I have a major network problem, in that I can't use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) unless I disable the firewalls (not XP's firewall) on both machines. This is far from ideal, as I want a firewall in place. The configuration is as follows: The ICS server (192.168.0.1) connects to the internet, this machine uses Zone Alarm with which i've added a subnet 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 to the trusted zone, but ICS does not function unless I right click and go on "Shut down Zone Alarm" This is only half the problem - the client (192.168.0.2) uses Outpost firewall. Likewise, the ICS does not function if Outpost is in 'enabled' mode. I don't know where the problem lies, because it has to be BOTH firewalls unloaded - if zone alarm is closed and outpost is enabled, the ICS still won't work, and vice-versa. Also, these are the only firewalls loaded - I do not use the XP firewall at all. And another thing worth mentioning, the home network works perfectly well whether the firewalls are both loaded or not. So it's just ICS I have this problem with. I'm really stuck! I'd really appreciate any advice on how to solve this matter. Cheers, Alex

You have to configure the firewalls to allow your home subnet as "trusted". In ZA its Firewall and "add". You put in your ip range [I do from 2 to 8 since this is the amount of ip devices I have/ip addresses used]. All firewalls I have seen have this abiltiy to configure them.

Thanks for your reply. I have actually already added my IP range to the trusted zone in Zonealarm and it has no effect. Outpost is different and doesn't have 'trusted' settings, but I can enter details in the NetBIOS section of the options. I still have no idea what I can do. Is it because it's the free version of ZoneAlarm that i'm having problems? Cheers

First make sure the XP firewall is disabled on both machines. Then completely unistall both firewalls from your clients and reinstall (just!) ZA on both of them. Add the range 192.168.0.1 through 192.168.0.254 to the trusted zone and see what happens. I'm not sure about Outpost buth in ZA the True Vector drivers are a little touchy and sometimes lock down the system completely even if set to allow Internet access. The only cure is to uninstall and re-install. And there's no reason to use 2 different firewall products; it just complicates your support solutions.

Cheers Orion, when I get a chance I'll re-install ZA, to clear everything out. The thing about Outpost is I like the way how it has some neat features like ad-blocking and how ir shows you all of your connections, with uptime, bytes uploaded/downloaded etc. which is something ZA lacks. On the other hand, ZA seems more secure, so if I could just find a cross between the two then i'd be sorted! But thanks, i'll let you know how i get on. Alex

Hi: I'm having a very similar problem. I have ZA installed on my ICS machine (192.168.0.1) which has a wireless adapter at 192.168.0.2. My clients do not have any firewall installed at all. The WinXP firewall is disabled throughout. I told ZA that 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 is the trusted zone. I find that unless I drop the firewall setting down to "Medium" for the internet zone, my clients cannot connect to the internet. There is absolutely no dependence of my clients on the firewall setting in the Trusted zone (its as if ZA is not considering those machines to be in the trusted zone). Doing an "ipconfig /all" on my clients shows them to always be somewhere in 192.168.0.(3-254) range. I tried the uninstall/reinstall to no effect. Ideas anyone? Thanks! Jeff

from what i can remember of the free ZoneAlarm (I havnt used it in a while) you cant do ICS. You have to have the full version (I might be wrong). Anyways, in ZoneAlarm go to Firewall and on the left hand tab (cant remember the name) there should be an Advanced button. Click that and there should be 3 options at the top. * Not on an ICS/NAT network, * Client on an ICS/NAT network and * Gateway on an ICS/NAT network Select the gateway option as thats what your 'server' machine is, a gateway to the internet. Also enter your IP, 192.168.0.1, in the field provided. Give that a try Wizzard