Hello first

And thanks for any ideas on this. I'm not a network pro but normally I know my way around. Anyway I can't get my linux box to use the same internet connection as my windows box.

The setup (no dhcp servers, all IPs are fixed):

linux (suse 10.0) box, 1 network card, connected to windows box via a LAN-cable (with a switch in between, though I'd like to use a direct connection (crosslink cable))
windows (XP prof.) box, 1 network card + 1 wireless device that connects to the router (and thus internet)

two Networks (c nets afaik:
linux box 192.168.0.70 (NM 255.255.255.0)
windows box nw card 192.168.0.66 (NM 255.255.255.0)

windows box wireless device 192.168.20.55 (NM 255.255.255.0)
Router 192.168.20.1 (NM 255.255.255.0)

Like this the boxes can communicate without probs. The win box has internet. But the linux box has not
what setup could I choose to get the wireless internet connection of the windows box working for the the linux box (preferably without the linux box beeing present in the same network as the windows box)?

Approaches that didn't work :

At first I tried to put them all in one network. Which won't work, because the win box will hand packets for the linux box via the wireless connection to the router and the router does not know of the linux box...
I tried the win xp network bridge. It binds the same IP (192.168.1.2) on both nw devices. Then put the linux box in the same network. Anyway either the connection between the boxes works, or the (wireless) internet connection of the win-box depeding on whether I enter the router as the default gateway on the win box.
In a weak moment I also tried the windows ICS (afaik the only way to make turn an xp box into a gateway) - Anyway it didn't work out. It wasn't able to set the win-box IP to 192.168.0.1, only Bill knows why...


If I connect both boxes to the switch by cable and the switch to the router and put them all in one net 192.168.0.xxx everything works fine. Both boxes can communicate and have internet access. Anyway, I need the wireless connection.
Btw none of the devices or cables is broken or incorrectly installed.

Thank you for any suggestions

What you are looking for is called IP masquerading. There are several good howto's on it, just search for "IP masquerade" on google.

jrtayloriv

The above is only going to happen with routing or bridging.

OTOH with it setup like this you should be able to set the default gateway of the linux box to the same gateway the windows box uses and all should be well

It'll know of the linux box if you put the linux box on the same network as the router and windows box. BTW this is a standard configuration for a network. Unless you have a really good reason for wanting to put them on separate networks you're making a complicated network out of a configuration that is well documented all over the internet.

I don't see how you can get this working without ICS. By default Windows is not going to forward packets, which needs to be enabled in order for this sort of thing to work.

@xjlittle: thanks for your answer, but it is not "the" all-in-one-net-with-the-gateway present standard setup, as the linux box (cable only) cannot be connected to the (wireless) router directly. It is only connected to the win box and if I set the gateway to the router IP on Linux the win box does not perform the NAT/ masquerading.
In the two network setup right now linux wouldn't even be able to reach the gateway (the router).
In a one network setup the win box would have two network devices connected top the same network, which cannot work afaik.


@chort: no offense, but I hope you're wrong...though I am afraid you're not...


So the question still is, is there a way to make the internet connection of the winbox available to the linux box behind it? One network, two networks, (win-XP)bridging, different netmasks...?
As a last resort I am rather sure, that the only way to make windows a gateway (and thus have it to do the NAT/masquerading)is ICS (if I get it running)


BTW, it is not possible to use the wireless adapter on the linux box. Though it would be quite easy to make linux act as a proper gateway for another network/the win box. The tidies solution is thus not an option

Chort is absolutely right. You must you ICS on the Windows box to make it act as a router for your Linux box.

Moving the wifi card to your linux box would be really easy, and Suse supports wifi. You'd still have the switch and the cables exactly the same as before, so why the big problem with it this way round?

Alternatively, you can buy an extra wifi device for your Suse box. I've used PCI wifi cards, USB adaptors, and I've even got a LAN to wifi 5-in-1 router/bridge/AP. All of these devices are very inexpensive these days.

Weeeelllll, I can get the wifi device running on the linux box. That was just a quick way to state that it is not an option.
Thing is, I use the linux box for testing server setups and as a local kind of mirror for a server on the internet. It is thus not always running when the windows box is running. But the win box is always on when the linux box is on. Thus ...
I am also looking for an energy efficient setup. I don't want the (noisy) linux box to run all day. Same goes for the switch or any additional devices (though they are cheap to buy).

Hell I love those emoticons


But I finally got ICS working.
Prob was you cannot set it up on the nw card (though it is meant to be the gateway for the othe network/linux box.
However you can set it up on the device that is connected to the internet. And tataaa it does not set the IP of the wifi device to 192.168.0.1 but the one of the NIC instead. Even more surprisingly windows then finally acts as a proper gateway and performs the NAT/masquerading.
Now isn't that a cute little OS? It does not tell you what it does, its error messages do neither you cant properly configure it, but it works. And it can even do more than it claims! After it has changed the NIC IP to 192.168.0.1 (because "that is the only address ICS will work on" you can change it again to at least another 192.168.0.xxx address and it will still work properly. Oh what a humble piece of software!!!

I didn't see what type of inet connection you were referring to, so I will assume broadband.

Just get a router to simplify the process.

Good luck.

I wondered if it was something like that, but wanted to be sure you knew the options
Ah yes, I remember ICS working that way. First time I used it a Wintel experienced friend set it up, so second time I configured it I was familiar enough not to notice how difficult it is to interpret M$'s instructions.

Glad you got it working the way you want