Help setting up Internet Sharing

[dudell]

I am trying to set up Internet sharing. My system is a Direcway satellite dish, connected to a laptop server with a USB cable. From there, I go out through a PCMCIA card to an ethernet cable to a NetGear ME 102 wireless access point, and from there to two remote laptops with NetGear PCMCIA wireless cards.

I get a great satellite signal from the dish on my server. And the PCMCIA cards are working. So is the access point. My problem is trying to set up Internet sharing at the server. Whenever I click on it, I get an error message that tells me that the LAN is not connected or not working. But it is working. I've been back and forth between the NetGear and Microsoft help desks. No resolution.

Anyone got any good ideas?

[dudell]

Forgot to add: my server has a Windows 2000 operating system, and the wireless remotes are a Win2000 and a Win98 2nd edition.

[Greenstead]

You get this error when you try to install ICS on the server ?

You have TCP/IP installed on all PCs.
Do you have all wireless cards and the AP set to infrastructure mode?
Ensure in the AP, LAN DHCP service is off and DHCP client is on (if it has these functions).
Ensure all wireless cards are set to get to get an IP address and DNS server automatically.

Hows that?

[dudell]

Yes, TCP/IP installed on all PCs.
All wireless cards set for auto.
No one mentioned setting all cards and AP to infrastructure mode. How do you do that?
Also, not sure how you set LAN DHCP for AP.

Thanks for the input.
Also, they told me only to set ICS for the satellite connection. Not for the server or the remote PCs. True?

[Greenstead]

Yes you set ICS on the internet connection only. ICS runs DHCP server which will give IPs to all the PCs - they should get IP 192.168.0.* mask 255.255.255.0.

Under the wireless card properties General Tab, Configurtion (for drive). There is a list of Advanced properties, one of them is settable to ad hoc, peer to peer, infrastructure. Or it may be you have a configuration client for the wireless card and you can set it there. I think for the AP that is the only mode it works in, so if you have LAN communication then they are probably already in infrastructure mode. Bu please check.

You don't have any other sharing software running ? (e.g.Sygate, Wingate).

How is it now?

[dudell]

Yes, TCP/IP installed on all PCs.
All wireless cards set for auto.
No one mentioned setting all cards and AP to infrastructure mode. How do you do that?
Also, not sure how you set LAN DHCP for AP.

Thanks for the input.
Also, they told me only to set ICS for the satellite connection. Not for the server or the remote PCs. True?

[dudell]

Getting closer. Finally got the LAN working so that the host and the two remotes can see each other. That required static addresses for each: 192.168.0./1,3 and 4.

Also, was asked to turn off the DHCP.

Now, when I ask for sharing at the Satellite level, I get the same old message, "either the LAN is not working or is disconnected," which of course is not true.

But, when I go into the SNMP Access Manager, it tells me that it can't find the Access Point. So, if it can't find the wireless access point, it doesn't surprise me that it can't do Internet sharing.

[Greenstead]

I think you're stepping backwards.

I don't use ICS but my understanding is this:

You install ICS on the connection that is connected to your ISP.
You must have all other connections set to get an IP address automatically, not set manually.
I didn't know you can disable DHCP on ICS - how do you do that?

[dudell]

You were right. IP auto needed to be turned on. Also, found out that my AP was bad. Replaced that and I can now do ICS. But not quite there yet. I can ping out to an Internet url, but it's not always successful. Also, can't bring up a web page, but I can see at the bottom, left that it is trying to work its way through. I'm thinking that there may be a firewall.

[Greenstead]

Satellite is a bit special. You might do better asking others that use Direcway.
Try this place:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,4931306~root=sat~mode=flat