switching internet between boxes

[czarnykot]

Hi,

I have searched the forums and the internet for connection-related problems, but my problem is still not solved.

I occasionally switch my internet connection between my XP box and my linux box (I don't have a router).

I want to connect my linux box to the internet by directly connecting it to the modem. I reset my modem, plug in the cable, run Kubuntu.

The computer gets an IP from the provider, but pinging and browsing does not work (host not found). Resolv.conf is set correctly I think, the DNS address is added to it automatically when I restart the connection (my provider gives no DNS addresses; states it should be set automatically..) with sudo ifdown/ifup.

Ifconfig shows the connection is set correctly (I think); I can post its results if needed.

Any ideas what might be the cause of this?

Thanks in advance,
czarnykot

[askrieger]

Re: switching internet between boxes

You talk about plugging and unplugging a cable to the modem. What kind of a cable is it, (e.g. ethernet or usb) and what kind of modem is it (e.g. DSL, Cable, or Acoustic)? By the way, only an usb connector is designed for plugging and unpluggung while energized.

Resolv.conf is set correctly I think

Your /etc/resolv.conf file should have 3 lines. The first should say something like "search my.isp.com" The other two should be in the form, "nameserver #.#.#.#", where the # signs are numbers between 0 and 255. Typically, the first three numbers will be the same in both lines and the fourth will differ by one or two between the two lines.

Your /etc/network/interfaces file will have 1 stanza that says:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

and several others that all say things like:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

If you are connecting to a cable or DSL modem, when you run the command "ifconfig -a", the second line of the stanza for eth0 will start with something like "inet addr: 192.168.1.100", A couple of lines below that it will talk about the number of Rx and Tx packets, the key information is that those numbers should be large and the number of errors and other glitches should be small.

Also, I STRONGLY SUGGEST that you get a router, they're not very expensive and they save you a lot of work. Also most routers have some firewall capability not to mention simple Network Adress Translation. This is mandatory for windoze and very worthwhile for Linux, See this thread. You'll be amazed at how much faster your windoze box will be!

[lec2004]

Re: switching internet between boxes

Hi,

I have searched the forums and the internet for connection-related problems, but my problem is still not solved.

I occasionally switch my internet connection between my XP box and my linux box (I don't have a router).

I want to connect my linux box to the internet by directly connecting it to the modem. I reset my modem, plug in the cable, run Kubuntu.

The computer gets an IP from the provider, but pinging and browsing does not work (host not found). Resolv.conf is set correctly I think, the DNS address is added to it automatically when I restart the connection (my provider gives no DNS addresses; states it should be set automatically..) with sudo ifdown/ifup.

Ifconfig shows the connection is set correctly (I think); I can post its results if needed.

Any ideas what might be the cause of this?

Thanks in advance,
czarnykot

Have you tried rebooting? when I plug an ethernet cable into a live linux box I find it takes a long time to pick up the Internet despite the fact it has acquired an IP address. Another thing you could try is going into your network settings and deactivating and activating your NIC. This usually works for me.