Here's the situation: I have a network that has a Windows 2000 Machine running as an ISA Server, this server connects to a Windows NT4 Server (SP 6), The W2K server also connects to a small workgroup of XP Machines (Internet Access only). The cable modem plugs into a four port switch which is connected to the computer, it then connects to another four port switch that connects to a switch in four seperate buildings, and an 8 port switch that shares the connection to the NT Server and the other computers in the building. The problem i'm having is that the five computers in the Domain that the NT Server is the DC for have zero connectivity, no pinging or connection of any type. I have toned, and tested all of the relavant drops, as well as tried new switches. I have also tried new NIC's as well as updated drivers, and removing all services and hardware from Network Properties, and then letting Windows reinstall them. Also the server can access the Internet and the ISA. I did not set this network up and it includes two aireal CAT5 drops (length not an issue). Any thoughts?
When you say "zero connectivity" do you mean no connectivity to the Internet, or no connectivity even to other machines on the LAN? You need set up the desktop machines to use the ISA server as the proxy in Internet Explorer, and check the authentication methods that ISA is using - it may well be that the desktops don't have permissions to use the ISA server, particularly if they're in a different domain. If you can't even ping other machines on the LAN, then you've got a more fundamental problem - try checking IP addresses and subnet masks on the machines, make sure they are on the same network, and try "ARP -A" to see whether there's any layer two comminucation going on. What *exactly* is the error message that PING returns? A network diagram would be nice, because the description was a little confusing, for me at least HTH Buzzy
All of the clients are set to use the ISA as a proxy, and by zero connectivity I mean there isn't any internet or LAN connectivity. Ping is timing out. Haven't done arp -a. I did leave a packet scanner running over the weekend to find out what is and isn't traversing the network and where they are being dropped. I'll work on the Network diagram.
Check arp - this will tell you whether you've got any MAC addresses in the cache of a PC. Also do IPCONFIG and check that you are getting an IP address from somewhere. Can a PC with an IP ping itself, or does that time out too?
i can ping 127.0.0.1, but if i ping anything else i get the time out error, also if i do an ipconfig /renew all, i get a DHCP error, same thing in WINIPCFG on the 9x machines
Hi mate - drop it in an email to richardb [at] buzzy {dot} info and I'll have a look. Which of the machines is your DHCP server? What's it's IP address? Can you ping it if you manually specify an IP address on one of the desktops? Cheers Buzzy
Right, if you can ping 127.0.0.1 then the IP protocol is working internally in that computer. This is good. Next things to do: 1. What machine is the DHCP server? Does it have a DHCP scope/range, and is the scope/range activated? 2. Grab one of the desktops and plug it into a hub with the DHCP server. Crossover cable would do too. See whether it can get an IP via DHCP. If so, note it down somewhere. This will test whether the DHCP server's working with nothing between the server and a desktop requesting an address. 3. Return the desktop to it's normal place on the LAN and try to get an IP address again. 4. Manually assign the same IP that the desktop previously got by DHCP to the PC. Test a PING from there. My guess is that the LAN is partitioned by one of the switches, it's split into two virtual LANs, or VLANs. If that's the case, then packets from one LAN don't get broadcast to the other LAN, and so the DHCP requests will never reach the server. If that's the case, you'll need to telnet into the switches to sort it out. Buzzy
Problem solved, replaced the aerial drop (retested today and go no activity). My thoughts are that water had corroded the pairs beyond working order. I layed a temp CAT5e cable down crimped and everything works fine. Will replace the cable with outdoor grade STP CAT5 and wheatherproof conduit just for overkill. Thanks
