Re: XP Clients/Proxy setting help needed

From: Ron (rgood_at_netzero.com)
Date: 01/04/05 

Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 12:44:24 -0500

Chuck:

Thanks. WinProxy did work perfectly with my apps in the past. It is an
old version (3.0) but the Ositis website suggests that unless XP points
to a specific incompatibility when it is installed there should be no
problem (they actually suggest ignoring the warnings) and so I do think
that you are on the right track and I will certainly check out the MTU
issue. I misspoke perhaps. My modem is not USB (I have a NIC card) but
the adapters on the clients are. At this point I will not go for a
hardware or wireless router solution because I do have about 90%
functionality and there is absolutely nothing I cannot do if I really
need to. At the same time I would like to solve the problem if
possible. Mid-winter challenges are useful escapes!

/ron

Chuck wrote:
> On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 10:43:26 -0500, Ron <rgood@netzero.com> wrote:
>
>
>>For several years I had a home network consisting of
>>
>>- Win98SE server and an Win98 SE and XP Home client. All are connected
>>to the server via USB telephone line connectors.
>>- I use WinProxy as a software proxy server
>>- the server connects to the net via cable modem
>>- I have been running Netscape 7.1
>>
>>Recently I updated my server and the 98 client with XP home, including
>>SP2. I added Zone Alarm freebie and disabled Windows firewall. Running
>>a CA virus checker. Note that I did not do a clean install on the
>>server, but loaded XP on top of Win98SE (too much work to do with
>>programs on that computer to spend a day on this -- all programs run
>>perfectly and smoothly).
>>
>>The good news is that I have no problem with the LAN itself; file
>>transfer is now more stable and faster. I can easily access the web off
>>my clients (with proxy settings in Netscape on manual/with ports per
>>instruction of WinProxy).
>>
>>But here's the problem:
>>
>>I cannot do Netscape Mail off the clients (server fine). I get a message
>>about not being able to access the SMTP server (my settings for mail
>>server are correct). And some sites which apparently have high levels
>>of security (eg., my cellphone personal login, bank, etc.) won't load; I
>>get an error message telling me that I can't access them with the proxy
>>setup I use.
>>
>>I can get around the mail problem by using webmail (which works fine)
>>and can access my few high security accounts off my server, but
>>basically I would like full functionality on all computers.
>>
>>Has anyone had and fixed this problem? Any ideas on what I can do? I am
>>not terribly technical, though could edit some registry changes, etc.
>>Feels to me like some simply port blocking. Note I have not fully
>>uninstalled ZA to see what would happen).
>>
>>Thanks for any help you can provide.
>>
>>/ron
>
>
> Ron,
>
> I've used WinProxy before. It's a solid product, but proxy servers are very
> application specific, and some apps won't work with a proxy server.
>
> ICS, which is a software based NAT router, is easier to use. Of course, getting
> rid of the USB connected modem, and getting a hardware NAT router is, by far,
> the best solution IMHO.
>
> When you mention additional (HTML?) problems with security sites, your problem
> starts to sound like an MTU problem to me.
> http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article04-107
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314825
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=319661
>

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