Network browsing problem when dialed-in

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dan DeStefano
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Dan DeStefano

i have a problem with a 2003 rras server, but either im crazy, or there are
no 2k3 groups.

the problem i have is with a 2k3 rras server that is used primarily for
dialin access. clients can dial-in and authenticate fine, and once
logged-on, all network machines are pingable, both by ip and computer name;
also, once logged-in, remote desktop works fine. the client machines used to
dial-in are xp h/p. the problem is that whenever a user tries to browse the
network or connect to a machine using its unc path, or by browsing network
places; the error that comes up is "no network provider accepted the given
network path".
i would greatly appreciate any help.

Dan DeStefano
 
Dialup clients cannot usually browse the LAN. Browsing depends on the
computer browser service which in turn depends on LAN broadcasts. But LAN
broadcasts do not cross routers or WAN connections.

In 2003 RRAS there is an option to allow LAN broadcasts to cross the
link. You could enable that and see what happens.
 
the clients are wxp h/p. i believe this was in the original post, if i am
not mistaken.

Dan
 
thanks for the response.
i should have mentioned in the original post that the rras server is running
wins, the wins server and node type are in the dhcp scope options and the
rras clients are receiving their leases from dhcp.
however, that doesnt explain why the machines cannot access network shares
when connecting via ip address.
any other ideas?

Dan
 
WINS by itself does not give you browsing - it provides name
resolution. The browser service uses WINS if it is available ( and it is
pretty much essential in a routed network), but it is the computer browser
service which you need to look at.
 
yes, i understand that, which is why i made the statement: "however, that
doesnt explain why the machines cannot access network shares when connecting
via ip address" in a previous post.

i have another piece of info: when trying to run 'nbtstat' while connected
to the server, i receive a message that netbios is not installed. however, i
do have the wins server assigning the scope options 044 (pointed to the wins
server) and 046 (set to h-node; 0x8). the documentation for server 2k3 says
that on multihommed computers the wins/nbt node type is assigned to the
computer, not to specific adapters. the nbt options on the wins properties
tab on both the ethernet and dialup connections on the client machine (xpp)
are set to 'use setting from wins server'. is there another scope option i
need to set to enable nbt or should the above 2 be all thats required?

thanks for the help.

Dan
 
The server probably doesn't get these settings from DHCP. I certainly
don't use DHCP to allocate any settings to servers. Check what is actually
configured for the NIC from Network Connections. And the situation with the
"VPN" interface (ie the internal interface in RRAS which gets an IP when the
first client connects) is that it has Netbt enabled by default. You have to
make a registry change to turn it off.

The situation with RRAS servers and browsing can get tricky. Multihomed
browsers have been a problem since NT days. This is just a new development.

Regarding seeing shares on LAN machines, have you tried using net view
\\machinename to see shares? If this displays OK, try doing net use
\\machinename\filename to share them. This lets you use the extra options
for username/password in the command if you credentials are not valid.
 
i read the kb article that discusses the registry change necessary to make
the rras server not register its ras connections in wins and have made the
appropriate change.
i also read the kb article that discusses the flaw in smb signing and have
applied the patch to the xp remote client; i have also tried turning off smb
signing on the rras server, however, the problem persists.
it makes sense to me that this could be a smb problem because i cannot even
see the lan shares when connecting via ip address, but remote desktop works.
i will try to connect to shares later today - i also want to give the
machines a chance to re-register in wins being that i deleted the wins
database after turning off nbt on the ras connection. i will also try
connecting using a 98 and a 2k machine to see if the problem is limited to
xp and could be attributed the the smb signing issue.

thanks for all the help.

Dan
 
Hello..
Have you tried using Start -> Find Computer?
this should work when using dial-up although you can't browse th
network using network neighbourhood thingy..
I also think that you need netBEUI or additional protocols t
accomplish that added feature. or use lmhosts file to map the ips t
the computer names.
I'm sure that you can access a computer in another network using Fin
or just \\computername or \\computerip in the Run from Start.

Good luc


-
khalidc
 
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