BT ActiveSync but no Internet

[ctmagnus]

I recently purchased a Belkin F8T001 Bluetooth adaptor so I can do all the usual connection stuff via BT as opposed to Wifi. However, while I can ActiveSync over BT, I can do very little else with it.

My wired/wifi network uses the 10.0.1.x range while bluetooth wants to use 192.168.0.x. Changing the BT adaptor to the same range as the rest of the network renders it useless.

ICS is enabled on the LAN connection, as per the Geekzone instructions (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449)

I can ping other machines on the network but only some by name. Also, I can ping some public IPs but not by url.

The desktop runs Windows 2000 Pro SP4.

[Janak Parekh]

My wired/wifi network uses the 10.0.1.x range while bluetooth wants to use 192.168.0.x. Changing the BT adaptor to the same range as the rest of the network renders it useless.
You should let it use 192.168.0.x. ICS is doing a "second NAT" from your 10.0.1.x network, and if you keep it in the same subnet it'll get utterly confused. In short, you have "two" routers: your base station, and then your PC. It's a sucky setup, admittedly -- it should be possible to just have the BT adapter bridge the wired subnet, instead of routing it into a different IP space, but I haven't heard of anyone succeeding without ICS.

--janak

[freitasm]

You should check the Bluetooth virtual ethernet adapter. Leave the IP as 192.168.0, mask as 255.255.255.0 and enter the actual DNS IP from your provider.

Don't change anything on your Pocket PC.

Routing will not influence on this - I have a router at home, and then ICS and at work I have two routers between my laptop and the internet.

If you're able to PING by IP, you're almost set to go...

Also, make sure your firewall (if any) is not blocking 192.168.0.x or 127.0.0.1 traffic, and it's allowing DNS UDP packets to go through.

[freitasm]

[quote=ctmagnus]...succeeding without ICS.
--janak

You can try Winrouter Lite (http://www.kerio.com) and have full control. But it's not free.

[Janak Parekh]

You can try Winrouter Lite (http://www.kerio.com) and have full control. But it's not free.
You'd think, since XP supports bridging natively, that you could just bridge your Ethernet adapter and the BT virtual adapter. But if you do that, the Pocket PC never finishes establishing a LAN profile connection. That's been the case for years now, AFAICT. :|

--janak

[freitasm]

Yes. Interesting enough some users reported that this was the final touch to make the BT work for them. Make sure the Bridge uses the same IP all over.

[ctmagnus]

I changed everything to 192.168.0.x but interestingly enough, I still cannot access the Internet via the Network Access service on the iPaq. I can now access it through BT ActiveSync, however, which connects via the Bluetooth Serial Port service. Is it supposed to happen this way?

[freitasm]

You don't need to change everything to this range - only the Bluetooth adapter. Your network can keep using the other range...

Since you can browse via AS, here goes my list of things to check:

- DNS from ISP in BT virtual adapter
- 192.168.0.1 in BT virtual adapter
- right-click BT icon in System Tray, Advanced Configuration, switch to Local Services, open Network Access properties sheet, make sure it "Allow LAN/Internet access" not "private LAN"
- Zone Alarm, Windows XP built-in firewall, NIS all cause these symptons when not configured with proper rules to allow BTSTACK.EXE to work

[Janak Parekh]

You don't need to change everything to this range - only the Bluetooth adapter. Your network can keep using the other range...
In fact, the whole idea here is to envision a network-within-a-network, i.e., your "BT network" uses 192.168.0.x, your "WiFi/wired" network uses 10.x, and the outside network is whatever it is. I've been reasonably successful with that configuration.

--janak

[ctmagnus]

Everything is as freitasm's previous post says it should be.

Just to clarify, ICS is enabled on the LAN connection, not the Bluetooth connection? And does anything need to be entered under Settings... on the Sharing tab of the connection that has ICS enabled?

[Janak Parekh]

Just to clarify, ICS is enabled on the LAN connection, not the Bluetooth connection?
In this scenario, ICS is using the LAN connection as the "external/Internet" adapter, and the Bluetooth LAN adapter is the "internal/LAN" adapter that ICS is sharing amongst. (Sorry, I can't remember the exact terms...)

--janak

[freitasm]

Everything is as freitasm's previous post says it should be.

Just to clarify, ICS is enabled on the LAN connection, not the Bluetooth connection? And does anything need to be entered under Settings... on the Sharing tab of the connection that has ICS enabled?

Correct. ICS on the LAN pointing to BT, and nothing is needed on the Sharing tab.

Janak is correct, imagine it like a network within other networks.

If you can ping but can't resolve names, I can only blame on a firewall configuration :?

Again, make sure you have the Network Access on your Bluetooth Local Services tab set to "access lan/internet" not "private network".

[ctmagnus]

I just spent an hour sitting on the couch surfing via the ActiveSync connection and it actually wasn't too bad. I'll have to fiddle with this dongle on the Dell, though. It may like that machine better.

[ctmagnus]

I plugged it into the Dell and was able to bridge the connections in Windows XP. :clap: