DNS Not Working for Client PC

May 16 05 3:16 pm

Hi all.

I'm trying to share my dial-up internet connection with a couple of computers. The internet connection works fine for the PC hosting the Wingate server but I'm having trouble with the clint PC. I've tried this using the WinGate client and with it disabled and using NAT. In both cases the DNS request gets to the Wingate server okay but then it isn't resolved. If I type in a numeric IP address in the client PCs web browser it brings up the web page fine. It just can't figure out the DNS lookup.

I had a similar set-up working when my server PC was running Windows XP but that machine died last week. So I installed Wingate on an old Windows 98 machine I had sitting in a closet. After a clean install it can't figure out the DNS lookup. DHCP is enabled and it sets the DNS server to the IP of the PC hosting the Wingate server. Seems like that should work but clearly it doesn't. I've tried to give it a hand by adding IP addresses to the DNS Resolver but that didn't work either. I assume this is a Windows 98 related issue since it was working under XP.

Any help would be appreciated. A log of the DNS Resolver and is provided below.

========== DNS Resolver Log ==================
05/15/05 20:52:48 Request: request [018b30f8] A lookup "support.dell.com."
05/15/05 20:52:48 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<1> to try 3 (no specific and cannot select)
05/15/05 20:52:48 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<3> to try 4 (no known servers)
05/15/05 20:52:52 Request: request [018b30f8] A lookup "img.dell.com."
05/15/05 20:52:52 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<1> to try 3 (no specific and cannot select)
05/15/05 20:52:52 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<3> to try 4 (no known servers)
05/15/05 21:00:27 Request: request [018b30f8] A lookup "events.hackerwatch.org."
05/15/05 21:00:27 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<1> to try 3 (no specific and cannot select)
05/15/05 21:00:27 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<3> to try 4 (no known servers)
05/15/05 21:08:35 Debug: DNS registry entry scan (0 total entries)
05/15/05 21:09:32 Debug: completed "192.168.2.104" (Internal reverse lookup - DHCP client)
05/15/05 21:09:32 Request: request [018b30f8] A lookup "www.google.com."
05/15/05 21:09:32 Debug: bounce request [018b30f8]<0> to try 1 (nothing useful in cache)
05/15/05 21:09:32 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<1> to try 3 (no specific and cannot select)
05/15/05 21:09:32 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<3> to try 4 (no known servers)
05/15/05 21:09:37 Debug: DNS registry entry scan (0 total entries)
05/15/05 21:09:42 Request: request [018b30f8] A lookup "www.dell.com."
05/15/05 21:09:42 Debug: bounce request [018b30f8]<0> to try 1 (nothing useful in cache)
05/15/05 21:09:42 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<1> to try 3 (no specific and cannot select)
05/15/05 21:09:42 Error: bounce request [018b30f8]<3> to try 4 (no known servers)
05/15/05 21:10:39 Debug: DNS registry entry scan (0 total entries)

May 16 05 6:38 pm

1. With the WinGate machines internal network card. Are the Gateway and DNS settings blank? (they should be)

2. What version of WinGate are you running? 6.0.4?

3. Do you have active directory on your network anywhere?

May 17 05 1:50 pm

1) The internal network card on the client are set to get their IP address and DNS server automatically. The PC running Wingate server has DHCP enabled. Using the ipconfig/all command on my client shows that the gateway, DHCP and DNS server are all set to the IP address of the PC running Wingate server.

2) 6.0.3

3) How can I tell whether I have active directory on my network?
This is a network at my home. Unless XP Home, Windows 98 or XP Media turn on this feature when it's installed I should not have it running.

May 17 05 2:25 pm

1. So is the DNS and Gateway of your WinGate Servers internal network card blank?

2. Do you mean that your WinGate Server gets an IP address from DHCP? That is not ideal unless you have a lease setup.

3. Since you can get to websites with IP addresses, you may want to temporarily place into your client computers DNS settings, a DNS address supplied by your ISP. This can be found by finding out the DNS that is given to your dial up modem. That should mean you still will have access via clients while troubleshooting this issue

May 17 05 3:50 pm

1) Yes the DNS and gateway of the WinGate server is blank.

2) No. I mean the internal network card on the PC running the WinGate server has a static IP address. The PCs that are the clients have DHCP enabled on their internal network card.

3) That works, thanks.

If the DNS address is dynamic then I'll have to reenter that in once in a while which will be a pain. I'll continue to troubleshoot why Wingate isn't providing the DNS address. Do you know where Wingate should be getting the DNS address? Should it be passing along the one my ISP provides or does WinGate use another source?

Thanks for the help and quick responses by the way.

May 17 05 4:21 pm

Well, thats good to hear you have a partial fix (but could be used permanently on a small LAN). From what I understand of your network, and with regards to the WinGate PC only... the Windows / WinGate settings of your machine should not require any manual DNS configuration. The DNS is given via your Dial Ups' DHCP and WinGate will utilise that.

If the DNS address is dynamic then I'll have to reenter that in once in a while which will be a pain

I do not believe your ISP would of set it up that way. They should always be there; besides, you did put both DNS addresses in did you not? Thats for redundancy if one is rebooting / crashes.

I'll continue to troubleshoot why Wingate isn't providing the DNS address.

When you find out, share the solution with this forum.

Do you know where Wingate should be getting the DNS address

It utilises the one specified in the Dial Up, or other ways depending on your network topography.

Should it be passing along the one my ISP provides or does WinGate use another source?

Yes, it should pass on to your ISP's one.

Regards.