Network Bridge Problems

[rmco2003]

I've set up my connection - on my pc to share my internet connection over the network bridge, which is bridging my Local Area Connection and my Wireless Network Connection, and on my laptop to recieve my internet connection through the network bridge, with the same settings as the bridge on my PC.

The settings for my bridge on the PC are to use the IP address 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0

The settings for my bridge on the Laptop are to obtain the IP address automatically, along with the DNS server address.

I managed to get the LAN and Wireless connected at the same time and then I bridged the connections, after restarts they still connect fine so no problems there, and the Internet Gateway appears all the time.

My internet connection is set to share through the Network Bridge too.

The problem is that as soon as I take out the lan cable from my laptop, the Internet Gateway dissapears, and when I reconnect it, it appears again. I want to share my internet connection over wireless, and this is the furthest I've got with even accessing my connection through the laptop, but I'd prefer if it was over wireless, not lan.

Can anyone help?

[Greenstead]

I'm a bit confused over what you are bridging. The bridge is on the desktop. The laptop should not have any bridge made - it will connect to the desktop wireless connector. The wireless connectors should be in ad-hoc mode.

[rmco2003]

Ok, now the wireless connects fine, but it's still not sharing the internet over wireless... Any ideas?

[Greenstead]

I guess I'm wondering why you need a bridge to share your internet connection - I get the impression your internet is connected directly to the Host PC. If so you just need Windows ICS on the Host, not a bridge. A bridge is not the best solution if a simpler one can be used.

If the internet for the 'Host PC' is coming from a router or switch then you're back to the bridge solution. In this case your IPs should come from the router and all your connections should be in automatic IP mode.

[rmco2003]

Ok I'll explain what I've done from the top. I've got a Wireless PCI card in my computer, and Internal Wifi in my laptop. I first tried to share my internet connection over wireless on ICS, that didn't work no matter how many different settings I used. Then I read about making a bridge on both connections, this got it sharing over Lan but not Wifi, so what can I do now, Wireless just refuses to share my internet no matter how hard I try.

[Greenstead]

I would suggest you go back to ICS and get that to work.

Disable the unwanted ethernet connections to keep it simple. Don't set any static IPs. Ensure any bridges are deleted.

First, setup and check the Host PC.
- Set the wireless connection to ad-hoc mode and automatic IP. No encryption.
- Enable ICS on the internet connection.
- A reboot would help at this point.
- Check the Host PC has internet access.
- Check the wireless connection has been given 192.168.0.1

Second, setup and check the Client PC.
- Set the wireless connection to ad-hoc mode and automatic IP.
- Check the wireless connection is given an IP 192.168.0.* (*=anything)

That should do it.
If not, go to command prompt on both PCs and paste here the output from a Ipconfig /all > file.txt

[rmco2003]

Well I've followed everything in the guide now and it's connecting fine, here's the ipconfig from the Laptop and the Computer:

Laptop

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : your-acef0d5685
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : INPROCOMM IPN2220 Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-A4-24-72-D0
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.141
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Computer

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin 802.11g Wireless Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-50-14-E0-3B
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

PPP adapter Speedtouch Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 81.179.123.166
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 81.179.123.166
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 62.241.163.200
158.43.240.4

Is there any way to make it work with encryption though? I don't fancy the idea of someone connecting to my internet when my laptop isn't connected.

[rmco2003]

My mistake, after my laptop had shut down for the night it stopped connecting to my pc, the above data should help you, I don't believe it could have changed from a simple shutdown.

[JackMDS]

To be honest it is a little hard to follow what exactly your are doing.

So get rid of all the Bridging and ICS, and restart with Bridging while ICS is Off.

Bridging is done through two NICs (wired or wireless) in order to create one cohesive Network that includes all the computer on one subnet, the Bridging process would provide the IP assignment.

Once you set the bridging, you have to set the file sharing so you can check that you really have Bridged Network that works across the board between all Networked computers.

It this point (if the Bridging works OK) you need Routing; otherwise you cannot Share the Internet.

ICS would provide the Routing on top of the Bridge enable it and start the installation using the NIC (or dialup modem) that is actually connected to the Internet.

:cool:

P.S. All of the above might depend on how you get your Internet Signal, if your Connection uses some one else's connection through the Wireless it might not work.

[rmco2003]

All I'm doing is following your instructions, they worked, and now after I restarted my laptop, it won't connect to my pc through wireless anymore. I've tried the bridge, and it still isn't working.

[ouija]

you need to force your wireless card into compatibility mode.

read this article to learn more about this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/crawford_02april22.mspx

[Greenstead]

I doubt that replying to someone who posted over two years will help.
:/