Windows 7 win 7 claims existing internet connection but browsers do not browse

[mbuotidem]

Hi, I used to be a windows user but switched over to ubuntu for some time now. So, im a bit rusty on windows knowledge. Anyway, a friend who has a windows 7 laptop and a windows vista desktop asked me to help him share his usb mobile broadband connection. I obliged but its been two days now and I have no idea what I am doing wrong but his desktop just cannot browse!

Now to what I did:

I right-clicked on the mobile broadband connection and clicked on the sharing tab. I selected the "share this connection" tab and proceeded to select the local area connection.

On the desktop, which runs vista, I set it to connect , get IP addresses automatically.

Now, the Network and Sharing center tells me that it is connected to the Internet. But the browsers are unable to browse.

I cannot rely on ping here because even on the laptop, whenever an address is pinged, the request times out but i can still browse on it.

When I run windows diagnostics, it tell me that it cannot communicate with microsoft.com and gives the ip address.

What could be wrong? How do I solve it? I am beginning to look foolish

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you've done the initial steps correctly in setting up Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) between a Windows 7 laptop with a USB mobile broadband connection and a Windows Vista desktop. Let's troubleshoot the issue step by step:

Troubleshooting Steps:​

1. Check Firewall Settings:
   • Ensure that the firewall settings on both the laptop and the desktop aren't blocking the connection. Temporarily disable the firewall and see if the browsing issue persists.
   []Verify DNS Settings:
   • Check the DNS settings on the Windows Vista desktop. Ensure they are set to obtain DNS server addresses automatically.
   []Flush DNS Cache:
   • On the Windows Vista desktop, open the command prompt as an administrator and run the following command to flush the DNS cache:

      ipconfig /flushdns

   []Reset Winsock:
   • Reset the Winsock catalog on the Windows Vista desktop by running the following commands in an elevated command prompt:

      netsh winsock reset netsh int ip reset

   []Check Network Adapter Properties:
   • Double-check the network adapter properties on the Windows Vista desktop. Ensure that it is set to obtain an IP address automatically.
   []Restart Network Services:
   • Restart the DHCP client and DNS client services on the Windows Vista desktop. You can do this by opening the Services app (services.msc) and restarting these services.
   []Check Internet Options:
   • Verify the proxy settings and any other settings in the Internet Options of the browser on the Windows Vista desktop.
2. Update Network Drivers:
   • Ensure that the network drivers on the Windows Vista desktop are up-to-date. You can update them from the Device Manager.

     Additional Steps:​

   • If none of the above steps work, try connecting the Windows Vista desktop directly to the USB mobile broadband connection without ICS to see if it can browse. This can help isolate whether the issue lies in the sharing setup or elsewhere. If the issue persists, feel free to provide more information about the setup or any other error messages you encounter during the troubleshooting process. Let me know if you need further assistance!