Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

I've had a long love story with DSL providers, most of them ending with headaches, thrown hammers, and much cursing. A change in the exact service and a new modem afterwards, my current DSL has decided to go on strike... but with a twist. It works perfectly on the other computer on the network, but hardly works at all on my own computer (it is a couple of times slower than a 33.6 modem). Everything is set up as advised by the ISP, it isn't OS-related, it isn't a Trojan or anything of the sort, and so on, so a quick solution seems out of the question.

I'm not looking for help regarding the actual problem, but rather as to how get past the problem by using the working connection on the other computer. Our network is set up like that:
- The other computer, running Windows XP, that connects to the Internet through a modem-router combo.
- My own computer, running the Debian-based Ubuntu distrib (though I *could* switch back to Windows, if that's what it took), that also connects to the Internet through the same computer.

I would like to redirect all my Internet traffic to the other computer (I cannot really use it myself, since it is used most of the day by other users). Windows connection sharing does not seem to work here, as it cannot share an indirect and already-shared connection. Some sort of software could do the trick, however, but I have no idea about how to set it up... and browsing the Internet is tough when pages take five minutes to load.

Thanks for any help, and feel free to shatter my hopes by telling me that "it ain't gonna happen, Jimmy".

jamie
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 365
Registered: 04-15-2005
IP: Logged

... Not quite sure what you're saying.

Do you have more than one 'real' IP address allocated to your network, or is there one IP address with a NAT daemon running on the XP computer ? - In which case, you'll already be using natd/routing (MS aka "windows connection sharing")

Do you want to install application-level proxies on the XP server, and use those, rather than route directly through it ?

Anyway, have you tested your speed directly TO the XP server ? -- sounds like a dodgy local-network link..

If that's ok, do you have an incompatible MTU on one of the interfaces, causing fragmenting problems ?


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#f3i2g# Disclaimer: I'm Welsh, left-handed, and stupid. #f3i2g#

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[Last edited by jamie at 01-19-2006 03:02 AM]

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

I wasn't quite sure about what I meant, either. I was looking for a way to route all apps to the main computer I guess, but that lay on the basic assumption that everything was fine with the network itself (since it worked perfectly well the day before).

Well, that assumption has been torn asunder since then, though I still have to figure out *where* exactly is the problem, with virtually everything from my own computer to my ISP having various problems. Since Wifi support is said to be so great that you can pick up users on another ISP at the other end of the street but not your own domestic network, it looks like I don't have a lot of options.

Let me try to be brief for once: thanks for your help, but I think I'll wait for a couple of weeks, when I have more time on my end (and no actual need for a working computer) before seriously trying to fix it up, and... Brief mode stops here it seems.

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

Ok, I just plugged in a Wireless USB adapter (Netgear WPN111), and lo! It worked! It must be the first time I get something USB-based working without too much trouble.

Of course, that was under Windows. I fully expect to have a very fun time getting the thing to run under Linux, though it looks like it can be done.

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1308
Registered: 11-24-2005
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Samba (The Linux-to-windows protocol) can be bad without anything like that. Usually it works, but sometimes it can be crazy. My friend who is very experienced with Linux took 12 hours to call in his dad (A professional programmer) who took another 2 hours. Second-worst time I've ever had with computers.

jamie
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 365
Registered: 04-15-2005
IP: Logged

coppro wrote:
Samba (The Linux-to-windows protocol) can be bad without anything like that.

Baaah. Linux is unix(like).. Unix isn't Linux.

BSD predates Linux, and samba works fine on that too, along with svr4, digital unix, hp/ux, solaris, AIX, IRIX etc.etc.

In fact, putting my second pedantic hat on, samba also works on non unix(like) operating systems, like the lovely VMS etc.

So there

My friend who is very experienced with Linux took 12 hours to call in his dad

He may be experienced with Linux, but he doesn't sound very experienced with the phone.. 12 hours to make a phone call ???? *boom-boom* -- it's the way I tell 'em

____________________________
#f3i2g# Disclaimer: I'm Welsh, left-handed, and stupid. #f3i2g#