XP Home SP2 - no HTTPS (?) or POP3 (?)

[SandJ]

I have a working network with a Windows 98SE server running 6.2.0

The other PCs run Windows ME and are working fine.

I am trying to add a laptop running Windows XP Home Edition SP2 which won't play properly.

I have uninstalled the Norton protection on the laptop and disabled the firewall.

From this laptop, trying to access

sitecontrol.supanames.co.uk

fails with "The connection timed out" although I can browse plenty of other sites. Ditto if I try to access my internet banking sites.

Trying to set up Thunderbird to download email results in it failing after about 30 seconds saying

"Connection to server mail.reed-n-right.co.uk timed out."

It works on the other PCs.

I have followed the advice in "Important info for Windows XP SP2 users" (installed WinXPSP2Patch.exe) and that has not fixed it.

In the GateKeper, this laptop seems to be behaving like the other PCs except in the Activity Tab it says [LOCAL SERVICE] whereas the others have the login name.

Any ideas?

[MattP]

Hi,

Can you try a telnet connection to the POP server and see if that works?

To do this:

Open a DOS window
type TELNET
type OPEN MAIL.REED-N-RIGHT.CO.UK 110
this should take you to a log in prompt for their server. If you make it here just type QUIT to leave because we've shown that we can make it this far.

If you can't connect to that server with the telnet session please let us know. What do you see on the history tab in GateKeeper related to this session? Do you see the connection attempt?

How is the laptop connecting to the WinGate server? Are you making a NAT connection (set default gateway to point at the WinGate server) a proxy connection or are you using the WinGate Internet Client (WGIC)?

Thanks,

[SandJ]

Hi,

Can you try a telnet connection to the POP server and see if that works?

To do this:

Open a DOS window
type TELNET
type OPEN MAIL.REED-N-RIGHT.CO.UK 110
this should take you to a log in prompt for their server. If you make it here just type QUIT to leave because we've shown that we can make it this far.

If you can't connect to that server with the telnet session please let us know. What do you see on the history tab in GateKeeper related to this session? Do you see the connection attempt?

How is the laptop connecting to the WinGate server? Are you making a NAT connection (set default gateway to point at the WinGate server) a proxy connection or are you using the WinGate Internet Client (WGIC)?

Thanks,

I tried the telnet from my desktop, that worked OK. I tried it from the laptop and it did not:

"-ERR AVG POP3 Proxy Server: Cannot connect to the mail server!"

So that is the AVG anti-virus reporting the failure.

The history file says (I've replaced spaces with underscores to keep the formatting):

Start_time___________Computer_____________User__________________IP__________________Application______________________Action_____________________________________________Duration_____Bytes_in_____Bytes_out___
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13-Feb_10:55:22______JANLAP____________________________________192.168.253.207______N/A______________________________DNS:_PTR_lookup_"142.107.232.213.in-addr.arpa."_______________0___________46___________84
13-Feb_10:55:22______JANLAP____________________________________192.168.253.207______N/A______________________________DNS:_A_lookup_"mail.reed-n-right.co.uk."______________________0___________41___________71
13-Feb_10:54:47______JANLAP____________________________________192.168.253.207______N/A______________________________DNS:_A_lookup_"mail.reed-n-right.co.uk."______________________0___________41___________71
13-Feb_10:54:20______SIMON________________Simon________________192.168.253.206______TELNET.EXE_______________________TCPLink:_192.168.253.206:3311_<->_host-142.supanames.co.uk.:110___________12___________22__________119
13-Feb_10:54:08______SIMON________________Simon________________192.168.253.206______N/A______________________________DNS:_A_lookup_"mail.reed-n-right.co.uk."______________________0___________41___________71

SIMON is my desktop and JANLAP is the laptop.

The duplicated JANLAP DNS record will be where I forgot to add '110' to the 'OPEN' commmand the first time.

The DNS is set to 192.168.253.201 which is the address of the WinGate server.

I have the WinGate client installed on the laptop but I see it cannot 'see' the server. It could when I installed it. Now I'm more confused.

[MattP]

Hmm, it sounds like either AVG is blocking the connection then, is it more than AntiVirus, more like a security suite with built-in firewall?

Having the WGIC not being able to see the server sounds like there is a firewall running. The WinGate server broadcasts its presence on port 368 (which is the GDP service in WinGate) so if there's a firewall running on the laptop it won't be getting the broadcast so the WGIC won't be able to detect the server.

You should be able to add the server's IP address manually, or open that port on the firewall and it should find it again.

[SandJ]

There is the Windows XP firewall. I probably had that disabled when I installed WinGate. If I disable the firewall completely, then the WGIC can see the server.

If I re-enable the firewall but with port 368 open (I have tried both UDP and TCP) then the server disappears when I refresh the list of servers in WGIC.

The firewall log then has these entries:

#Version: 1.5
#Software: Microsoft Windows Firewall
#Time Format: Local
#Fields: date time action protocol src-ip dst-ip src-port dst-port size tcpflags tcpsyn tcpack tcpwin icmptype icmpcode info path
2007-02-13 21:50:51 DROP UDP 192.168.253.201 192.168.253.207 368 1484 85 - - - - - - - RECEIVE
2007-02-13 21:52:11 DROP UDP 192.168.253.201 192.168.253.207 368 1489 85 - - - - - - - RECEIVE
2007-02-13 21:52:12 DROP UDP 192.168.253.201 192.168.253.207 368 1490 85 - - - - - - - RECEIVE

With the firewall disabled, WGIC displays:
Server: SERVER
Address: 192.168.253.201
Port: 2080

I have also explicitly enabled WinGate Toggle Client and WinGate Dialup Monitor.

Anyway, with the firewall completely disabled, and ignoring Thunderbird for now, I still cannot access:

sitecontrol.supanames.co.uk <-- times out when I try to log in
my internet bank <-- times out

and that applies in both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

[MattP]

Ok, as a test lets try removing the WGIC and making a NAT connection.

You make a NAT connection by simply setting the WinGate server as the Default Gateway and DNS server on the client machine.

Now can you access those sites?

[SandJ]

Ok, as a test lets try removing the WGIC and making a NAT connection.

You make a NAT connection by simply setting the WinGate server as the Default Gateway and DNS server on the client machine.

Now can you access those sites?

Firewall disabled, WGIC disabled.
Default gateway and DNS server point at 192.168.253.201, the WinGate server.

'normal' web sites work normally, internet banking and other sites needing a logon time out. So, no differnce.

[MattP]

Did you close the browser after you stopped the WGIC? You need to close any applications that it may have hooked when you disable it.

Hmm, I'm a bit stumped here.

Ok, maybe a silly question, does the laptop connect to these sites when it bypasses WinGate?

Is it all https sites or just when you pass login details that it times out?

Are you requiring any authentication on the WinGate server? I know that we have found a problem in IE when you require authentication and you're connecting to a proxy, have you got any proxy settings set in the Internet options?

[SandJ]

Did you close the browser after you stopped the WGIC? You need to close any applications that it may have hooked when you disable it.

Hmm, I'm a bit stumped here.

Ok, maybe a silly question, does the laptop connect to these sites when it bypasses WinGate?

Is it all https sites or just when you pass login details that it times out?

Are you requiring any authentication on the WinGate server? I know that we have found a problem in IE when you require authentication and you're connecting to a proxy, have you got any proxy settings set in the Internet options?

I'm back - I've been away, hence the delay.

WGIC is not enabled and I have rebooted. The firewall is disabled.

My internet banking site home page is OK, but the login page is https: and that times out. I don't get prompted to log in.

There is a SSL test site at

weblogin.bu.edu/troubleshooting?cmd=ssl

and that does not load properly - only the text appears. Clicking on the "test" option eventually results in a timeout.

What do you mean by "bypass WinGate"? I have never managed to get this laptop to access these pages.

What do you mean by "Are you requiring any authentication on the WinGate server"? If I try to open the GateKeeper, that prompts for a password, other than that everything else just works.

"connecting to a proxy, have you got any proxy settings set in the Internet options?" There is no proxy set up in Internet Explorer nor in Firefox and that applies both to the laptop and the other PCs on the network.