After adding server to domain, unable to go online

[Schoolies]

Really strange things happening on my network!

On my Windows 2003 SBS domain, I have been trying to add a Windows 2003 R2 member server but every time I add the server to the domain, my outbound Internet traffic stops working on the R2 server.

Firefox, Chrome, Google - will return page cannot be displayed. Windows Updates ceases to get updates.

However, from command prompt on the R2 server I can ping any external DNS server, resolve names, perform tracerts etc.

This problem only occurs after I have added the server to the domain. If I leave it on a workgroup, I can browse the Internet with no problem. As soon as I add the server to the domain and reboot, no browser will work.

- I have changed the DNS servers to my ISP's DNS addresses, rather than use my Windows SBS 2003's IP address for DNS - no luck
- I have reinstalled Windows 2003 R2 multiple times
- I have tried different static IP addresses
- I have tried different switches, cables and network cards
- There are no proxy settings in Internet Options

I am able to remotely log into the R2 server after it has been added to the domain, it is just outbound web traffic that stops working.

I did notice that on my other server, Exchange 2007 server, that I am also unable to use any web browser. I have the same problem that the R2 server is having. The only server that can actually go online without any issue is the original Windows 2003 SBS.

This has really got me stumped. It has to be a domain policy or something??

 

[Schoolies]

Well, I solved the issue. It was the router.

The problem actually occurred when I would assign the server a static IP address. If I would leave the server with the default configuration, which had DHCP enabled, it would work fine. As soon as I changed it to static IP, $hit would hit the fan. Even if I changed the server back to DHCP, it still would not work properly (Again, I could ping out via command prompt, but no Internet browser would work).

I replaced the Watchguard router with a home office Dlink and bang, everything worked perfectly fine. So apparently there is a configuration problem on the router that I have to investigate but I just wanted to let everyone know the outcome.