wireless home network and ICS

[jfdabiri]

Hi,
i have a laptop and a desktop that used to be network wired with a crossover cable. file & printer sharing and internet connection sharing worked fine. i recently switched to a wireless adapter on both. i have them both working as far as file & printer sharing. but i can't seem to get the ics working. i have tried everything with no success. the desktop has a dialup that i like to share with the laptop. i checked the box "allow other network users to connect through this computers's internet connection" but still no success. the ip address on the laptop is 192.168.0.63 with default gateway 192.168.0.1
the ip address on the desktop is 192.168.0.1
is there anything that i'm missing here? i have done what was described here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_02april08.mspx

but still no success. any suggestions, experiences?

 

[ASG0856]

Are you running a firewall on the desktop (especially norton)? If so have you created a rule that allows communication to and from other computers (with the Ip address if its static or a ip range if dynamic), and moved it to the top of the list (makes it the primary rule).

 

[jfdabiri]

no firewalls other than the windows. even when i disable this firewall, file & printer sharing works, but the laptop can not get access to internet.

 

[ASG0856]

Daft Questions time
When you set up your home wireless network for the laptop, you chose this 'computer connects to the internet through a gateway'

You ran both home network setup and wireless network setup.

You are using Windows zero configuration not the wireless card config.

 

[jfdabiri]

thanks for prompt reply. on the laptop i have "this computer connects to internet through another computer".
i'm not clear on if i should run
"both home network setup and wireless network setup"
i just ran wireless network setup.
the pc card on the laptop is a lynksys card which has its own software and it starts when windows starts. it has an option "let windows zero configuration take over" or something. when i choose this option, the wireless connection is disrupted, and i have to start all over again using wzc method, and it works ok too.
but its own software sometimes looks for access points and i have to tell it that it is a ad-hoc (computer-to-computer) network. then it finds the network.
do i have to run wireless network setup and home network setup both?
thanks

 

[jfdabiri]

another thing that a coleague has suggested is to use a router this way:
enable ics on the desk top and connect its ethernet port to the WAN port on the router (In this scenario, the computer that runs Internet Connection Sharing looks just like a cable or DSL modem to the router. So just connect the computer with the modem to the router's WAN jack, and connect the other computers to the router normally.)
my question is that would this work? since the input to the router is coming from a slow pc rather than a dsl or cable modem.

 

[ASG0856]

run the home network and/b] the wireless network wizards.

let windows zero config take over. It will disconnect from the network, then re-connect. This is normal behaviour.

select 'any network access point'. It will then take what is available

My laptop used to have a belkin wireless adapter, and this is what I did.

 

[jfdabiri]

thanks acg for your postings.
i finally got it to work. as i said, the wireless zero config worked ok. file and printer sharing was already working. the only problem was ICS. i ran home/office network setup on the host.
the host (desktop) was doing what it was supposed to do. ("let other users in the network use this connection"), but the client (laptop) couldn't find this connection to internet. even though it could ping the host and know what the gateway was, etc.
in the laptop, i did what you said. ran wireless network setup, and home/office network setup. and on connect to internet, i choose manual, and "this computer connects to a broadband or high speed network that is always on". this was the trick. after that, everything worked like a charm. i even rebooted both systems, and it kept the settings. this was a very good learning experience. thanks so much

 

[jfdabiri]

the wireless network and ICS is working ok, but not stable. if one pc is turned off and back on, all settings are lost. if both are turned off and back on, both lose settings. i think i will just forego the $50.00 and buy a wireless router. my question is this: can i use the desktop and connect it via lan cable to the WAN port of the router (it will look like dsl or cable to the router) and let the router handle lap top(s)? someone suggested that this would work and would be more stable. any ideas if this would work?
thanks.