Baffling problem... please help

[marlinman]

Our 'network' consists of two PCs running win7. One PC ('A') is attached to a (router-less) cable modem, the other ('B') makes use of this modem via 'internet connexion sharing'. The problem I'm having is that the 'B' PC is unable to load certain websites that the 'A' PC loads immediately, with e.g. IE8 displaying "Waiting for http://www.website.com/ ..." interminably. This behaviour does not change when the (Windows) firewall on 'A' is disabled. Nor does it change when I replace the 'B' PC with a laptop running Maverick - the same sites are unreachable! The OS on the 'A' PC was only recently installed and no changes to default settings (that I'm aware of) have been made. I really have no idea how to get to the bottom of this, and would appreciate any advice this site's gurus can offer!

 

[airdata]

I'm going to beat everybody else to it by suggesting that you get a router.

That's a strange issue. Maybe you can try using 4.2.2.2 as the dns server and see if the pages load then.

 

[JackMDS]

$9.99 solution (Free ship).

http://3btech.net/smcbafopo10b.html

 

[marlinman]

This problem only manifested _after_ the recent reinstall of win7 on the 'A' machine, so I know a router-less solution exists.

airdata: won't both machines share the same DNS? In any case, to give this a go I'm figuring that I replace the DNS addies the ISP supplied with 4.2.2.2(?).

A bit more detail: 'B' obtains IP and DNS server addresses automatically. 'A's cable modem connexion is configured as per ISP instructions. 'A's connexion to 'B' is configured as follows:

"
Use the following IP address:
IP address: 192.168.137.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: -

Use the following DNS server addresses:
Preferred DNS server: -
Alternate DNS server: -
"

Would playing with IPv6 properties be worthwhile?

 

[VirtualLarry]

$9.99 solution (Free ship).

http://3btech.net/smcbafopo10b.html

I wonder what rock those crawled out from under. I used to have one of those, years ago. It was so slow, the internet speed would be cut in half, if you enabled the firewall. It's good up to a 1 or perhaps 1.5Mbit internet connection, nothing faster.

I suggest one of these:
http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/catalog_type.asp?ProductCode=152633&ai=1550

Refurbished, but I've had great luck with refurb Netgear products. According to the description, these are V2 units, which are DD-WRT compatible (Broadcom hardware). Wireless N 300. That's a really good deal.

 

[Emulex]

disable ipv6 on all vista/win7 technology machines first.

 

[marlinman]

disable ipv6 on all vista/win7 technology machines first.

Doesn't seem to help :-(

 

[marlinman]

No more suggestions huh? I'm sorry, but the proud nerd within refuses to spend $ to solve a problem for which a free solution almost certainly exists. I'm amazed that this appears to be the first this noble community has heard of such a problem.

In the hope of resurrecting this thread, can I ask how a D-Link DGS-1005D switch _alone_ might allow 'A', 'B', and a laptop to simultaneously make use of the cable modem. It's worked before, albeit bizarrely: if memory serves, I simply plugged 'A', 'B', laptop, and cable modem into switch and miraculously, without changing settings on any machine, the thing worked. Now (especially given my poor memory) this seems implausible to me but I am sure that somehow the setup worked (tho' probably with some settings change or other).

While I'm here, a question about network locations in vista/7. Both 'A' and 'B' machines are set to 'public' network location since we lack a hardware firewall and are ignorant and scared. All this really allows us to do is share the modem; we can't 'see' each others machines and certainly can't share files. Are we being too cautious?

 

[JackMDS]

If Win 7 came with 3rd party security suit (NotoMaAfKasperZA), get rid of it. It probably blocks the traffic.

No more suggestions huh? I'm sorry, but the proud nerd within refuses to spend $ to solve a problem for which a free solution almost certainly exists. I'm amazed that this appears to be the first this noble community has heard of such a problem.

Or, I have better thing to do then wasting my time to maintain "lame"topography in order to save $9.99.

 

[marlinman]

@Jack: Thanks for replying - there's no need to be rude. Our topography may be 'lame', but links to sites that fail to serve international customers aren't a lot of help either. We use no 3rd party security software.

 

[Pheran]

No more suggestions huh? I'm sorry, but the proud nerd within refuses to spend $ to solve a problem for which a free solution almost certainly exists. I'm amazed that this appears to be the first this noble community has heard of such a problem.

The reason that none of us has this problem, as Jack already (indirectly) pointed out, is that most of us don't waste our time with things like ICS. The right way to share an Internet connection is with a router, and trying to do it another way just ends up leading to headaches as you have discovered.

While I'm here, a question about network locations in vista/7. Both 'A' and 'B' machines are set to 'public' network location since we lack a hardware firewall and are ignorant and scared. All this really allows us to do is share the modem; we can't 'see' each others machines and certainly can't share files. Are we being too cautious?

No, you are not being too cautious. I would never want my home network to be unfirewalled Internet, that's just asking for trouble.

 

[marlinman]

Thanks Pheran. I was unaware ICS was so frowned upon! I'll try seeking help with my peasant setup elsewhere [while moving 'router' up a few places on my 'to buy' list =) ]

 

[VirtualLarry]

I read somewhere that MS really borked up ICS in Win7, so much so that the attached client PC gets corrupted data. Something about changes in the Win7 networking stack, that were never propegated properly back into ICS or something.

Have you tried with a Windows XP machine as the ICS machine?

 

[marlinman]

Have you tried with a Windows XP machine as the ICS machine?

The 'A' machine used to run XP with no ICS-related trouble. After a RAM upgrade in 6/2010 win7 was installed, and all was well with ICS until these recent problems emerged following the re-installation of win7* a few months ago. Almost certainly irrelevant (and 'A' ain't mine, so no judgment!) is the fact that 'A's single core CPU was swapped for a dual core _after_ the latest OS install.

*to combat what we now know to be the "Games Explorer info collection-related rundll32.exe CPU hogging" problem.

 

[alkemyst]

Make sure Windows Firewall is off and then try again.

 

[dphantom]

Set up a shared Internet connection using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

You can use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to share an Internet connection among two or more computers on a network. First, you'll need one computer, called the host computer, that's connected to the Internet and that has a separate connection to the other computers on your network. You'll enable ICS on the Internet connection. The other computers on your network then connect to the host computer, and from there to the Internet through the host computer's shared Internet connection.

If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from completing these steps.

On the host computer (the computer whose Internet connection you plan to share):

Click to open Network Connections.

Right-click the connection that you want to share, and then click Properties. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Click the Sharing tab, and then select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection check box.

Note
The Sharing tab won't be available if you have only one network connection.

After you've followed the steps above to set up ICS on the host computer, make the following changes on all of the other computers (but not on the host computer).

Click to open Internet Options.

Click the Connections tab, and then click Never dial a connection.

Click LAN Settings.

In the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog box, Under Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings and Use automatic configuration script check boxes.

Under Proxy server, clear the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box, and then click OK.

 

[marlinman]

@dphantom: when copying information from a "Windows Help and Support" page, I often find that hyperlinks (e.g. "Click to open Network Connections.") lose meaning when treated as plain text...