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 The NOSPIN Group provides a monthly newsletter with great tips, information and ideas: NOSPIN-L, The NOSPIN Magazine Visit our web site to signup: http://freepctech.com