Topic: Internet connection not reaching clients

[andymcp]

I've been having a problem over the weekend, and seem to have reached the point where I can't see the wood for the trees....

SME box (old 5.1.2 - yes, I will upgrade soon   ) hooked up to Windows network. Previously server-only as the satellite broadband link needed to connect to Windows box thanks to accelerator software. Recent changes to this meant I could directly plug the connection into any ethernet card, so changed SME to server & gateway, set up configuration etc, and ran internet connection test from admin console. Hey presto, it worked - so went to local client machine. Browser can view default SME 'This page is under construction' page, but no external pages. Went to dos prompt and can ping external addresses, but unable to view sites through browser. Checked SME box at command line, and can get to and view external pages from there.

I've been trying variations on all sorts of themes over the weekend, but cannot get browsers to work at all. I'm assuming this is a local client problem, but just wanted to check with the gurus here first to see if anyone can recall any similar problems or solutions. If I can get this to work then the upgrae is on - but I'd rather figure the fault out first before changing anything.... Anyone able to suggest anything before I go back to the frustrating spiral of 'Why con't this work?!'

Cheers

Andy

[NickR]

Sounds like DNS isn't pointing to the SME.  If the client is 2K or XP, what does:

nslookup www.contribs.org

return?

This is mine:

C:\>nslookup www.contribs.org
Server:  mailgate.xxxx.co.uk
Address:  172.16.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.contribs.org
Address:  69.9.12.50

You don't say if your clients are DHCP or fixed IP.  If fixed IP, you can set the DNS in TCP/IP properties - it should point to your SME on the local LAN.

[andymcp]

Hi Nick - thanks for that. I've had to slope off-site for a few days but will look it up when I'm back there. The clients are all DHCP, and didn't have specific DNS entries set. I'll take a peek at seeing whether playing around with that solves the riddle once I'm back there.

Cheers

Andy