Urgent network help needed

[Bill Davidsen]

Rick Stevens wrote:
> On 07/08/2013 02:00 PM, Timothy Murphy issued this missive:
>> I am away from home.
>> My wife at home cannot access the internet with her laptop.
>> I suspect the problem is in the home server I am responsible for.
>>
>> In brief, the internet can be accessed from the CentOS-6.4 server.
>> Her laptop accesses a WiFi router which is connected to the server.
>> I have to confess that she is the only household member
>> running Windows - Windows XP in her case.
>> Connect to=>Show All Connections shows the WiFi connection is good.
>> But she cannot access the internet, or ping google, etc.
>>
>> I can get access and login to the server from far away.
>> I see nothing wrong.
>> I have restarted the network, dhcpd and shorewall services.
>> I checked that forwarding is on.
>> I can ping my wife's laptop from the server.
>>
>> Her setup has been working fine for months if not years,
>> accessing her work over VPN.
>> But now she is just trying to browse.
>>
>> I'm not sure what tests I can run to diagnose the problem.
>> Any suggestions very gratefully received.
>> They may save a marriage ...
>
> Step 1: Reboot the WiFi router. It may have lunched its routing tables.
> It happens.
>
> Step 2: Reboot her laptop. Not a warm boot (ctrl-alt-del), but
> a full-tilt cold boot from power off. You say she uses a VPN to contact
> work, and it's often that the VPN clients leave crumbs in Windows'
> routing and DNS lookup tables.
>
Oh hell, that's it. The typical Cisco or similar VPN software packages don't 
allow access to anything BUT the VPN. Don't start the VPN and everything should 
work. Sorry, been years since I did that.


-- 
Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
   "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked."  - from Slashdot