Title:          Troubleshooting LANtastic in a Wide Area Network 

Updated:        12/12/95

Analyst:        AJ



This bulletin presents technical information about one topic related to your 

LANtastic network.  Bulletins are available to help you with many aspects of 

managing or enhancing your network and with the installation of many 

compatible products. Bulletins are available:

 

- By fax from the Artisoft FaxReturn System at (520) 884-1397; request 

document 2 for a current list of all available bulletins, document 2001 for 

a list of compatible applications and other software, document 2044 for a 

list of compatible network interface cards and other hardware;

 

- Through the Artisoft Home Page http://www.artisoft.com on the World Wide 

Web;

 

- As ASCII text or Acrobat Text Enriched (PDF) files from the Artisoft 

Arti-Facts BBS at (520) 884-8648 (1200 baud - 28.8 Kbps, 8 data bits, 1 stop 

bit, no parity, full duplex), the GO ARTISOFT forum on CompuServe, or the 

Artisoft anonymous FTP site ftp.artisoft.com; download !BLTXREF.TXT from the 

BULLETIN section for a current list of all available bulletins, APPCOM.TXT 

for a list of compatible applications and other software, NICCOM.TXT for a 

list of compatible network interface cards and other hardware.





Troubleshooting LANtastic in a Wide Area Network 



This bulletin tells you how to troubleshoot LANtastic in a Wide Area Network 

(WAN).  After following the steps below, you'll be able to identify and solve 

common problems.



A WAN consists of at least two separate networks.  To simplify this 

discussion, assume your WAN has two local area networks (LANs), A and B.



Step 1: Before changing any settings make sure that each local area network 

is functioning correctly.  Can you copy and/or print files from any 

workstation to the server on local network A?  Can you do the same thing on 

local network B? If so, then each local area network is functioning correctly.  



If the computers on a LANtastic local network aren't communicating properly, 

see your LANtastic manuals for extensive troubleshooting techniques. The list 

below offers a few  basic approaches to identifying and isolating problems:              



- Are you using the correct type of cabling (RG58 A/U or RG58 C/U for Coax, 

level 3 or higher for twisted pair)?  Is the same type and quality of cabling 

used throughout the network?       



- Are the cables securely connected and properly terminated?            



- Do any other workstations have similar problems accessing files or the 

printer on the same server?             



- Are the IRQ, I/O Base and RAMBASE settings correct for each computer?             



- Are you using supported versions of DOS? (MS-DOS 3.1, 3.3, 4.01, 5.0 or 

6.x) 



- Make sure no TSR's (terminate-and-stay-resident programs) are loading 

before the network software. You may need to edit your start up batch file 

(i.e., STARTNET.BAT, CONNECT.BAT or AUTOEXEC.BAT) so that the network 

software loads first.



- Test the network with a "bare bones" configuration.  Load only the drivers 

that MUST be loaded.  If the network will load without a driver then test 

without that driver.





If one of the local networks has problems and isn't a LANtastic network, 

contact your network administrator for troubleshooting steps and information.



Step 2: If both local networks are running LANtastic and working fine 

separately, but computers in network A can't communicate with computers in 

network B, try physically moving a computer from network A to network B. 

Moving computers can help isolate problems with the WAN equipment (modem, 

router, etc.). This step also helps identify errors in protocol stacks, frame 

types, or other configuration settings in the computers you moved.



- There may be a low level adapter driver mismatch.  Examples of low level 

drivers are AEx, NR and NodeRUN. Make sure the versions of all the low level 

drivers match.  The NetBIOS (AILANBIO) versions must also be the same.  To 

find out the NetBIOS version, open a DOS box and type the following at the 

DOS prompt:



CD \LANTASTI <Enter>

AILANBIO/DESC <Enter>



A line appears that looks similar to this:



-- AI-LANBIOS(R) V4.06.xx ---



The major version and subversion (i.e.,4.xx) of the Net BIOS should be the 

same on all the computers on the network.



- Use the same procedure for your low level adapter driver.  For example, if 

the computers have Artisoft NodeRunner/SI cards, type the following at the 

DOS prompt to determine the driver version:



CD \LANTASTI <Enter>

NR/DESC <Enter>



A line appears that looks similar to this:



---NR V4.04.xx---



Again, make sure that the major version and subversion (i.e. 4.xx) are 

identical for all computers on the network that are using the same low 

level driver.



- If a LANtastic computer won't connect to an NCP or SMB server (i.e. a 

Novell or Microsoft server), you can download the Artisoft bulletin 

"60IOP.TXT" from the ArtiFacts BBS for help with setting up the proper 

configuration.  This file is also available from the other sites listed at 

the beginning of this document.



- You may also need to upgrade your drivers. IPX routing support for Artisoft 

LANtastic networks was introduced with version 5.x and higher.  SMB and NCP 

support was introduced with version 6.x and higher.  For best results, 

download the latest enhancements/updates that have been added to LANtastic. 

If you're running LANtastic v6.0, you should download NTB600.EXE or 

NOS600.EXE.  If you're using LANtastic Power Suite, the latest updates are 

in the file NOSPS.EXE.



Step 3: Make sure that networks A and B are both set up for IPX routing.  By 

definition, NetBIOS packets can't be routed. To route NetBIOS, the packets 

must be encapsulated within an IPX header.  This feature is available in 

LANtastic v5.0 and higher.  See the Artisoft bulletin IPXROT.TXT for detailed 

packet level information.



To use IPX_Routing follow the bulleted steps below:



- On every computer that will send LANtastic (NetBIOS) packets across the 

IPX router, add the following switches to the AILANBIO command in your 

STARTNET.BAT or AUTOEXEC.BAT file:



	AILANBIO /IPX_ROUTING /IPX_SIZE=xxx

	

Note:   The default IPX_SIZE is 1024. If you have access to a packet 

analyzer, you can check the size of each packet going across the IPX router.



- Add the "IEEE" switch to the low-level driver command in your STARTNET.BAT 

or AUTOEXEC.BAT file:



NEX000 /IEEE

	or

NR /IEEE



- To add the IEEE switch to an NDIS driver, modify the 

AI-NDIS BIND_TO=DRIVER_NIF command line.  For example:

	

	AI-NDIS BIND_TO=AEXNDS_NIF /IEEE



- You must use a router that supports IPX routing, and that's configured to 

route NetBIOS IPX packets (Novell Type 14H).



- Finally, some routers don't support multicast packets.  You may need to 

add the /NO_MULTICAST switch to the end of AILANBIO command line. This 

switch will disable support for multicast Ethernet addressing.



IMPORTANT:   All computers running LANtastic MUST use consistent switch 

settings in order to communicate with each other.  If you add the 

/IPX_ROUTING and/or the /NO-MULTICAST switches to one LANtastic computer, 

you must add the switches to all LANtastic computers.



Step 4: Reset and restart the WAN equipment.  The WAN hardware  (i.e. router, 

modem, etc.) may need to be turned off then turned on again.  Some equipment 

can be reset by sending a command (for example,  sending an "ATZ" or AT&F" to 

the modem.)  



Set the WAN equipment to its simplest state.  For example, turn off all 

filtering on the router.  This will turn the router into a bridge for 

testing purposes, and will help determine any filtering errors.



Step 5: If the computers in networks A and B still aren't communicating with 

each other, check the WAN hardware (modems, routers, bridges, etc.).  For 

further troubleshooting information on these hardware items, contact the 

manufacturers.





ARTISOFT TECHNICAL SUPPORT:

Artisoft offers a wide selection of technical support options. For 

information regarding technical support services, please refer to our 

Directory of Support Services, available where you obtained this bulletin. 

Request fax document 4, check Support & Services on the Artisoft Home Page, 

or download the file DIRLIST.TXT from the ArtiFacts BBS. You can also obtain 

Technical Support information by calling Artisoft at (520) 670-7000.



Artisoft makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this 

document.  Artisoft is not responsible for lost profit or revenue, loss of 

software use, loss of data, cost of re-creating data, cost of any substitute 

equipment or program, or any other claim.  Artisoft makes no warranty that 

complying products will operate under any other conditions, or that products 

will satisfy requirements, or that products will be without defect or error, 

or that product operation will be uninterrupted.  Artist's aggregate 

liability is limited to the total of payments made by the customer for the 

Artisoft product and Artisoft shall not in any case be liable for any special, 

incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages, even if it has been 

advised of the possibility of those damages.  LANtastic is a trademark of 

Artisoft, Inc.  Brand names, company names, and product names are trademarks 

or registered trademarks of their respective companies.



