OK, so far so good, now we need more.

What can you ping?
127.0.01 ? (This is the localhost and is listed in the "hosts" table in /etc).
192.168.1.1 or Your Gateway addy if that isn't it.
Can you ping the WAN side of your router?
Can you ping Yahoo.com? (They return UDP packets, so you always should get a
return).
Can you ping some of your comuters and not others?

Let us know,,,,,

Sidebar:
When working with UNIX/Linux systems I find it really valuable to use the
"hosts" table as a documentation tool for the network.

Example:
127.0.0.1 localhost (this should ALWAYS be in the table)
192.168.1.1 Gateway GW (Doing this allows you to ping using the command
"ping GW" or "ping Gateway").
192.168.254 Printer1 NP1 (Doing this allows you to ping using the command
"ping NP1" or "ping Printer1").

Basically, everything with a static LAN address should be listed. Then you
should list your DHCP range in comments. This will tell anyone working on the
system what the network looks like. Then you can FTP it to your Winbloz servers
and PC's. Then no matter where you are standing in the network you're IP
Aliases will always work.

Ok, the way it is now, I can Ping:
127.0.01 YES
I CANNOT ping any of the 192.168.1.anything addresses, but I saw
something in my modem info, and I CAN ping 0.0.0.
In my modem config pages, it has something that says:
Connection Type PPPoE (select box)
Static IP 0.0.0.0
IP Gateway 0.0.0.0
Primary DNS 0.0.0.0
Secondary DNS 0.0.0.0

I would assume that that may be because of using IP passthrough on the
laptop. This looks nothing like the other dns settings and stuff. Most
of my addresses look pretty much as you expected...


I can also ping the laptop itself, but none of the other pc's on the
net.
**Note, the way this is all hooked up, zone alarm thinks that any
access attempts are over the internet, not the local net (I'm sure you
knew this).

I looked, and the hosts table on the laptop is totally different from
either the one on the other edubuntu machine, or the modem. I have
around 10 entries or more, lots of ipv6 stuff (??)

Should the hosts and net routing tables match the ones on the other
buntu pc? Should I possibly try going back with the dhcp on the laptop?
There was a time for about 1 or 2 min a couple days ago, that I got on
the internet, but I lost it. I think that was right before I tried
setting it to static ip (the modem too). I noticed then, that the time
was a minute or so, off the xp's clock, and figured that it couldv'e
been an issue with the time server. So I enabled the thing in buntu,
and selected the .gov one in VA, mostly coz I'm in GA and its
close....anyway. The clock is right now, but :-( the internet hasnt
come back. And my modem has some sort of setting for adding time
servers. (Obviously, I have no business with such a complicated piece
of machinery LOL.)


Sidebar:
> When working with UNIX/Linux systems I find it really valuable to use
the "hosts" table as a documentation tool for the network.
>
> Example:
> 127.0.0.1 localhost (this should ALWAYS be in the table)
> 192.168.1.1 Gateway GW (Doing this allows you to ping using the
command "ping GW" or "ping Gateway").
> 192.168.254 Printer1 NP1 (Doing this allows you to ping using the
command "ping NP1" or "ping Printer1").
>
> Basically, everything with a static LAN address should be listed. Then
you should list your DHCP range in comments. This will tell anyone
working on the system what the network looks like. Then you can FTP it
to your Winbloz servers and PC's. Then no matter where you are standing
in the network you're IP Aliases will always work.

This makes more sense than anything else I've read on
the subject, but HUH???

This is where the break between my desire and my knowledge becomes
highly evident

I'm confused a bit.

Do you have just a Cable or DSL modem; or do you have a router?
If you have a router what is the Gateway setup as?

Get us that and we can walk threw the rest.

Its the modem that bellsouth sent for my dsl, but I believe that it
has router and bridge capabilities. I told you, too much for a
newbie. I found a bellsouth westell guide here
fastaccess.drivers.bellsouth.net/.../..._Guide.pdf

I copied 4 or 5 pages of configuration options from the modem
interface, but you'll have to tell me what gateway you want. I have
listed in various places (in the modem) :

Ip gateway 65.14.248.19

DHCP default gateway 192.168.1.254 (also the DHCP server, DNS servers)
Then each of the above addresses is listed in the Net routing table as
gateways

the host routing table has 0.0.0.0 for ppp1 and 192.168.1.254 for eth0

Then of course I have the one I told you about with all the 0.0.0.0
addresses.


Any better?

Do you have a Windows computer running? If so there should be a CD that
configures your DSL modem, maybe router. Is it a "2Wire modem"? The thing
here is to configure it using the Windows box and the CD. It sounds like it
might already be ready.

You might want to check the configuration of the DSL modem and see if it
serves up DHCP, if it does then all you have to do is enable DHCP on your Ubuntu
box and you're ready.

I'll be back in about 30 minutes, grandson over and dinner on table.

I DO have a cd for the dsl, of course, it has a nice little winblows
wizard that auto runs.

Looks like I'm about thru for the night too, time for me to get
cooking, or my kiddos won't be eating tonight. I'm hoping you might
have some time tomorrow or later in the week.

After re-reading our dialog, it seems to me that the router is all set up.
All you should have to do is tell Ubuntu to use DHCP, that's it. You are NOT
going to setup a modem or do the PPOe stuff in the Ubuntu OS. Just try to set
it up as a PC on a network and all should go well for you.

I work in a small computer shop right now, so from time to time I can respond
during the day depending on the work load. Wednesday I start my new job as a
mortgage banker. So, I'll do what I can. The other thing is if you are
state-side I can just give you a call one evening. It doesn't cost me anything
as I have VOIP and most calls are included in my month fee of $16 from Lingo.
Later...

I'm very interested in this topic, as I've been having problems setting
up for the internet & networking other computers. I'm having a bit more
success now after much experimenting, so I thought my comments might be
of interest.

I haven't had any success with using DHCP, although it is recommended as
the easy option. I suspect that it's something to do with the settings
in my router/modem, although AFAIK it is set up for DHCP.

However, I prefer static settings, so that I know the IP addresses of
all the computers on the network, and they won't change.

The biggest break through came when I found an instruction in the
'Dummies' book. After setting up all the IP addresses you must the
DEACTIVATE the network connection. Then REACTIVATE it. On version 6.06
there is box on the 'Connections' menu for doing this. In version 7.04
there is a little box to check or uncheck. Before reactivating, it's
probably best to save the settings, and exit from the network menu,
before resetting.

I've just tried this with the 'live' version of 7.04, running from the
CD, and it worked.

The default gateway setting is very important, as it carries all the
stuff coming from the internet, and allows you to set up the
router/modem. It's usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1.

The DNS server addresses are supplied by your ISP.

Regarding networking other Linux computers, there is a facility called
'Open SSH Server'which seems to be recommended. Ubuntu comes with the
'Open SSH Client' but you have to install the Server package. I tried
this and found it quite easy to install & get going.

For communicating with Windows, IIRC a package called SAMBA is used,
although I haven't tried it yet.

Trust this is of interest, and I'll be very interested in any comments
or corrections