Connecting to a college network...

redkazan · 01-21-2004, 08:45 PM

Hey Folks:

Thanks for the replies. Here's what I know:

My net card works fine. I can connect perfectly fine at home (via cable). Likewise, it's not a problem with Slack or the 2.6.1 kernel.

Here are the results of ipconfig /all:

Code:

Host Name: backdrift
Primary DNS Suffix: [blank]
Node Type: Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled: No
WINS Proxy Enabled: No
DHCP Enabled: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes
Connection-specific DNS Suffix: clarku
IP Address: 140.232.158.79
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 140.232.158.1
DHCP Server: 10.1.1.10
DNS Servers:  140.232.1.85/5/13 (you guys know what I mean)
Primary WINS Server: 140.232.1.13
Seconday WINS Server: 10.1.1.10

The physical address is the same in Linux and XP.

Hmm, this is interesting, look what happens when I try to ping [via the command line in XP]:

Code:

Pinging www.yahoo.akadns.net [216.109.118.66] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 140.232.158.1: Destination net unreachable.
Request timed out.
Reply from 140.232.158.1: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 140.232.158.1: Destination net unreachable.

Ping statistics for 216.109.118.66:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

Does this confirm that it's a proxy issue? Because I can definitely function perfectly fine on the internet via XP (download, surf, check mail, etc.) If it is a proxy issue, how do we resolve it?

Finally, yes, I've sent an e-mail to ITS here at Clark (Information Technology Services), but as Linux isn't officially supported by them, I'm not sure they'll help (I find this ironic, considering many of the labs on campus solely run Linux).

Thanks,

rk

EDIT: I can ping my roommate's computer perfectly fine. The plot thickens. We live in a house that is off-campus, but Clark owned. We still use Clark's network (multiple T1's) to connect, however, so I don't understand what the issue would be.

Rodrin · 01-21-2004, 11:53 PM

It would be expected that you could ping your roommate's computer because the packets don't have to go through a router/firewall since that computer is on the same subnet as your computer. Pings would only be filtered when the packets had to travel through whatever firewall is filtering them to reach their destination. This very well might only be the case for addresses outside the university's network.

This certainly leaves the possibility of this being a proxy issue, but the only way to tell for certain is to check the proxy settings for Internet Explorer (if that is what you're using) under Windows XP. From IE, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options. From that dialog box select the Connections tab. Beneath that tab, take note of the settings. Is the "Automatically detect settings" checkbox checked? If it is checked, then take note of the proxy settings in the boxes at the bottom. If it is not checked, but the "Use automatic configuration script" box is checked, then take note of the address for the automatic configuration script. If neither box is checked, but the "Use a proxy server" box is checked, then once again take note of the actual settings in the boxes for the proxy server address and port number. If there are proxy settings, then you will need to set up your browser in Linux to use those settings as well (either the settings themseles or the automatic configuration.

redkazan · 01-21-2004, 11:59 PM

Rodrin:

None of the relevant boxes are checked in IE. *pulls hair out*

rk

jymbo · 01-22-2004, 08:08 AM

Disregard the inability to ping past your gateway....a lot of firewalls are configured to filter all icmp requests (to prevent DOS attacks).

Boot into XP and do a traceroute like you did in Slackware:
C:\tracert yahoo.com

This one should go through. Post results for us to see.

redkazan · 01-22-2004, 05:35 PM

Good news -- problem fixed. Or rather, it may never have been a problem at all. Last night I was bored, so I downloaded (in WinXP) the newest version of XFCE, as well as the source for Firebird, and booted into Linux. After getting XFCE lookin' pretty, and compiling Firebird, I tried to connect via X for the hell of it. And, of course, it works perfectly fine. After trying to ping from runlevel3, and not being able to do it (or text browse), I figured that I didn't have a working connection. However, it just seems to be the way the firewall at school is set up. I can function with no problems (check mail, browse, download, FTP) using more advanced programs (Firebird, gFTP, etc.). In retrospect, I feel like a jerk for not trying this out earlier, but I just assumed that if I couldn't ping outside IPs, I wouldn't be able to do anything more advanced.

So I thank all of you for your patience and help; I certainly learned a lot about Linux networking by reading your posts and trying out your suggestions.

rk

dirstyGuy · 01-23-2004, 09:43 AM

It seemed to me also that it looked like u have not a problem to connect to internet at all. The output of ping is maybe filtered from firewall of yahoo, I got almost the same message also by trying to ping yahoo and google.

They must have filtered that out per firewall to prevent their server from DOS.

Edit: ..Ooops sorry or maybe it is firtered out by my own firewall ..