ICS Question ? Cable Modem ??

[DragonHeart]

Hi,

Just a quick question i have cable and i share my internet connection with my laptop via a Netgear 5 Port Ethernet Hub and it works fine and i can share files etc. The question is i can seem to acces any server lists, ie : Webcam chat or game servers via the laptop with this setup, but it allows me to surf the net on both pc's. Is thier anything i can do so i can make it work ??? as it works on my main system but not the one connected to the ethernet hub ???


Many Thx in advance for any help

 

[jonifen]

Are you using a firewall? If so, you will need to allow a few apps to get online through it.

As far as I know, you need to allow "Application Layer Gateway" through... I cant remember the others as I use a router nowadays.

Also, are both machines running XP?

Have you ran the network setup wizard on both machines?

What IP addresses are the machines using?

Remember the laptop will need a fixed gateway address of 192.168.0.1 (which is the server's IP if ICS is enabled correctly), and the primary DNS will also be 192.168.0.1

Reboot both machines and it should be OK then. Any further problems, just post back

 

[DragonHeart]

Many Thx for your reply and to answer the questions....

Are you using a firewall? - Im using Norton 2003 for the firewall on main pc but none on the laptop....

Also, are both machines running XP? - Yes

Have you ran the network setup wizard on both machines? - Yes

What IP addresses are the machines using? - hmmmm dont know how to find that out i tried running winipcfg but didnt work...

Remember the laptop will need a fixed gateway address of 192.168.0.1 (which is the server's IP if ICS is enabled correctly), and the primary DNS will also be 192.168.0.1 - where do i find these settings and how do i change them ??

Like i said before it share the cable connection and files fine just when im browzing gaming servers or webcam chats...


Many thx for ur time and help ...

 

[Zedric]

Originally posted by DragonHeart
What IP addresses are the machines using? - hmmmm dont know how to find that out i tried running winipcfg but didnt work...

The command is ipconfig in WinXP.

 

[DNRC]

It most likely doesn't work due to the fact that ICS is a simple proxy server, meaning it can only deal with http / ftp traffic.

What you need is a software router which will allow you to route all IP traffic.

 

[Zedric]

ICS is not a proxy, it's routing software and will route any traffic you like (TCP and UDP anyway).

When it comes to webcam chats and other apps using dual direction communication there are most likely some ports that need porting through. For instance having an FTP server will need port 21 to be forwarded. The chat program most likely have one or several ports that need forwarding the same way for it to work.

 

[jonifen]

Originally posted by DNRC
It most likely doesn't work due to the fact that ICS is a simple proxy server, meaning it can only deal with http / ftp traffic.

What you need is a software router which will allow you to route all IP traffic.

I used ICS for over a year on 512kb blueyonder cable modem and played games all the time... so that is a bit of an unsupported statement...

Originally posted by Zedric
ICS is not a proxy, it's routing software and will route any traffic you like (TCP and UDP anyway).

When it comes to webcam chats and other apps using dual direction communication there are most likely some ports that need porting through. For instance having an FTP server will need port 21 to be forwarded. The chat program most likely have one or several ports that need forwarding the same way for it to work.

that is true... with webcam chats (like netmeeting etc), you do need to map ports through to the other systems on the network. I found IRC sometimes took as long as 5minutes to connect to a server, but when I mapped port 113 through to the LAN, it connected straight away.

I used this link when I was trying to get the most usability out of ICS - http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/ics/ics.htm - it helps with the basics, you may need to look around if you need more detail (or ask back here)

if you play games online, you should be able to play fine without needing to map (forward) any ports to the client machine. However, if you want to host a server on your machine for people outside of the network to connect to, you will need to map/forward ports.

 

[Geffy]

This gem from WindowsXP Help file on ICS (Internet Connection Sharing>Internet Connection Sharing Settings)

Allowing Internet gaming on your network
To run Internet games between computers on your network and computers on the Internet, you must ensure that the Internet game traffic is forwarded by the network devices that are between your network and the Internet. For example:

If the network device between your network and the Internet is a computer running Windows XP and Internet Connection Sharing, you must configure Internet Connection Sharing settings to pass the game traffic. For more information about adding service definitions for Internet Connection Sharing or Internet Connection Firewall, see Add a service definition.
If the network device is a firewall or security gateway, it must be configured to pass the game traffic between your network and the Internet. In this case, contact your network administrator who will identify the specific type of traffic used by the Internet game and configure the firewall to forward the traffic.
If this configuration is not done, Internet game clients on your network will be unable to connect to Internet game servers on the Internet and Internet game clients on the Internet be unable to connect to Internet game servers on your network.

Also DNRC, do you like Dilbert?

 

[Geffy]

Sorry this bit is kinda more useful

To add a service definition
Open Network Connections.
Click the shared connection or the Internet connection that is protected by Internet Connection Firewall, and then, under Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
On the Advanced tab, click Settings.
On the Services tab, click Add and enter all of the following information:
In Description of service, type an easily recognized name for the service.
In Name or IP address of the computer hosting this service on your network, type the name or IP address of the computer that runs the service.
In External port number for this service, type the port number that external computers will use to contact this service.
In Internal Port number for this service, type the port number that the service on your network is using.
Click either TCP or UDP.
Notes

To open Network Connections, click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.
Either Internet Connection Sharing or Internet Connection Firewall must be enabled to add services.
You can obtain the correct configuration values for the TCP or UDP port number from the service's documentation or Web site.
To access the Windows XP Services tab from a Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Millennium Edition client computer, use the Windows XP CD or floppy disk to run the Network Setup Wizard on these computers. After running the wizard, on the client computer, click Start, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click Internet Gateway. In the Status dialog box, click Properties, and then click the Services tab. To create a Network Setup Wizard floppy disk, see To create a network setup floppy disk.

 

[jonifen]

I used to play CS on a barrysworld server ages ago on the 512k blueyonder cable with ICS enabled and no port mapping related to the game, and I had a ping that was constantly less than 10... people on 1mb were pinging almost 40/50 on blueyonder.

i think certain people may need to map ports cuz their network isnt correctly set. the less mapped ports, the better the network security.

looking back on an earlier reply...

"Im using Norton 2003 for the firewall on main pc but none on the laptop...."

I thought nothing of it earlier, but...
try disabling the firewall for a moment and try connecting to a game server... im guessing it will work without a problem. It was a problem I had with Norton firewall... I reinstalled the server (clean install), and it worked after that (for some reason). As a temp. fix though, put the IP address of the game server as an allowed IP in norton firewall, and it'll let you play... its not port mapping that's stopping it... its norton firewall.

its annoying to keep doing it, I know, but if you ask anyone at symantec/norton, they just say "we do not support the usage of our firewall in an ICS environment" :/

 

[Geffy]

If you tell Norton PF to allow all for alg.exe it should all work

 

[DragonHeart]

Many thx for everyones help, the only thing that worked was mentioned by jonifen if i disable Nortons Firewall on main pc it then allows my laptop to connect to the servers, althou i have set the laptop up as an allowed device throu the firewall but it only works once its disabled on the main pc...

 

[jonifen]

if you set the firewall to accept the IP of the external game server, that will also let you connect.