Topic: Internet access from SME 5.5

[John Farmer]

Hi.  I've setup an SME 5.5 server and have it accessable from my  local LAN on eth0.  However, access to the internet on eth1 on my cable modem doesn't work. Configured for DHCP and Client Name.  I have lights on the NIC when connected to the modem, but it fails the internet test (Server and Gateway mode).  This modem works for internet access on a Windows NT4 workstation.

I also don't quite understand what to choose for a domain when configuring.  At this time, I DO NOT have a registered internet domain to use for this system.  Please comment  on possible problems.

Thanks,

John Farmer

[guestHH]

Hi,

Enter 'service network restart' on the console as root, and try again.

The domain name is of your own choice.

Regards,
guestHH

[John Farmer]

I have found the initial problem to be the eth1 nic is not configuring.  0 & 1 are both 3com 3c905 10/100 cards.  Both cards will function as eth0.  I'm reinstalling SME now.  Any pointers on dealing with installations with two NIC cards?

Thanks,

John Farmer

[Andy MacDonald]

Yes. Use two different types of cards. It makes them much easier to identify.

[Phil Hyde]

Have you tried resetting the cable modem?  I had to do this before my server could get a new IP address.  You have to leave it off 5-10 minutes at least.  This was a problem for me because my provider (Roadrunner) only allows 1 IP.

To rule out the other NIC card as a problem, swap the configuration so that eth1 is your local LAN and eth0 is the internet.

One last thing - if this is a new setup for you, don't rule out the possibility of a bad ethernet cable.  This also happened to me.

Cheers,
Phil

[Phil Hyde]

Forgot to comment about your second question.

If you don't have a domain, you will have to reference everything by IP address.  This is much less handy that having a domain name to remember, and your IP address could change occasionally.

You would need a domain name if you wanted your own email server.  You can configure SME to fetch your email from other providers, but this is kinda clunky if you ask me.

You might peruse the documentation for anything else related to domain names:

http://edocs.mitel.com/6000_SME_Server/smeserveruserguide/English/index.html

Cheers,
Phil

[Charlie Brady]

Andy MacDonald wrote:

> Yes. Use two different types of cards. It makes them much
> easier to identify.

Moreover it avoids multiple card support bugs in the driver, which could very well be the problem here.

Charlie

[Dave]

Another thing to consider...

I had cable internet for a while, until they started blocking port 80.  They had to come to my location to install the software on one of my workstations, then I moved the install to another box so I could share the connection to my network.  Suddenly I lost connectivity.

With Cable, where you don't have to supply a username and password to get on the network, they license your installation via the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the NIC that's used to set up the initial connection.  If you change NIC's - like going from your NT Workstaion setup to your SME Server setup, you have to let your provider know what the new NIC's MAC address is.  I wound up just taking the NIC that was used initially and moved it to my firewall/gateway server (at the time it was NT).  Once I did that, it worked fine.

Now I use ADSL, this requires a username and password to authenticate to the network.  I prefer the way Cable worked but I needed port 80 because I host web sites.

Just a thought....

[John Farmer]

Andy,

By trial and error, I figured out the order of cards on the bus.  In my mini-tower, it's bottom to top (0 then 1).  After reinstalling SME, it properly configured eth1.  I have the SME server working now and have accessed this site from my nt workstation through the SME gateway.

Thanks to all,

John Farmer