Small network of 2 windows and 1 Mepis computers. All static ip addresses on eth1. Only eth1 and loop-back are set to start at boot. Mepis is the only connection to the internet via dial-up.

Problem: I can dial up and connect ok but firefox or konquerer won't go anywhere. I mean they come up but just say "looking up www.mepis.com". Then I must disconnect the dialup, stop eth1, reconnect with dialup and then I can surf. I think it has someting to do with the default gateway address in my eth1. It is set to it's network address.
Ideally I'd like to keep eth1 set to start at boot but not need to stop it before I dial the internet.
Looking for some suggestions.

that is either because of your routing table (default route) or your resolv.conf (not pointing to the right dns servers)
run
#cat /etc/resolv.conf
and
#route
wile both interfaces are up, then post the output here.

your default route would have to be pointing to your ppp0 device (add will have a non private address range in the collum 'gateway')
your dns records need to be set to your isp's dns servers
in the form of
nameserver <ipaddress>

With both interfaces up...
#cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 63.173.217.2
nameserver 208.0.125.3
nameserver 63.173.217.2 #kppp temp entry
nameserver 208.0.125.3 #kppp temp entry
When I type route, it just display headers and just keeps trying.
--------------------------------------------------
With eth1 down and ppp0 up...
#cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 63.173.217.2
nameserver 208.0.125.3
nameserver 63.173.217.2 #kppp temp entry
nameserver 208.0.125.3 #kppp temp entry
(same as before)

and
#route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
199-3.usachoice * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
default 199-3.usachoice 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 ppp0

do a
route -n
with both up again...

With eth1 up at startup then kppp dials...
route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
66.71.199.3 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.0.3 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1
---------------------------------------------------------
with eth1 shutdown and kppp redialed...
route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
66.71.199.3 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
0.0.0.0 66.71.199.3 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 ppp0

can you see the lines in each routeing tables starting with 0.0.0.0 ?
that is your default route.

you might need to change settings in you dhclient.conf file, or your interfaces config files

you basically need to state that eth1 is not responsible for your default toute. either ppp0 will then automatically be the default route when you dial up, or you also tell it to be default route in your interface config or dhclient config (could also be called dhcpcd)