ICS problems -twice

I am having the same problems on my home network and on another one which I
set up for a mate.
The two systems are exactly the same.
i.e. Two computers, both running XP - at home XP Pro - at my mate's XP Home.
Computers are connected by ethernet cards and crossover cables.
I set up the internet connections on the Host computers. They work OK in
both cases. Mine is BT Openworld with the Alcatel Frog. My mates is ntlworld
with a cable modem. So far so good. Now we come to share the connection. At
first I tried using the Network Setup Wizard. It worked at first, but soon
stopped. I then found I could make the sharing more reliable by giving the
connections fixed IP addresses, so I have made the Host 192.168.0.1 in both
cases and the clients 192.168.0.2 with the Default Gateway set to
192.168.0.2.
Problem is that after working perfectly well for a while - one day, maybe
two or three, the clients suddenly lose touch with the hosts. Sometimes
restarting both machines cures the problem, sometimes not. Sometimes
selecting "Repair" from the menu on the Network Connections icons cures the
problem, sometimes not. Sometimes I have to uninstall and reinstall the
drivers for the ethernet cards, and that has sometimes made the connection
work again.
My questions are: a) why does the system suddenly stop working? b) Why did
Microsoft put a REPAIR connection item on the menu? What did they expect to
happen that needed repairing? Is it this that is messing up my connections-
and if so why doesn't the repair option make it work again?
I am thinking of installing a proxy server on my Host machines because the
networking seems to work reasonably reliably as far as file and printer
sharing is concerned - although sometimes even that collapses for a while.
Has anyone else had this problem? Any and all suggestions gratefully
considered.

Will Light

Will Light wrote:
> I am having the same problems on my home network and on another one
> which I set up for a mate.
> The two systems are exactly the same.
> i.e. Two computers, both running XP - at home XP Pro - at my mate's
> XP Home. Computers are connected by ethernet cards and crossover
> cables.
> I set up the internet connections on the Host computers. They work OK
> in both cases. Mine is BT Openworld with the Alcatel Frog. My mates
> is ntlworld with a cable modem. So far so good. Now we come to share
> the connection. At first I tried using the Network Setup Wizard. It
> worked at first, but soon stopped. I then found I could make the
> sharing more reliable by giving the connections fixed IP addresses,
> so I have made the Host 192.168.0.1 in both cases and the clients
> 192.168.0.2 with the Default Gateway set to 192.168.0.2.
> Problem is that after working perfectly well for a while - one day,
> maybe two or three, the clients suddenly lose touch with the hosts.
> Sometimes restarting both machines cures the problem, sometimes not.
> Sometimes selecting "Repair" from the menu on the Network Connections
> icons cures the problem, sometimes not. Sometimes I have to uninstall
> and reinstall the drivers for the ethernet cards, and that has
> sometimes made the connection work again.
> My questions are: a) why does the system suddenly stop working? b)
> Why did Microsoft put a REPAIR connection item on the menu? What did
> they expect to happen that needed repairing? Is it this that is
> messing up my connections- and if so why doesn't the repair option
> make it work again?
> I am thinking of installing a proxy server on my Host machines
> because the networking seems to work reasonably reliably as far as
> file and printer sharing is concerned - although sometimes even that
> collapses for a while. Has anyone else had this problem? Any and all
> suggestions gratefully considered.
>
The world according to MS says that you need to set both connections to
obtain an IP address automatically.
I know static IP should work but sometimes it wont for no good reason.
--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk