Internet Connection dropping frequently

[aescott]

I am running XP as a guest under openSuse 11.0 32-bit with VirtualBox 2.1.4. I have a problem with my internet access from XP. I can get intermittent access by clicking "Repair" on the network connection icon in the taskbar, but the connection keeps dropping. I can also ping remote sites for a while, but then that ceases too, until the repair is carried out again.

The network settings are as follows:
Adapter 1: PCnet-FAST III (host interface, eth0)
I use the same static IP address info as my host system.

I tried using the NAT option but absolutely nothing worked, whether I used static or dynamic IP addressing.

There is no Windows firewall set up.

Has anyone any ideas - and very simple instructions as to how to fix this?

[Perryg]

It's really difficult to troubleshoot network problems off site but there are a couple of things you can try to see if it helps.
In the host and the guest both set the network connection MTU at 1500. I have seen leaving the automatic settings cause so many packet losses that the VM simply looses it. Also it would help if you could look at the information in your Windows and see what is being reported as a problem. You should be able to see this under Event viewer.

[Sasquatch]

Please note the IP address of the Guest when you no longer have internet access. If you use NAT, it should be 10.0.2.15.

[Alfredo]

The network settings are as follows:
Adapter 1: PCnet-FAST III (host interface, eth0)
I use the same static IP address info as my host system.

Do you mean that the host and the guest both have the same IP-number? Than I guess there's a problem if both can be seen from the outside. Or maybe I misunderstand you.

I almost exclusively use bridged networking and the guest get there own unique IP-address from a real DHCP-server, as any other machine (real or virtual) would. This setup works flawlessly for me. Is it possible for you to try that kind of setup?

[aescott]

OK, seems to be OK now. Thanks for all help rendered.