🚀 go-pugleaf

In message <IkFd6esMem97EAvO@wood2.org.uk>, David Wood 
<david@wood2.org.uk> writes
>In message <BRrxlpGi$M97EwcK@jimsmith.demon.co.uk>, Jim Smith 
><jim@jimsmith.demon.co.uk> writes
>>I have a W2K server with a cable modem and an ISDN card. I have a 
>>number of other machines on an Ethernet network (W2K Professional and 
>>Linux) which use the W2K server as a gateway.


>To be honest, I'd use the Linux box to do the NAT rather than W2K 
>Server - but that's your choice. I think you're going to get finer 
>control using the Linux box, and I think you may need that control 
>here, though, to be fair, I have never set up a Linux box as a router.

If I had a choice I would use Linux, but I don't have Linux drivers for 
my cable modem.
>
>
>>This all worked perfectly until the other day when I tried to set up a 
>>demand-dial interface on ISDN so I could collect mail and news from my 
>>ISP (Demon) using dial-up (you have to dial-up to demon to use their 
>>mail and news).
>
>No - you don't. You can collect mail from Demon using POP3 from any 
>ISP, though you will have to set your POP3 password at 
><https://www.password.uk.demon.net> first.

You do if you want to send mail. I already use pop3 for collection.

>Demon's news server is nothing special, though, to be fair, neither is 
>ntl:'s. Also ntl:'s SMTP smart host has been playing up recently - see 
>ntl.support.broadband.cm passim. I avoid the lot and use machines at 
>gradwell.com - but that's an option that costs money.

I don't have any access to NTL's servers, the cable modem is a trial of 
a pure connectivity service. Because it is a trial, I don't want to give 
up my demon service just yet. If ever (my web site such as it is there).

>
>I'm bemused as to how you set up a dial on demand interface to Demon in 
>the situation when you want the majority of your ISP traffic to go over 
>ntl: - unless, of course, W2K Server has some feature that I've 
>forgotten about. I know the networking features in W2K Server are more 
>capable than W2K Professional - I only regularly use Professional.
>
>
>>This seemed to work initially but then started to fail intermittently. 
>>I took out the demand dial interface, but the problems persisted.
>
>It sounds like you've got a default gateway problem. Assuming you want 
>the bulk of your network traffic to go via the cable modem you do want 
>the default gateway set by DHCP on the cable modem (I don't understand 
>the other poster's advice here).
>
>
>The problem is how do you install the routes to Demon's network. From
<snip>
>the only way I can think of this is static routes pointing at the 
>interface number of the dial-up adapter - though I'd expect this will 
>foul up the dial on demand.

This is what I tried, but it didn't work.  It wouldn't let me set them 
up when the PPP interface wasn't active and if I set them up while 
dialled up they disappeared.
>
>
>>The situation now is that external connectivity from any of my 
>>workstations is up and down like a yo-yo.  The situation can change 
>>from second to second but as far as I can tell, by turning round and 
>>doing the same thing on the gateway machine, the problem is internal 
>>rather than external (although of course by the time I turn round the 
>>situation may have changed).
>
>
>I use hardware routers - a Netgear RO318 on the cable modem and a 3Com 
>OfficeConnect Remote 511s on the ISDN side. However, I've now got 
>everything I need operating over the cable modem and the ISDN router is 
>sat in the junk box. Certainly a box like the 3Com on your LAN should 
>solve at least the ISDN side of the problem - not least because it can 
>advertise the routes it has available via ISDN using RIP, and that 
>works fine with W2K's RIP listener.

What sort of cost are we talking about?
>
>
>>One potential problem is either the reliability of, or routing to, my 
>>providers DNS servers.
>
<snip>

> though I'm bemused as to why you think DNS servers are part of the 
>problem.

I lot of the problem is with Web browsing which is heavily reliant on 
DNS. If the DNS is coming and going it would explain the browser 
behaviour.  I don't really think they are the real cause of the problem 
but you have to eliminate everything.
>
>
>
>David

-- 
Jim Smith