Allowing one PC to opt out of internet

I have three PCs running XP on peer to peer network connecting to
internet via a switch and ADSL router there is also a USB print server
in the network and a wireless access point sending a signal dowstairs
for laptop use.

Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
full part of the network?
--
To email change HYPHEN to -

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have three PCs running XP on peer to peer network connecting to
> internet via a switch and ADSL router there is also a USB print server
> in the network and a wireless access point sending a signal dowstairs
> for laptop use.
>
> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
> automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
> full part of the network?

You may be able to block WAN access at the router, other solutions will
depend on how computer savvy the user is and what privileges his user
account has.
Probably the easiest is to set the wrong gateway and DNS servers in the
network settings, and make sure his account doesn't have administrator
privileges so he can't change them, but that will affect a load of other
stuff too.

On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
>full part of the network?

Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
use the IP of the wireless access point, for example). That way, if
it tried to access a non-local (ie non-LAN) IP, it would route those
packets to the WAP, not the router (and therefore get no replies).

You probably need to make a note of the information provided by your
ISP (when the connection is made, and your router connects, the PPP
session may be logged and will show the primary and secondary DNS
machines provided by your ISP. When setting fixed IPs for your
PCs, you will need to specify those DNS entries (or life gets
tough!) and the ADSL router IP as the gateway to use. HTH.

--
www.netdimes.org - mapping the internet.
Join team UK-24x7 (position 250) Let's beat Australia :->

On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 23:59:02 +0000, (E-Mail Removed)
wrote:

Thanks to Rob Morley and NoNeedToKnow for the answers to my problem -
easy when you know how!
--
To email change HYPHEN to -

In article <cf7vn25k4065eiqpe67r2btvh9qu8q04p8@complete-pc-
services.info>
NoNeedToKnow <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> > Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
> >automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
> >full part of the network?
>
> Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
> the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
> use the IP of the wireless access point, for example). That way, if
> it tried to access a non-local (ie non-LAN) IP, it would route those
> packets to the WAP, not the router (and therefore get no replies).
>
> You probably need to make a note of the information provided by your
> ISP (when the connection is made, and your router connects, the PPP
> session may be logged and will show the primary and secondary DNS
> machines provided by your ISP. When setting fixed IPs for your
> PCs, you will need to specify those DNS entries (or life gets
> tough!)

Unless the router acts as a DNS proxy - I'm not sure how common that is.

"NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
>>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
>>full part of the network?
>
> Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
> the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
> use the IP of the wireless access point, for example).

Why use a fictional address rather than simply not specifying one at all?

Alex

In article <(E-Mail Removed) >
Alex Fraser <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> "NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
> >>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
> >>full part of the network?
> >
> > Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
> > the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
> > use the IP of the wireless access point, for example).
>
> Why use a fictional address rather than simply not specifying one at all?
>
Because we didn't think of that? You're quite right that leaving the
settings blank has the required effect, as you would expect with an
isolated LAN.

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:54:22 -0000, "Alex Fraser" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>"NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:cf7vn25k4065eiqpe67r2btvh9qu8q04p8@complet e-pc-services.info...
>> On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
>>>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
>>>full part of the network?
>>
>> Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
>> the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
>> use the IP of the wireless access point, for example).
>
>Why use a fictional address rather than simply not specifying one at all?
>
>Alex
>
Thanks to you also Alex - I could have saved a few keystrokes if I'd
waited a little longer!
---
To email change HYPHEN to -

"Rob Morley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) >
> Alex Fraser <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> "NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> >> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
>> >>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
>> >>full part of the network?
>> >
>> > Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
>> > the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
>> > use the IP of the wireless access point, for example).
>>
>> Why use a fictional address rather than simply not specifying one at
>> all?
>
> Because we didn't think of that?

Fair enough... I just wondered if I was missing something (though I couldn't
imagine what) as both you and NNTK suggested the same thing .

Alex

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>
Alex Fraser <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> "Rob Morley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ...
> > In article <(E-Mail Removed) >
> > Alex Fraser <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >> "NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > On 12 Dec 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >> >> Is it possible to set up the network so that one of the PCs is not
> >> >>automatically connected to the internet but can still function as a
> >> >>full part of the network?
> >> >
> >> > Give the PCs fixed IP addresses. On the machine you want not to use
> >> > the internet, give a fictional gateway IP (so instead of the router,
> >> > use the IP of the wireless access point, for example).
> >>
> >> Why use a fictional address rather than simply not specifying one at
> >> all?
> >
> > Because we didn't think of that?
>
> Fair enough... I just wondered if I was missing something (though I couldn't
> imagine what) as both you and NNTK suggested the same thing .
>
I'm just used to having something in those boxes, and I reckon if
someone else was looking at the settings they would be more likely to
spot that they were empty than that a single digit was wrong. Using a
false gateway address will place a slight load on the network, as any
attempted connection will try to connect and time out rather than
instantly responding with a "host unreachable" error.