Annoying Win2k Pro routing problem

My main desktop Win2kPro machine also acts are the router between my wired network with my servers on and my wireless network with my Rio Receiver and laptops on. My network is a bit arse-about-face because I have a wireless access point with just my Receiver plugged into it and a PCI wireless card in my Win2kPro machine (due to the fact that when I went
wireless Ethernet-wireless bridges were still silly prices).

The PCI card is in my desktop machine rather than my servers because:
- can't face making what is essentially a PCMCIA card
- don't want to mess about with my Win2kServer machine as that has to be 100% reliable

Anyway, enough of the excuses, on to the problem.

The Win2kPro machine has been working quite happily for ages routing between the two networks. I enabled routing with the registry setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\IPEnableRouter

For some reason recently the box just decides to turn off the routing. It can see both networks, machines on both can see it, but it doesn't pass any packets.

When it is in this state the output of ipconfig /all shows:

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Checking the registry value at this point shows it is still set to enable routing.

At this point the only way I can get routing going is to reboot the machine. I tried downing and upping both the interfaces, but that didn't help.

This is happening about twice a week now and it is starting to tick me off. Anyone have any suggestions ?

I enabled routing with the registry setting:

This is just a stab in the dark but... Perhaps it's because you made the edit via the registry? Maybe there's more than one registry entry that is used by the software to control it. Isn't there a proper "place" in the GUI to enable routing that will do it all the "right" way?

When dealing with RAS I've had to set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasArp\Parameters\DisableOtherSrcPackets = 0. Maybe that'll do it? <shrug>

Isn't there a proper "place" in the GUI to enable routing

That would be in Routing and Remote Access Services (RRAS). But unfortunately that service doesn't exist in W2KP - only server. Enabling it in the registry is a hack, but as far as I can tell, it's the only way to do it.

<stab>Andy - Did you enable any new services before it started flaking out on you? Or install any new software? Software firewall perhaps? </stab>

- trs

Andy - Did you enable any new services before it started flaking out on you? Or install any new software? Software firewall perhaps?

No software firewall, removed that a long time ago after moving my firewall needs upstream. I'm regularly installing new software on this machine (it is my main home desktop machine), although I don't remember installing any new services recently.

Sometime else that appears to happen on this machine now is that the network interface numbers exposed via SNMP sometimes change on a restart. When I notice this has happened I have to go back and change my MRTG config files

That would be in Routing and Remote Access Services (RRAS). But unfortunately that service doesn't exist in W2KP - only server.

While the GUI tools for controlling the RRAS doesn't exist on Win2kPro the service itself does. It looks like I can restore routing after it fails by manually forcing the RRAS service to start. So that saves me having to restart the box when the routing fails.

I will probably change the RRAS service from "auto" to "manual" and have it always started at boot. Hopefully that might stop routing from going away in the first place.