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December 20th, 2003 19:00
How to configure Windows 2003 Server for wireless.
Hi --
Apologies beforehand for an obliviousness in the problem described below. I know just enough about computing to get me into trouble ;-) Any sage advice will be warmly and gratefully received.
Background:
I currently am running windows server 2003 on a Dell Poweredge server with two ethernet cards -- one is connected to the internet (through which I share the connection with a couple of internal client computers) and one is connected to a 3com hub to which connect a couple of desktops. I've also connected my 3com homeconnect home wirelss gateway access point hub to the 3 com LAN network hub. The Homeconnect wireless gateway is hardwired with the IP address of 192.168.2.1.
As currently configured, my server dos not see the gateway. From my laptop, I can ping the gateway but cannot ping the server. I believe windows 2003 uses DCHP for autoaddressing the other clients in the system. The gateway also uses DCHP to address clients up to 3 clients that hookup into it. That can be turned off, but when I do, my laptop cannot find the wireless gateway
Questions: Do I need to set up an official internal domain in order to install Active Directory in order to get the network to see/accept the wireless access point? If so, I've been having trouble reconfiguring the server. Whenever I attempt to add the domain I get an error message prompting me to turn off ICF (Internet Connection Firewall)> I've gotten the same error after I turn it off ICF and reboot, after I delete and reinstall the Network cards, and after I go into services and disable ICF (!)
Do I need to set up static addresses? I'm currently running autoaddress.
If I set up a domain, will I be able to continue to share the internet connection through the server? In the back of my mind, I seem to recall that I may not be allowed to continue ICS. An alternative is to hook the internet into my wireless gateway which has a builtin firewall . . .
Do I need to BRIDGE between the LAN and the WIRELESS hub to get my wireless system installed properly and if so, how and where do I do it?
There seem to be so many variables that I keep going round in circles. Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Krista
PolarOrbit
14 Posts
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February 6th, 2004 08:00
Krista, it's pretty late right now so forgive me if I miss something.
W2K3 can most certainly share an internet connection. You do it through RRAS. As for IP addresses, DHCP is probably the easiest long term answer and no you don't have to have an Active Directory domain in order to do it but you can only have one DHCP server on your subnet. All your computers and routers/gateways need to be in the same subnet. What do you mean the gateway is hardwired to 192.168.2.1? Can you not change the address or configure the gateway to use a dynamic IP address? If not, you will have to make sure all other equipment has IP addresses on the 192.168.2.0 subnet. From what you said it sounds like that is what is happening. If your gateway and laptop are on the same subnet they can see each other. However, if the server is on a different subnet it won't see them and they can't see it.
1) Make sure every computer and router/gateway has an address such as 192.168.2.x with a subnet mask 255.255.255.0. You can do this with either DHCP or static addresses.
2) Configure RRAS on your server to route traffic to the internet.
3) Point the default gateway of each computer to the W2K3 Server. You'll also have to point your computers to a DNS server in order to browse the internet. Both these can be done through DHCP or statically.
That should do it. Of course there's another solution, use your gateway as a gateway. Connect it to the internet, connect the hub to the gateway, connect the server and all clients to the hub. By doing this you could use the gateway's DHCP server and eliminate the need to set up RRAS on your W2K3 Server.
I'd recommend you stay away from RRAS unless you feel like studying MCSE material. RRAS and RADIUS are powerful tools but can be tricky to implement.
You are also complicating your life by multi-homing your server. Just connect all computers to your hub unless you're trying to isolate some of the computers. In that case you will have to configure RRAS for the NIC that those computers access.
Hope this helped. Take it one step at a time. Get DHCP working and you're almost done.