If you restart stuff, make sure your cable
modem is allowed to boot up *first* - then boot up the Sonicwall.

LAN
Your Sonicwall is dishing out DHCP addresses to your client PCs, right?
Run ipconfig/ all in a command prompt on the client
Ping the default gateway (LAN IP of Sonicwall) - does that work?
Ping your DNS server IP - does that work?
Ping www.yahoo.com - does that work?

I have the feeling that I have one small incorrect setting in the
SonicWALL interface that's keeping this from working. It seems the
SonicWALL setup is a bit more complicated than other routers because
the Comcast tech on the phone said a Linksys, Netgear or D-Link
router is pretty much plug and play. I hate to have buy one of those
since I have the SonicWALL.

Your Sonicwall should work fine.

 

[John Blaustein]

Lanwench,

Thanks so much for your reply.

As I was once again going through all the SonicWALL setup screens, I came
upon an Installation Wizard!!! This was buried deep within the various
screens -- I never noticed it in the five years I've owned it. (Why not put
that on the home page for folks like me?) Well, I ran the wizard and much
to my amazement, it worked. I'm up and running.

It turns out the SonicWALL needs to have the IP addresses specified. The
Wizard assigned the SonicWALL LAN address to 10.0.0.1 -- that's the address
I use to access the router. Then, it created a range of IP addresses --
10.0.0.2-10.0.0.11. I restarted the SonicWALL, set the PCs to obtain the IP
automatically, and it worked. The SonicWALL/10 will only support ten PCs
(hence the name) and I suspect that's why the IP addresses need to be
specified.

Anyway... thanks again for your quick reply and the list of things to check.
It's all very helpful.

And, yes, I've removed all the ^%#*%Y the Comcast guy installed. In fact, I
had him work on an old, not-often-used PC, so that my main machine remained
untouched. Their "assistant" software didn't seem to do too much, so I
uninstalled it and I don't seem to be worse for wear because of that.

All best to you for Christmas and beyond...

John



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Lanwench,

Thanks so much for your reply.

As I was once again going through all the SonicWALL setup screens, I
came upon an Installation Wizard!!! This was buried deep within the
various screens -- I never noticed it in the five years I've owned
it. (Why not put that on the home page for folks like me?)

When you have an unconfigured Sonicwall, it runs by default the first time
you connect to it on the LAN via the web interface. You don't actually need
it, though - you can do everything it does, manually.

Well, I
ran the wizard and much to my amazement, it worked. I'm up and
running.

It turns out the SonicWALL needs to have the IP addresses specified.
The Wizard assigned the SonicWALL LAN address to 10.0.0.1 -- that's
the address I use to access the router. Then, it created a range of
IP addresses --
10.0.0.2-10.0.0.11. I restarted the SonicWALL, set the PCs to obtain
the IP automatically, and it worked. The SonicWALL/10 will only
support ten PCs (hence the name) and I suspect that's why the IP
addresses need to be specified.

I'm not sure what you mean by "need to have addresses specified" - perhaps
that a new Sonicwall uses 192.168.168.0/24 by default on the LAN interface -
if you'd already changed your internal IP addressing scheme to statics on
10.0.0.0, I suppose that could explain it. DHCP for clients is great; I'd
stick with it.

Anyway... thanks again for your quick reply and the list of things to
check. It's all very helpful.

Glad you're up and running! Might want to see about getting your
maintenance/warranty support upgraded on this device & stick with it - you
get support & firmware upgrades. Cheaper than buying a new unit if this one
bites the dust.

And, yes, I've removed all the ^%#*%Y the Comcast guy installed. In
fact, I had him work on an old, not-often-used PC, so that my main
machine remained untouched. Their "assistant" software didn't seem
to do too much, so I uninstalled it and I don't seem to be worse for
wear because of that.

All best to you for Christmas and beyond...

You too!

John



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Did you remove whatever*&^%%! the cable tech installed on your
computer, if
they used a CD? I never let these guys touch my PCs - just install
the modem
& I'll do the rest. You shouldn't have had to change much at all on
your network just to get a new Internet connection hooked up to your
Sonicwall -
only the WAN info changes.

Check the following:

Firewall
In the Sonicwall, you get a valid IP address on the public IP
network, right?
Ping the default gateway/router within the Sonicwall page
(diagnostic -ping
test)
Ping the DNS server IP in the same place - does that work?
If not, verify that you have the right settings in the Sonicwall
network config and perhaps restart it. If you restart stuff, make
sure your cable modem is allowed to boot up *first* - then boot up
the Sonicwall.

LAN
Your Sonicwall is dishing out DHCP addresses to your client PCs,
right? Run ipconfig/ all in a command prompt on the client
Ping the default gateway (LAN IP of Sonicwall) - does that work?
Ping your DNS server IP - does that work?
Ping www.yahoo.com - does that work?


Your Sonicwall should work fine.

 

[John Blaustein]

I've been using the SonicWALL for five years with a DSL modem and static IP
addresses. I'm new to dynamic IPs. Perhaps the Wizard ran when I first set
up the DSL five years ago, but I'd forgotten it was there.

When I said the SonicWALL "needs to have the IP address range specified,"
what I really should have said is that it didn't work until I specified the
range of IP addresses. I know one doesn't need the Wizard, but I don't know
enough about this stuff to have done it correctly until I discovered the
Wizard.

SonicWALL charges an arm and a leg for extended warranties, etc. I'm sure
it's worth it, but this box is so old, I'm not even sure they'd offer it to
me. The SonicWALL/10 is nowhere to be found on their Web site.

Anyway, on to Christmas... and thanks again for your posts.

John



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Lanwench,

Thanks so much for your reply.

As I was once again going through all the SonicWALL setup screens, I
came upon an Installation Wizard!!! This was buried deep within the
various screens -- I never noticed it in the five years I've owned
it. (Why not put that on the home page for folks like me?)

When you have an unconfigured Sonicwall, it runs by default the first time
you connect to it on the LAN via the web interface. You don't actually
need
it, though - you can do everything it does, manually.

Well, I
ran the wizard and much to my amazement, it worked. I'm up and
running.

It turns out the SonicWALL needs to have the IP addresses specified.
The Wizard assigned the SonicWALL LAN address to 10.0.0.1 -- that's
the address I use to access the router. Then, it created a range of
IP addresses --
10.0.0.2-10.0.0.11. I restarted the SonicWALL, set the PCs to obtain
the IP automatically, and it worked. The SonicWALL/10 will only
support ten PCs (hence the name) and I suspect that's why the IP
addresses need to be specified.

I'm not sure what you mean by "need to have addresses specified" - perhaps
that a new Sonicwall uses 192.168.168.0/24 by default on the LAN
interface -
if you'd already changed your internal IP addressing scheme to statics on
10.0.0.0, I suppose that could explain it. DHCP for clients is great; I'd
stick with it.

Anyway... thanks again for your quick reply and the list of things to
check. It's all very helpful.

Glad you're up and running! Might want to see about getting your
maintenance/warranty support upgraded on this device & stick with it - you
get support & firmware upgrades. Cheaper than buying a new unit if this
one
bites the dust.

And, yes, I've removed all the ^%#*%Y the Comcast guy installed. In
fact, I had him work on an old, not-often-used PC, so that my main
machine remained untouched. Their "assistant" software didn't seem
to do too much, so I uninstalled it and I don't seem to be worse for
wear because of that.

All best to you for Christmas and beyond...

You too!

John



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

John Blaustein wrote:
Hi...

I have a small home/office network with 4 PCs running XP Home.
Until today, I used DSL and my ISP used static IP addresses. I
have a SonicWALL/10 firewall/router connected to the DSL modem, and
a switch connected to the SonicWALL. The PCs are connected to the
switch via Cat5 cable. Using the static IP addresses, it all works
fine.

Today, I had Comcast high speed Internet service installed. The
tech attached one of my PCs to the new cable modem and it works
fine.

I
have been struggling all day trying to configure the SonicWALL to
connect all the PCs to the Internet using dynamic IP addresses. I
set the SonicWALL to use NAT with DHCP Client. I can see that the
SonicWALL is getting IP and DNS addresses from Comcast -- these
numbers show up on the SonicWALL setup screen. I have enabled DHCP
in the SonicWALL, and I've set the PCs TCP/IP setting to
automatically obtain IP addresses. After making all the changes, I
restart the SonicWALL and the cable modem. I am not able to connect
to the Internet.

Did you remove whatever*&^%%! the cable tech installed on your
computer, if
they used a CD? I never let these guys touch my PCs - just install
the modem
& I'll do the rest. You shouldn't have had to change much at all on
your network just to get a new Internet connection hooked up to your
Sonicwall -
only the WAN info changes.

I have talked to Comcast several times and they aren't familiar
enough with the SonicWALL to help. My SonicWALL is old and
SonicWALL won't talk to me because my service agreement expired a
long time ago. They want $75 for a one-time tech support call.

Check the following:

Firewall
In the Sonicwall, you get a valid IP address on the public IP
network, right?
Ping the default gateway/router within the Sonicwall page
(diagnostic -ping
test)
Ping the DNS server IP in the same place - does that work?
If not, verify that you have the right settings in the Sonicwall
network config and perhaps restart it. If you restart stuff, make
sure your cable modem is allowed to boot up *first* - then boot up
the Sonicwall.

LAN
Your Sonicwall is dishing out DHCP addresses to your client PCs,
right? Run ipconfig/ all in a command prompt on the client
Ping the default gateway (LAN IP of Sonicwall) - does that work?
Ping your DNS server IP - does that work?
Ping www.yahoo.com - does that work?


I have the feeling that I have one small incorrect setting in the
SonicWALL interface that's keeping this from working. It seems the
SonicWALL setup is a bit more complicated than other routers because
the Comcast tech on the phone said a Linksys, Netgear or D-Link
router is pretty much plug and play. I hate to have buy one of those
since I have the SonicWALL.

Your Sonicwall should work fine.

Can anyone help? I am pulling my hair out.... what's left of it.

Many thanks.

John