Internet connection issues

[zxk105]

Currently I have cable and dial-up internet connection available with my computer. I have just developed a site that (hosted by Brinkster) that I can view normally using the cable connection. However, when I switch to dial-up for testing purposes it tells me that this site does not exist.

Now my dad also developed a site of his own (hosted by Tripod). In his case he can view the site using dial-up connections, but when he's using cable the pages just don't want to load up.

I find this very interesting and confusing at the same time. Why is this happening? Any comments?

[jdMorgan]

Typically, the DNS (Domain Name Service) settings for dial-up networking (DUN) and "Local Area Network" (LAN) are configured separately in Windows. It may be that your dial-up DNS is not configured. Therefore, when you use DUN, your computer cannot get the translation from domain name (www.example.com) to IP address (127.0.0.19) that it needs to actually connect to the Web site, so you get the "cannot connect" message.

There are other possibilities, but almost all of them center around your networking configuration. Dig around in the "Control Panel->Internet Options->Connections" and "Control Panel->Networking->TCP/IP" settings until you are satisfied that both DUN and Networking settings are correct and as specified by your ISPs.

Note that sometimes, the "automatic setup" programs offered on CD or via download by various ISPs will interfere with each other, with the cable ISP deleting settings for dial-up, and vice-versa. You may have to reinstall one, jot down all the settings, then reinstall the other and jot down its settings, making sure that the settings for the first ISP have not been removed, but are just disabled in the "Control Panel->Internet Options->Connections" dialog box where you select between LAN and Dial-up. The only thing you should normally have to do to force a switch between them is to check and uncheck the "Never dial a connection" radio button.

This may take *a lot* of digging, and very often you can save time by writing down the click-path you use to get to the necessary settings, like "Control Panel->Internet Options->Connections - Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings->Advanced->Dial-up settings - Properties->Networking->Advanced Network Protocols - TCP/IP settings->Primary DNS". This will prevent getting lost in all those dialog boxes and may save a lot of time in the end.

Jim