Strange Network/internet problem

Former Member

ok really don't know if anyone's going to be able to help with this and i've tried everything I can think of.

basically I've got my work's laptop at home to work from home on. I have a broadband connection from plusnet using an IPlink wireless modem router. My flatmate (also works for same company) has no problems accessing the internet and neither do I on my desktop. It's just my works laptop. Working for IBM we have an IBM access communications program that we can do our networks through as well as doing them the normal windows way. I initially set it up through windows, connected once to work and since then my internet hasn't worked at home and I wasn't able to connect to work either.

Tonight I changed to the IBM access communications way of creating networks and initially again everything worked, till I connected to work (through an AT&T network client across my existing internet connection) and then I got the same problem as dong it the windows way, except I can now reconnect to AT&T and that work but only if I reboot the laptop between sessions.

When connected to work I can access everything on the internet without any problems. However, if I'm not connected to work, google talk connects and I can check my emails (via outlook) but I cna't access any web sites or sign into msn etc.

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts as to how I could solve this issue.

Oh the laptop and current settings work perfectly on my boyfriends home wireless network and at work, so it shouldn't really have anything to do with them, yet since my flatmates works perfectly on our network and I obviously get an internet connection to be able to access some things I don't see that it can be a network problem either.

Former Member

Do you normally hibernate the laptop instead of rebooting? You may need to reboot (rather than hibernate) every time you want to switch between networks, because wireless can be funny like that.

Otherwise do you have the option of using a hard wired connection in the office?

Former Member

Mist wrote:

Do you normally hibernate the laptop instead of rebooting? You may need to reboot (rather than hibernate) every time you want to switch between networks, because wireless can be funny like that.

Otherwise do you have the option of using a hard wired connection in the office?

Nop I always shutdown these days.

In the office everythings fine, it's just at home. But I've tried using an ethenet connection at home as well and that has exactly the same problems as wireless.

Former Member

If you are using the ethernet connection at home you should be able to put that connection onto DHCP - assuming your router provides for it - disable the wirless connection, and browse. There shouldn't be any need to do anything else, it should just work.

Former Member

It's possible that the NAT stack on the router in your flat isn't quite up to separating the IPSec/GRE stream between your two laptops. If this is the case, you could try a "better" router (although this is a notoriously difficult NAT scenario), or upgrade your ADSL to a business connection and get a routed IP subnet, and do away with NAT altogether (but this will increase your MSwindows laptops' exposure to the ad ol' internet)

Former Member

Mist wrote:

If you are using the ethernet connection at home you should be able to put that connection onto DHCP - assuming your router provides for it - disable the wirless connection, and browse. There shouldn't be any need to do anything else, it should just work.

It doesn't. i've tried.

Former Member

Carriage Return wrote:

It's possible that the NAT stack on the router in your flat isn't quite up to separating the IPSec/GRE stream between your two laptops. If this is the case, you could try a "better" router (although this is a notoriously difficult NAT scenario), or upgrade your ADSL to a business connection and get a routed IP subnet, and do away with NAT altogether (but this will increase your MSwindows laptops' exposure to the ad ol' internet)

So ya saying it isn't letting go of the AT&T connection completely basically. Although I don't get why my flat mate has no problems if thats the case. My old wired router had no problems it has to be said. I tried turning NAT off last night though on the router just as an experiment and it made no difference.

Former Member

Kazbo wrote:

It doesn't. i've tried.

What doesn't work?

Do you get an IP adress but no routing? Do you get ping responses but no Internet browsing? Do you get nothing at all?

Basic wired networking is not an arcane art, and there's really not much to it. If you can't plug your laptop in with a single connection enabled to the wired network and have it route traffic I would say that there is a hardware error or a piece of software on the laptop deliberately blocking it.

Former Member

having re-read the post, it seems that everything works, except web browsing, and that works when you are at work, or have a VPN open to work

Check it isn't configured to use a "proxy" for web browsing.

Former Member

Ahh. Well yes, that would be different. Check the proxy. Normally if I VPN then I can't browse the web any more, because obviously all the traffic is routed through the VPN.

If you want to be able to be VPNd to work and web browse, configure IE as if to use the work proxy.

Former Member

It isn't configured to use a proxy either.

If I'm connected via VPN I can web browse, it's just if I'm not connected that I can't Mist.

Former Member

Kazbo wrote:

It isn't configured to use a proxy either.

If I'm connected via VPN I can web browse, it's just if I'm not connected that I can't Mist.

See that's just backwards.

When you are not VPNd what does it say in the results of "route print" if you run it from a command prompt?

Former Member

This is what I get from route print: