Help! - Internet Server (sharing device)

[ExSimGuy]

Okay - ESG's getting serious [ http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/confused.gif]

We just got a "Ethernet Internet Server" - a D-Link DP-602 - so that all us surfers in the office can surf at the same time over one line, via a "box" that sits between the modem and our office LAN.

We've got it working okay with Web browsers (I.E.4 etc) but I can't get my email (Outlook Express) to work - I set the thing to use "local LAN" instead of "modem", but I get "host could not be found" error message.

Anyone got any experience with these boxes?

(after my response on Old Hand's post, he'll probably come back and tell me we should get more telephone lines and a modem each user!)

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What Goes Around . . . . .
. . often makes a better landing

[This message has been edited by ExSimGuy (edited 16 January 2001).]

[AquaPlane]

ESG,

You may have to select the IP address of the router/proxy box as the default gateway in Control Panel -> Networking

Aq

[ExSimGuy]

Tried that - still no Outlook Express! But as you can see, my Internet Explorer is fine through the "box"

Anyone got any other ideas? I'm in danger of going bald with all the hair-tearing :)

[AquaPlane]

ESG, You haven't got virus checking on the incoming emails have you...? If so, could try disabling it.

Also, is the box allowing POP3 and SMTP protocols...? These are different from the HTTP used by browsers.

Aq

[pied piper]

Sounds like a name resolution (DNS) problem

in the outlook account box you will have an entry for your mail. This maybe an IP address or as is usual a DNS name eg

mail.freeserve.co.uk.(made up name)

The first thing to do is confim it is a resolution issue by pinging the account server from DOS. (MSDOS PROMPT)

eg ping mail.freeserve.co.uk

This will tell you if it is a network problem or a mail problem.


The next step depends on the result of this ping test and can get complicated, but at least you will know where the problem is and you can e-mail me for more help.

In the meantime you should have a facility with your provider to get your e-mail using a web browser.

BTW e-mail is a very weak link in security.

[FL310]

Don't know your box but it may work as a proxy. In this case you cannot access themail without installing the exchange server as well...Your box manufacturer may be able to tell you more about that...

[ExSimGuy]

Thanks for all the tips guys, certainly using a browser for email would be a solution, as Internet Explorer seems to work (with reservations! see below). Normally I curse IMAP (browser) email as a couple of guys who use it here tend to tie up the connection when others want it, and I can get my POP3 email in seconds/minutes and deal with it offline - of course, that would not be a problem if we are all online with a sharing system!

We have discovered a big problem with the "box" - it needs a static IP address from our ISP, and that is usually only available to customers with a leased line (our "deal" is for a dial-up line with unlimited hours) So the system seems to work "sometimes", if the IP address that we use is not allocated to another user at that time - but if the line drops, or if we disconnect, then the IP address can get allocated to somebody else and we can't get back in! Now to try to get the ISP to give us a static IP (I hope!)

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What Goes Around . . . . .
. . often makes a better landing

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BTW - I haven't noticed ZoneAlarm popping up to tell me I'm being "pinged" since we instaled the device, so I switched off ZoneAlarm and checked the machine out with Steve Gibson's probe (www.grc.com) and the "IP translation" function of the box seems to work well as a firewall too :)

[This message has been edited by ExSimGuy (edited 24 January 2001).]

[pied piper]

I would have thought the D-link box would support a negotiated address.

Telnet to the box and see if this is an option.

[ExSimGuy]

Pleased to report that all's well now :)

I had passed the comments to our company's "IT Professional" and he couldn't get it working. Maybe he hadn't had enough curry recently - not that I'm implying anything "non-PC" :mad:

This morning "The Boss" asked me to take over and, after reading the instruction book (if all else fails, read the manual) I managed to get it all running in an hour.

Yes, it does support dynamic IP (just set the "ISP IP" setting to 0.0.0.0) and now Browsers and POP clients work just fine all through the office. Half the time was spent removing various non-standard settings that our "IT Professional" had inserted into the system ;)

Thanks for all the comments and help!

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What Goes Around . . . . .
. . often makes a better landing