basic question about assigning ip address

[Jacques B.]

> I still think that getting the output of "ifconfig" as well as "netstat -rn"
> would clear up many questions.  Seems to be the most simple approach...at
> least to me.
>
Agreed.

It will not however explain why one of the boxes does not get a public
IP (the problem outlined in the OP's original message in this thread)
but the other one does.  But I agree that the ifconfig/ipconfig output
would be very beneficial and by far the easiest info to get to the
list to help us help him.  I'm less clear on why you'd be looking at
open ports as it relates to his problem of both machines not getting a
public IP.

The testing I suggested wouldn't be difficult to do and would also
help quite a bit.  Here is a bit more detailed set of steps I suggest
the OP tries.

1 - boot the Windows machine only (Linux machine off).  What is the
output of the ipconfig command?  Is the Internet connection working
properly?
2 - boot the Linux machine only (Windows machine off).  What is the
output of the ifconfig command?  Is the Internet connection working
properly?
3 - boot the Windows machine first followed by the Linux machine.
What is the output of the ipconfig and ifconfig on the respective
machines?  Is the Internet connection working properly on both
machines?  If not which one isn't working properly?  Can the machines
ping each other? Can they ping the gateway?
4 - repeate step 3 but boot the Linux machine first then the Windows
machine and provide answers to the same questions.

Step 1 & 2 assertains that both machines work fine on their own.  Step
3 & 4 attempts to determine if the first machine connecting works well
but not the second machine (which would suggest only one public IP is
being provided by the DHCPserver and certainly the ip/ifconfig
commands would verify if that is the case or not).

And certainly confirmation with the ISP on allocation of static IPs
would eliminate a potential source of the problem that cannot be
corrected by the OP (work arounds are possible of course, but he would
not be able to get two public IPs regardless what troubleshooting
suggestions were implemented)

I'll refrain from further postings and await further updates from the
OP as I've exhausted all the options I can suggest in absence of
further details from the OP.

I think many of us agree on the potential troubleshooting steps.
Which order they are undertaken is not important so long as they are
undertaken and the results shared with the list so we can ascertain if
the problem has been identified or if further advice is required

Jacques