Hi Michael,

I am going to go mostly from memory on this, and it's one I've tried to
forget, so I might not be too clear on the details.  I set up two systems on
a wireless network with a D-Link access point and a D-Link wireless card in
the second machine.  Originally the systems were Win98 and I used a proxy to
get the second one on the internet.  Then, over a weekend, my client went
out and bought XP and installed it on both systems.  Of course, I got a call
very soon after asking if I could come over and get their network running
again.

When I tried to set up the client machine and tell it I was using home
networking to share an internet connection, it created something called a
"network bridge" (at least, that's what I remember it being called), and the
network card would be connected for about 3 seconds, then rescan the network
again, effectively disconnecting itself for 3 seconds.  It would see-saw
back and forth like this incessantly.  When I finally removed the whole
network bridge thing and assigned a static IP address to the network card,
it worked fine.  I then spent the next three hours looking for the setting
on the server machine (the one with the cable modem) to tell it to NAT for
the second machine.

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to email me off-line if you want to get
more details.

Kyle Elmblade
[log in to unmask]

From: "Michael A. Wosnick" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 9:32 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Strange Home Networking Problem


> Hi all,
>
> I have a desktop computer running (dual boot) either Win2K or WinXP. My
> daughter has a computer running Win2k. They are networked together using
> LinkSys Wireless USB adaptors running in ad hoc mode (i.e. I have no
Access
> Point, just the two adapters). I have both TCP/IP and NetBEUI running on
> both and we routinely share both files and my printer. In addition, and
most
> importantly for her, I use Internet Connection Sharing on my PC to allow
> sharing of a cable modem attached to my computer.
>
> Here is the strange part. When my PC is booted into Win2k, everything
works
> just fine. File and printer sharing is good, and she has full access to
the
> cable modem exactly as advertised. I'm sure that without an Access Point
the
> signal in the wireless connection may not be fabulous, but the rooms are
not
> that far apart, and she has no trouble gaining or maintaining a connection
> to the internet.
>
> However, when I boot my PC into WinXP instead (my preference of course),
the
> results are not so good. File and printer sharing is still OK (NetBEUI is
> active) but the modem sharing now becomes very problematic. Connection can
> be gained OK, but it's not stable. Periodically, she gets disconnected,
even
> if for a second or two, but then to regain her connection she often has to
> reboot her computer so that she can get an IP address from mine (DHCP
mode).
> This of course is very frustrating to her since she cannot use the
internet
> stably, and is equally frustrating for me since I have paid lots of $$$
for
> XP and want to use it!! Right now, to keep her happy, I am using Win2k and
> my expensive XP sits unused :(
>
> I would have assumed that networking in XP was more robust even than in
> Win2k, but for us, just the opposite is true. Why can we not maintain a
> constant, stable wireless connection when I am in WinXP, when I have zero
> problems doing exactly that when I am in Win2k?
>
> Can anyone help?
>
> With thanks.
>
> Michael

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