matt_richards
05-07-2002, 08:52 PM
Hello there,
I have recently setup a local area network comprising a number of win98 desktop machines, a couple of winxp laptops and a windows 2000 server. We needed internet access for the two laptops and the server and so experimented with a few ICS options. The initial setup with a win98 machine as proxy running wingate and connected to an ISDN modem proved extremely unreliable. We settled on a linux proxy with smoothwall and aside from the occasional reinitialisation after power interruptions it has proven incredibly stable.
However, upon receipt of the first phone bill we were alarmed to see that the machine had been dialling in spontaneously at regular intervals and staying online for periods which were often brief, but sometimes up to two hours. There are a few things that we can rule out from the beginning: it is not an anti-virus program checking for new definitions, it is not people accessing their email because it often happens when noone could possibly be in the building, the xp machines are all disconnected and the win98 machines switched off. This leaves only the server machine – after the screensaver kicks in, that is effectively logged out, but whether other (net-accessing) programs could be invisibly running in the background I do not know. Aside from that the only possible culprits are the linux machine and smoothwall, but I do not know what element of the configuration could be causing this.
Does anyone know why this happens and also how it can be avoided. I would be very grateful for some feedback, as this problem is proving as perplexing as it is expensive.
Thanks in advance.
I have recently setup a local area network comprising a number of win98 desktop machines, a couple of winxp laptops and a windows 2000 server. We needed internet access for the two laptops and the server and so experimented with a few ICS options. The initial setup with a win98 machine as proxy running wingate and connected to an ISDN modem proved extremely unreliable. We settled on a linux proxy with smoothwall and aside from the occasional reinitialisation after power interruptions it has proven incredibly stable.
However, upon receipt of the first phone bill we were alarmed to see that the machine had been dialling in spontaneously at regular intervals and staying online for periods which were often brief, but sometimes up to two hours. There are a few things that we can rule out from the beginning: it is not an anti-virus program checking for new definitions, it is not people accessing their email because it often happens when noone could possibly be in the building, the xp machines are all disconnected and the win98 machines switched off. This leaves only the server machine – after the screensaver kicks in, that is effectively logged out, but whether other (net-accessing) programs could be invisibly running in the background I do not know. Aside from that the only possible culprits are the linux machine and smoothwall, but I do not know what element of the configuration could be causing this.
Does anyone know why this happens and also how it can be avoided. I would be very grateful for some feedback, as this problem is proving as perplexing as it is expensive.
Thanks in advance.