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I have a TP-LINK wireless router (TL-WR340G) that is connected to my university LAN via an Ethernet cable (which assigns a dynamic IP address to each device connected). My Windows 7 computer is behind this router.
I often need to ping host names of other computers on the university network. Normally, when I'm directly connected to the LAN, I can do this (for example, ping foobar
would return a normal response). However, when I am behind the wireless router and try to ping the same machine, I get no response ("Ping request could not find host..."). Pinging via IP still works, which leads me to believe it has something to do with the university DNS server. For now, I've fixed this problem by adding entries directly to my C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
file.
Maybe I'm guessing wrong, but could it have something to do with the DNS server rejecting the IP address of my computer (which is assigned by my wireless router's DHCP, instead of the university DHCP, as it would be if I were connected directly through Ethernet)?
I'm wondering if there's a way I could route all requests from my computer through my wireless router in such a way that they all carry the router's assigned WAN IP address (which is basically the university LAN's dynamic IP)?
UPDATE: Based on @grawity's suggestion below, I did a Wireshark capture while connected to Ethernet, and I discovered that the host name was being searched using NBNS, not DNS (more specifically, WINS, as a quick ipconfig /all
on the Ethernet connection revealed. From Wireshark:
7725 25.952920 (My IP) (IP Addr of WINS) NBNS 92 Name query NB FOOBAR<00>
...
7729 25.956152 (IP Addr of WINS) (My IP) NBNS 104 Name query response NB (IP Addr of FOOBAR)
And from ipconfig /all
:
Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : <ip address 1>
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : <ip address 2>
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
It doesn't look like my router supports setting a WINS server, so I just set it in the Wireless Network Connection properties instead.
Have you talked to your university's IT department? – ChrisF – 2011-09-05T12:01:42.280
That didn't really help, unfortunately, as they will support only those computers that are connected to the LAN directly using Ethernet. I'm trying this more from an experimental angle. – Milind Ganjoo – 2011-09-05T12:13:10.820
1Have you tried setting your IP address on the wireless router in the DMZ and/or turning of the firewall feature of the wireless router? – N4TKD – 2011-09-05T12:45:15.160
Yes, I had already configured the DMZ to point to my primary PC's IP. And yes, the router's firewall had always been off. It's mostly because of WINS, as far as I can tell. – Milind Ganjoo – 2011-09-05T16:08:54.250