MSHOME Continously Drops Configuration

[Bob Jones]

PC with XP Pro SP3 and laptop PC with XP Home SP3 connected with 10 Base 3
Ethernet,25 feet of Cat 6 crossover cable.DSL via USB is on the host PC.

I have had this config working several times with much reading and
experimenting but it continues to drop features.I will loose IP
assignments,ICS,print and file sharing to various degrees and do not know
why.

Can anyone point me to a document that defines a surefire step-by-step
method to configure my network so it stays up and runs?When it runs it works
as advertised,sometimes system restore on both ends will fix it but not
always.

Also does the Firewall on the host protect both PC's?I have turned it off on
both PC's until I can figure this out.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

PC with XP Pro SP3 and laptop PC with XP Home SP3 connected with 10
Base 3 Ethernet,25 feet of Cat 6 crossover cable.DSL via USB is on
the host PC.
I have had this config working several times with much reading and
experimenting but it continues to drop features.I will loose IP
assignments,ICS,print and file sharing to various degrees and do not
know why.

Can anyone point me to a document that defines a surefire step-by-step
method to configure my network so it stays up and runs?When it runs
it works as advertised,sometimes system restore on both ends will fix
it but not always.

Also does the Firewall on the host protect both PC's?I have turned it
off on both PC's until I can figure this out.

Thank you in advance.

If you really want to simplify this and make it work reliably, I suggest you
ditch the crossover cable. Use an Ethernet switch, CAT5 (straight-through)
cables, and get a consumer gateway/router/firewall appliance instead of
using ICS. Netgear, Linksys, D-Link, and others are very easy to find and
are reasonably priced.

[If your DSL modem doesn't have a LAN / Ethernet port see if you can replace
it with one that does; I haven't seen many gateway/router devices that
support USB WAN connections, although they may exist.]

IIRC, you need a firewall client on both computers if you use ICS - and in
fact should have it enabled anyway, even behind a perimeter firewall
appliance. Belt + suspenders = good. Never connect to the Internet without
*something* protecting you, not even for a nanosecond.

Unless you enjoy troubleshooting frequent problems with a small network,
this is the way to go, bar none.

 

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for the suggestion.I'll certainly look into this as it sounds more
reliable.

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

PC with XP Pro SP3 and laptop PC with XP Home SP3 connected with 10
Base 3 Ethernet,25 feet of Cat 6 crossover cable.DSL via USB is on
the host PC.
I have had this config working several times with much reading and
experimenting but it continues to drop features.I will loose IP
assignments,ICS,print and file sharing to various degrees and do not
know why.

Can anyone point me to a document that defines a surefire step-by-step
method to configure my network so it stays up and runs?When it runs
it works as advertised,sometimes system restore on both ends will fix
it but not always.

Also does the Firewall on the host protect both PC's?I have turned it
off on both PC's until I can figure this out.

Thank you in advance.

If you really want to simplify this and make it work reliably, I suggest
you ditch the crossover cable. Use an Ethernet switch, CAT5
(straight-through) cables, and get a consumer gateway/router/firewall
appliance instead of using ICS. Netgear, Linksys, D-Link, and others are
very easy to find and are reasonably priced.

[If your DSL modem doesn't have a LAN / Ethernet port see if you can
replace it with one that does; I haven't seen many gateway/router devices
that support USB WAN connections, although they may exist.]

IIRC, you need a firewall client on both computers if you use ICS - and in
fact should have it enabled anyway, even behind a perimeter firewall
appliance. Belt + suspenders = good. Never connect to the Internet without
*something* protecting you, not even for a nanosecond.

Unless you enjoy troubleshooting frequent problems with a small network,
this is the way to go, bar none.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Thanks for the suggestion.I'll certainly look into this as it sounds
more reliable.

Yep, I think it would be. Post back if you need more help.

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

PC with XP Pro SP3 and laptop PC with XP Home SP3 connected with 10
Base 3 Ethernet,25 feet of Cat 6 crossover cable.DSL via USB is on
the host PC.
I have had this config working several times with much reading and
experimenting but it continues to drop features.I will loose IP
assignments,ICS,print and file sharing to various degrees and do not
know why.

Can anyone point me to a document that defines a surefire
step-by-step method to configure my network so it stays up and
runs?When it runs it works as advertised,sometimes system restore
on both ends will fix it but not always.

Also does the Firewall on the host protect both PC's?I have turned
it off on both PC's until I can figure this out.

Thank you in advance.

If you really want to simplify this and make it work reliably, I
suggest you ditch the crossover cable. Use an Ethernet switch, CAT5
(straight-through) cables, and get a consumer gateway/router/firewall
appliance instead of using ICS. Netgear, Linksys, D-Link, and others
are very easy to find and are reasonably priced.

[If your DSL modem doesn't have a LAN / Ethernet port see if you can
replace it with one that does; I haven't seen many gateway/router
devices that support USB WAN connections, although they may exist.]

IIRC, you need a firewall client on both computers if you use ICS -
and in fact should have it enabled anyway, even behind a perimeter
firewall appliance. Belt + suspenders = good. Never connect to the
Internet without *something* protecting you, not even for a
nanosecond. Unless you enjoy troubleshooting frequent problems with a
small
network, this is the way to go, bar none.