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I've recently upgraded several systems for a local business to Windows 2000 Pro. The business pays for 3 simultaneous logins to their ISP. Since the upgrade, any of the 4 systems can connect to the internet by themselves, but I cannot get two systems to connect simultaneously. I receive the error, "unable to establish a connection". I have spoken to the ISP already and they have no problems on their end with the multiple logins. Any suggestions? Thank you for your comments.
How are these systems connecting, are they networked? Have you had the isp techs watch the connection?
Are they dialing in?
On a cable/dsl modem with multiple IP's? Perhaps the IP's need to be set to static if this is so?
Need more info!
These are four stand-alone systems for the time being. They will be networked within the next few months, but right now they are stand-alone PC's. They all use a standard dialup connection through a modem. I have worked with the techs from the ISP & they have watched the connection & have found nothing out of the ordinary.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by pinhead:
<strong>These are four stand-alone systems for the time being. They will be networked within the next few months, but right now they are stand-alone PC's. They all use a standard dialup connection through a modem. I have worked with the techs from the ISP & they have watched the connection & have found nothing out of the ordinary.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You say "through a modem" - you mean a single modem? Or each box has its own modem? Sorry to ask the obvious questions... but you would be amazed! How about the phone lines - they are all separate, or do they go through a private exchange?
each system has its own modem
Sorry to ask the obvious questions... but you would be amazed! How about the phone lines - they are all separate, or do they go through a private exchange?
What are the modems?
The phone lines all go through a private exchange, however before the upgrade to Win 2000, the simultaneous logins worked flawlessly. The phone system has been in place for about 18 months now.
Did windows 2000 load its own drivers or did you get the 2k drivers from the modem manufacturer's website?
I'm sorry NooNoo, I may be wrong about the private exchange. I just called to verify that I am right, and the owner told me that they have 9 separate phone lines that all come into one panel. Each phone line has it's own phone number though. I'm really not sure exactly what a private exchange is. My apologies.
Private exchange varies, but what I had in mind was say 10 numbers that belong to the company, but, when someone phones the company, they always dial the same number, and the exchange picks up the call and routes to the next available number in the batch of ten.
OK, this is the third time I have asked about the modems... make(s) and model(s) please!!!
There are four systems in question.
The first system is A Dell OptiPlex GX110 which uses a Conexant HCF 56K PCI Modem
The second system is a new Dell (I'm not sure the model number of the system). It uses a Conexant HCF V90 56K Data Fax PCI Modem.
The other two systems are laptops. The third system is a Dell Inspiron 5000e which uses a LT Win Modem.
The fourth system is a Dell Inspiron 4000 which also uses a LT Win Modem.
and did 2k find its own drivers for these modems or did you use the install diskettes for these modems or did you download generic drivers?
2K found its own drivers for these modems. However, when I realized there were problems with the dialup connection, I downloaded the latest drivers (compatable with Win 2000) from Dell's site (using the model number of the systems).
Are the dells still in warranty?
Have the isp suggested any init strings?
Only one system is still under warranty. It was purchased about a month ago with Win 2000 Pro factory loaded. I'll call the ISP and see if they can suggest any init strings, but they didn't suggest any while we were having the problems in the first place.
Did you try deleting and recreating the DUN connection?
Also try removing TPC/IP rebooting and reinstalling.
I've already tried removing the DUN connection, but I didn't remove TCP/IP and reboot yet. I'll try that tomorrow.
You know, quite honestly - if you can connect, the machine is fine. If you can not connect more than once to the same ISP using the same account from seperate machines - I have to go with the ISP having an issue of some sort with 2k.
One thing - have you tried getting static IP's from them and hard coding the ISP's gateway and dns?
That's what I had thought, but I figured maybe somebody has encountered the same problem here. I have updated all drivers and I believe the problem is on the ISP's end, but I will contact them tomorrow and check into getting static IP addresses and hardcoding the gateway and DNS info. Thank you all for your suggestions. Enjoy.
I would be alittle concerned about the phonelines. I have been into places where they have a PBX system for the office phones and only one break out line. Because the PBX is a digital system, the modems can not dial directly thru it. That is why they need break out lines to dial direct. A common indicator of this is if they have to dial 9 to get an outside line.
I would suggest taking an analog phone with you, connect one pc to the internet then go around with the analog phone and check for dial tones at each of the other pc's. No dial tone means there is only one true outside line.
And some customers will say one thing, but in reality the truth is completely different. They may never had connected simultaneously before, but thought they had.
Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. They are greatly appreciated, but I have talked the owner into purchasing a broadband connection and sharing between the systems. For the price he pays for the simultaneous logins, he can get a good broadband connection. Thank a lot fellow techs. Have a great day.
The only way it could be on he ISP's end is if all three logins are on the same user name and password.
If you have three true dialup accounts with them, then you should be logging on with three separate users? Three logins with three users on three known separate phone line should work fine.
The previous post may be correct, it may be the office phone system. To find out, log one computer into your clients ISP, and try to log a different computer into a different ISP. If you can dial out at all with the second computer, it is probably not the phone system.
Within Windows 2k networking you may also have to make sure all 4 computers have different computer names. And different user names at windows loggin. If these machines are seen as identical in any way by the ISP's server, it may prevent multiple logins.
Hope this helps.
I have already tried dialing up to two separate ISP's simultaneously and have had no problems. In fact, the business is currently using home accounts from employees to connect to the same ISP, so that rules out issues with the phone system. They do log in with the same username and password simultaneously, but the ISP has tested the simultaneous logins with Windows 98 and it has worked fine. However, they can't get it to work with Win2k either. I will try your suggestion about the Windows login being the same on several machines, but I believe we are going to switch to a broadband connection and share the connection across a network. Thank again for your suggestions.
Quote:
Originally posted by pinhead
I have already tried dialing up to two separate ISP's simultaneously and have had no problems. In fact, the business is currently using home accounts from employees to connect to the same ISP, so that rules out issues with the phone system. They do log in with the same username and password simultaneously, but the ISP has tested the simultaneous logins with Windows 98 and it has worked fine. However, they can't get it to work with Win2k either. I will try your suggestion about the Windows login being the same on several machines, but I believe we are going to switch to a broadband connection and share the connection across a network. Thank again for your suggestions.
See, told ya.
Get a router with a NAT for the machine if they are going to be on a cable/dsl connection. might want to go get a freeware firewall for the individual machines as well just to be safe.