New WinXP Pro SP2 laptop does not connect as client

[kalvos]

Hi all,

I've had an absolutely 100% working WinGate since the version issued earlier this year, so have been very quiet. Heck, it even stayed up for two months between power failures!

Yesterday I got a new Dell laptop. It's got three network connections available (Firewire, Ethernet, wireless). The Firewire is not used, but I can run a wired or unwired version, since I have both a D-Link switch and a Cisco Wireless-G access point.

Presently I have a 6-client license. The server's on a cable modem, and three clients are 1 wired, 2 wireless. Occasionally I'll put an old laptop on one of the wired connections. They're so reliable that I never even think of them. When I drag in a friend's computer, for example, it always works when I pop in WGIC.

The new laptop is WinXP Pro SP2. To get set up, I made sure ICS was turned off, the Windows firewall was turned off, and the Norton security was turned off. I set up the network for fixed IP (all the network connections are fixed), and all the network settings matched my other computers.

But I have two problems. The first isn't WinGate-related. The wireless connection connects to the WAP properly (security password, etc.), but doesn't speak to anything through it. For now, I've put aside working on it -- since I don't have a commercial hot spot nearby, I can't see if there's some other issue.

Here's the WinGate-related problem: The wired connection comes up nicely, and all the computers shortly appear in the network. With file sharing turned on, I can see and exchange files among all the machines, including the new one. I can also ping by name or IP, and I can even get the Access Point's setup server to run in the laptop's browser (with the wired connection through the switch, that is).

However, WGIC on the new laptop doesn't see a server. Period. No matter how many reboots and resets, I can't get it to be recognized. The laptop *does* show up in WinGate's network list, but not on the access screen. And it doesn't work without WGIC, either.

What have I missed?

Thanks,
Dennis

[genie]

Can you try adding the Wingate server address manually on the WGIC applet tab on your laptop?

[kalvos]

Can you try adding the Wingate server address manually on the WGIC applet tab on your laptop?

Yes, thanks -- I should have listed that in my description. I had already tried that. Listing it doesn't work, nor does resetting the WGIC, nor does rebooting and doing both. Refreshing the list also deletes it.

Dennis

[genie]

Right. Quick question - can you ping the server from the laptop?

[kalvos]

Right. Quick question - can you ping the server from the laptop?

Absolutely. I can ping every computer on the network from it, and ping it from other computers. And, as I said, it appears on WinGate's network tree.

Dennis

[genie]

Hi, Kalvos

Our testers have just finished the SP2 test here locally trying to reproduce your problem (no luck, though). What I would suggest is this (and we have seen it before) - make sure that Windows firewall is OFF on both sides (both the client and the server) and also add Wingate IP address as a DNS server in the client network configuration.

[kalvos]

Our testers have just finished the SP2 test here locally trying to reproduce your problem (no luck, though). What I would suggest is this (and we have seen it before) - make sure that Windows firewall is OFF on both sides (both the client and the server) and also add Wingate IP address as a DNS server in the client network configuration.

Yes, already done with the DNS server IP. It has always been on the list for all clients.

There is no Windows-based firewall on the server side because the Wingate server is running on a Win98SE machine. All the computers (server and 3 clients) except the new WinXP Pro laptop are Win98SE.

Dennis

[kalvos]

add Wingate IP address as a DNS server in the client network configuration.

Just to clarify: This does not appear to be a DNS issue alone. The WinXP laptop appears in the network tree (Network tab on Gatekeeper), but no action of any kind appears in the Activity tab. When I make an attempt to access the Internet, WGIC does *not* launch, even though it is manually set up to use the Wingate server, and the Activity tab does *not* show the computer attempting to access it.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled WGIC several times. (I even reinstalled the Wingate server.)

The laptop is ignoring anything Wingate.

The server is set up at 192.168.244.129, and the clients are variously assigned to .130 through .150, with only .131, .133, .135 and .142 (the new one) in use. The new computer has functioning TCP/IP (pingable by computer name and IP). Is there anything that should be removed from the laptop networking?

Dennis

[genie]

This behaviour is very similar to the case when a firewall of some kind has all client traffic blocked.

[kalvos]

This behaviour is very similar to the case when a firewall of some kind has all client traffic blocked.

I'll look further. This XP machine is new to me, and perhaps there's something in the Norton security that's affecting it. I haven't used Norton before, but have turned off all the apparent protection features, as well as the Windows firewall. As for the server, it's set to accept all connections from the LAN.

Thanks much ... I'll report back if I can get it to work!

Dennis

[kalvos]

This behaviour is very similar to the case when a firewall of some kind has all client traffic blocked.

I completely uninstalled the Norton security suite, which was running some sort of proxy even though all its features were turned off.

WGIC finds the server now, and the laptop appears in the Activity tab (showing only "alg.exe", and identified as "LOCAL SERVICE" rather than by my login). It shows the correct IP.

But nothing is functioning to the outside world yet, there's no DNS, and the WGIC client is not actually launched.

Dennis

[kalvos]

But nothing is functioning to the outside world yet, there's no DNS, and the WGIC client is not actually launched.

A couple hours later, more tests in every way, and still comes up on the Activity screen only as "alg.exe" running and LOCAL SERVICE as the client.

All firewalls off, Norton security suite uninstalled, WGIC re-installed, with these same results. I can exchange files with other computers, I can ping them all from the laptop, they can ping the laptop. But nothing online.

Am I banging my head against something simpler than it looks?

Dennis

[MattP]

Hi Dennis,

What if you take the WGIC out of the picture, just as a test to make sure that you can connect out through WinGate. So just try a NAT connection (set the default gateway and DNS server on the client to point at the internal NIC of the WinGate server) and see if you can browse then.

If that works then we can work on the WGIC.

[kalvos]

What if you take the WGIC out of the picture, just as a test to make sure that you can connect out through WinGate. So just try a NAT connection (set the default gateway and DNS server on the client to point at the internal NIC of the WinGate server) and see if you can browse then.

Matt,

That works fine. And it's the first computer I've had where NAT works, or I would have used it before. So it looks like I don't need WGIC, and this solution is great.

Now I have to get my wireless connection working (that's not (yet) a Wingate issue.) :)

Thanks,
Dennis

[kalvos]

Wireless solved.

Attention! This is not a Wingate issue -- but it might solve a problem for others.

I read somewhere about an issue with encryption key generation failures -- and decided to try using the hex code instead of the password.

Sure enough, the encryption key generation on one of the devices appears to be incorrect. Either the Linksys WAP or the Dell is wrong. And since the other computers sign to the WAP with the password properly, it looks like something is amiss with how the Dell is working.

Very simply, the password does not work from Dell to WAP, but entering the hex code works fine.

This is incredibly bizarre to my mind, but using the password simply fails. The hex code goes through and the laptop signs right on to the WAP and out to the Internet via Wingate (without WGIC).

Thanks for everyone's help on this! Back to lurking (I hope)...

Dennis

[genie]

Thanks for sharing this, Dennis!