Tried Netgear HomePlug -- no workie yet

After seeing many recommendations here for the HomePlug
solution to link two machines, I got a pair of Netgear XE103
boxes to see if they would work better than my WAP54G/WPC54G
wireless link.

So I unplugged the cat5 cable that goes to the WAP54G on my
router (hooked to my desktop WinXP) and plugged one of the
XE103 boxes (which is plugged into a nearby electrical outlet).

On the laptop that used to be the wireless client machine I
umplugged the WPC54G (PCCard), rebooted the machine and
plugged in the other XE103, like the little booklet said --
and that's all the booklet said.

Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the hard
drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop can't find
the net with any browser, ping doesn't work.

I presume the wireless setup I had is the problem. Since
I've never found any trace of software or anything else
involving the laptop wireless thing, I have no idea where to
start. Here's the IPConfig /all:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Toshiba_Laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : houston.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : houston.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R)
PRO/100 VE Network Connect
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-0D-9F-89-C3
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.15.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.15.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.15.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
192.168.1.2
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 2007, April 21
18:44:56
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 2007, April 22
18:44:56

Ethernet adapter {E2D47AA7-8E9A-4E5C-8E90-277D10DEB84E}:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Nortel IPSECSHM
Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-42-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

I appreciate you readers taking the time -- any hints of
what to do next would be appreciated. Meanwhile, I'm going
to see if my wireless network still works.

Update:
I removed the HomePlug and went back to the wireless -- it
still works.

Back trying to make the HomePlug get the internet (wireless
card removed, rebooted)
After more net searching, found some things to try:
1) turn off modem and router, wait several minutes, power
back up - no help
2) on laptop client, tried ipconfig/release, /renew
it gives same ip addresses, still no internet available.
3) turned off firewall, no help

By the way, the internet is working just fine on the host
machine.

Since data is going thru the HomePlug link just fine both
ways (I can transfer files between the two machines), lights
blink when they should, surely there is something simple I
am not doing. Would appreciate some suggestions. Thanks.

rob says...

> Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the
> hard drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop
> can't find the net with any browser, ping doesn't work.

Can you ping a numeric URL? Like 209.191.93.52?

Peabody wrote:
> rob says...
>
> > Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the
> > hard drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop
> > can't find the net with any browser, ping doesn't work.
>
> Can you ping a numeric URL? Like 209.191.93.52?
>
>
Peabody, you nailed it. Yes I could get a numeric url, so
that woke me up to look into the dns server. Sure enough, my
system for some reason defaulted to some odd ball new IP for
dns. I changed it to one that the wireless was using and
bingo, things are working now.

Of course I should have known to check this earlier but I'm
just real slow...

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me. Rob

On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:16:11 -0500, rob <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<462aa974$0$9975$(E-Mail Removed)>:

>After seeing many recommendations here for the HomePlug
>solution to link two machines, I got a pair of Netgear XE103
>boxes to see if they would work better than my WAP54G/WPC54G
>wireless link.
>
>So I unplugged the cat5 cable that goes to the WAP54G on my
>router (hooked to my desktop WinXP) and plugged one of the
>XE103 boxes (which is plugged into a nearby electrical outlet).
>
>On the laptop that used to be the wireless client machine I
>umplugged the WPC54G (PCCard), rebooted the machine and
>plugged in the other XE103, like the little booklet said --
>and that's all the booklet said.
>
>Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the hard
>drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop can't find
>the net with any browser, ping doesn't work.
>
>I presume the wireless setup I had is the problem. Since
>I've never found any trace of software or anything else
>involving the laptop wireless thing, I have no idea where to
>start. Here's the IPConfig /all:
>Windows IP Configuration
>
> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Toshiba_Laptop
> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : houston.rr.com
>
>Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
....
>Ethernet adapter {E2D47AA7-8E9A-4E5C-8E90-277D10DEB84E}:
>
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Nortel IPSECSHM
>Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport

Your Nortel VPN may be a problem.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me. Rob

Glad you got that worked out. How much did the Home Plug implementation set
you back?

John Navas wrote:

> On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:16:11 -0500, rob <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> <462aa974$0$9975$(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
>
>>After seeing many recommendations here for the HomePlug
>>solution to link two machines, I got a pair of Netgear XE103
>>boxes to see if they would work better than my WAP54G/WPC54G
>>wireless link.
>>
>>So I unplugged the cat5 cable that goes to the WAP54G on my
>>router (hooked to my desktop WinXP) and plugged one of the
>>XE103 boxes (which is plugged into a nearby electrical outlet).
>>
>>On the laptop that used to be the wireless client machine I
>>umplugged the WPC54G (PCCard), rebooted the machine and
>>plugged in the other XE103, like the little booklet said --
>>and that's all the booklet said.
>>
>>Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the hard
>>drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop can't find
>>the net with any browser, ping doesn't work.
>>
>>I presume the wireless setup I had is the problem. Since
>>I've never found any trace of software or anything else
>>involving the laptop wireless thing, I have no idea where to
>>start. Here's the IPConfig /all:
>>Windows IP Configuration
>>
>> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Toshiba_Laptop
>> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
>> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
>> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>> DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : houston.rr.com
>>
>>Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
>
> ...
>
>>Ethernet adapter {E2D47AA7-8E9A-4E5C-8E90-277D10DEB84E}:
>>
>> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
>> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Nortel IPSECSHM
>>Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
>
>
> Your Nortel VPN may be a problem.
>
You're correct that the VPN shuts down the file sharing and
the net while it is is being used but all is now ok (after
fixing the bad DNS) when the VPN is not in use. Thanks.

Maxwell Edison wrote:

> "rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>
>> Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me. Rob
>
>
> Glad you got that worked out. How much did the Home Plug implementation
> set you back?
I paid $120 including shipping from Amazon. I haven't
figured out how to determine its speed but it appears to be
more zippy than my wireless with a corner reflector on the AP.

rob says...

>> > Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the
>> > hard drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop
>> > can't find the net with any browser, ping doesn't
>> > work.

>> Can you ping a numeric URL? Like 209.191.93.52?

> Peabody, you nailed it. Yes I could get a numeric url,
> so that woke me up to look into the dns server. Sure
> enough, my system for some reason defaulted to some odd
> ball new IP for dns. I changed it to one that the
> wireless was using and bingo, things are working now.

> Of course I should have known to check this earlier but
> I'm just real slow...

> Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me. Rob

Hey, you're welcome. Glad you got it working. It just
looked like your DNS server's IP address was outside your
local network per the subnet mask.

Can you explain what takes the place of a router in your
system? What device connects to the internet? I know
nothing about Home Plug.

Peabody wrote:
> rob says...
>
> >> > Amazingly, the MS network works and I can look at the
> >> > hard drives from either machine, etc. But the laptop
> >> > can't find the net with any browser, ping doesn't
> >> > work.
>
> >> Can you ping a numeric URL? Like 209.191.93.52?
>
> > Peabody, you nailed it. Yes I could get a numeric url,
> > so that woke me up to look into the dns server. Sure
> > enough, my system for some reason defaulted to some odd
> > ball new IP for dns. I changed it to one that the
> > wireless was using and bingo, things are working now.
>
> > Of course I should have known to check this earlier but
> > I'm just real slow...
>
> > Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me. Rob
>
> Hey, you're welcome. Glad you got it working. It just
> looked like your DNS server's IP address was outside your
> local network per the subnet mask.
>
> Can you explain what takes the place of a router in your
> system? What device connects to the internet? I know
> nothing about Home Plug.
>
>
I've got a cable modem connected to a Vonage router (it has
three Ethernet ports and that's all I need).
Two ports go to two nearby desktop machines and the other
one either plugs either into my Wireless AP or (now) into
the little HomePlug box. The other HomePlug box is in a
separate building on the same power wiring.