Network internet problems

[BlueRevolution]

I have ADSL properly set up and working on my Power Mac G5 (10.4.3), but I'm having a problem sharing it. the situation is this: when I run Virtual PC and try to access the internet via NAT I'll see a page's title appear but no content, while the browser just sits there trying to load. (haven't tried Virtual Switch, don't know how to set it up and frankly don't care since I can just drag and drop from my desktop into VPC on the occasions when I need it.)

the reason why I'm detailing all this is that my sister is home for christmas, and she brought her iBook (10.3.9). my computer is plugged directly in to the modem via ethernet, it isn't feasable to use the wired router I have sitting around and I have no wireless router. my solution is to create a computer-to-computer network between the machines and enable internet sharing. so now with everything connected we can both use iTunes sharing and file sharing (ie. I can access her files and music and vice versa), but she's having the same problem accessing the internet that I have been when using Virtual PC: the title of a page will load but nothing else. after leaving it for a few minutes I hit escape and saw the page appear but with no graphics, but this obviously isn't feasable.

so I don't care about VPC, but I would appreciate if anyone could shed some light on the problem and help me restore my sister's faith in my geekiness.

 

[mklos]

If you plug your Mac, and your sisters iBook into a router, then you should have internet on both, share iTunes, etc.

 

[BlueRevolution]

If you plug your Mac, and your sisters iBook into a router, then you should have internet on both, share iTunes, etc.

my computer is plugged directly in to the modem via ethernet, it isn't feasable to use the wired router I have sitting around and I have no wireless router.

thanks for trying to help though.

 

[mklos]

Why isn't it feasible to use the wired router?

Unless you have an AirPort Extreme Card in your PowerMac G5, then there is no way to have your sisters iBook connect to your network. You've ruled out the only 2 ways to connect to a network, wireless, and wired.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Why isn't it feasible to use the wired router?

Unless you have an AirPort Extreme Card in your PowerMac G5, then there is no way to have your sisters iBook connect to your network. You've ruled out the only 2 ways to connect to a network, wireless, and wired.

because my sister wants to access the internet from her room, and we don't want to run cables all over the place for a 2 week stay or buy a wireless router for the time either.

again I have to refer back to my original post and point out that I did say that we have a working wireless computer-to-computer network with functioning file and iTunes sharing, implying that we both have the neccessary hardware.

again I appreciate you trying to help, but please read my whole post before offering solutions. it is the internet sharing problem I'm asking about, not the networking aspect. I may not be 65816 but I do understand basic networking, ie. one must have appropriate hardware to connect computers.

 

[mklos]

I've read your post 2 or 3 times and I FINALLY understand it...Its a little confusing as you mention too many things.

Ok, and you have Internet Sharing enabled? Sorry for the dumb question, but some people just assume that its enabled by default. Internet Sharing is different from File Sharing. And you have it shared out to computers using AirPort, yes? Does your ISP require you to enter any DNS numbers? Some do, and some don't...

 

[BlueRevolution]

I've read your post 2 or 3 times and I FINALLY understand it...Its a little confusing as you mention too many things.

Ok, and you have Internet Sharing enabled? Sorry for the dumb question, but some people just assume that its enabled by default. Internet Sharing is different from File Sharing. And you have it shared out to computers using AirPort, yes? Does your ISP require you to enter any DNS numbers? Some do, and some don't...

internet sharing? yep, on my computer anyway... I toyed with the preferences on the iBook but it doesn't really make sense to use it there, and it should detect a network internet connection if there is one. but yes, all of that is set up. the iBook's network pane says "connected to the Internet via AirPort" so I assume that's all good.

hadn't thought about the DNS thing though. checking in the Network pane there isn't anything in the DNS Servers box, I assume that means no.

is there any utility or UNIX command I can use to test various ports and protocols on the iBook? I know some things are getting through to the internet because it'll load the title of web pages and considers itself to be connected, but evidently something's getting in the way. or if it's easier, something I can run in Virtual PC since it's having the exact same problem, presumably with the exact same cause.

is it possible that this is my ISP's way of preventing people from sharing their internet connections like the Internet Sharing pane warns you about?

and yeah, looking back... it made sense in my head

 

[mklos]

Most ISP's in the U.S. don't care how many users use the internet connection, as long as its in the same household, but it is possible for ISP's to regulate a connection to one computer in both the US and in other countries. You'll have to check your ISP's rules and regulations.

I would also say no on the DNS thing then if you're computer doesn't have any.

Do you have the OS X Firewall turned on? Its off by default. If you plug the iBook directly into the ADSL Modem does it work? That would eliminate something wrong on the iBook end if it works perfectly.

Of course your original post would make sense to you, as you wrote it!!!

 

[BlueRevolution]

I've fiddled with the firewalls, I have NetBarrier on my computer which I turned off and shut off both of our OS X firewalls.

the iBook does not work hooked directly up to the modem, but the problem there is that the ISP repeatedly prompts for username and password, then says session expired. I suspect it's independant of the internet sharing problem though since we're not even getting that far.

 

[skoker]

I've fiddled with the firewalls, I have NetBarrier on my computer which I turned off and shut off both of our OS X firewalls.

the iBook does not work hooked directly up to the modem, but the problem there is that the ISP repeatedly prompts for username and password, then says session expired. I suspect it's independant of the internet sharing problem though since we're not even getting that far.

Stupid question: Are the username and PW entered into PPPoE in the Network pref pane AND turned on?

 

[BlueRevolution]

Stupid question: Are the username and PW entered into PPPoE in the Network pref pane AND turned on?

yep, all that is good. (sorry forgot to reply hehe.) it does work on my computer, so you'd think it would automatically work shared...