problem with hardware adress vm

Hi all,

I have a question. I wanted to try Parallels and i have, like many others problems with connecting to the internet. I read the sticky and concluded that my problem lies in the new hardware adress that Parallels adresses to the VM (in my case Windows XP Pro), cause everything else works fine: in my virtual machine i can see that there is automatically assigned an ip and a subnetmask and that it is DHCP enabled. In the sticky i read that

A DHCP server may be configured to assign IP addresses only to clients which hardware addresses are listed on the server. Talk to your Network Administrator to make appropriate changes to the server configuration to resolve this issue.

So..i called my cable modem provider, cause i am using it at home and have a (wired) cable modem. Their answer is that they use the mac adress of my network adapter for identifying and as a result they cant allow different mac adresses (i am just a noob in networking, but that is what i understood about it, in other words that the mac adress is the hardware adress and they only identify the mac adress of my network adaptor).

So now my question, does this mean that it is impossible to have internet in the VM because of my provider? Or do i oversee something, please help me out.

thanx

Debugger

 

If you are connecting to a cable modem that only allows one computer (sounds like it) then you have two choices: The best choice, IMHO, is to get a good firewall router (about $60) to connect between your cable modem and computer(s). The router will have a built in DHCP server that will allow you to have as many computers (within reason -- like 30 or maybe 200) on your network as you like. The firewall will help keep the hackers out (well worth the investment, IMO).

Your other choice is to use host only networking in Parallels. read the manual for details.
This has the advantage of not requiring additional hardware, but using a PC on the Internet without a hardware firewall scares me, and I've been using the Internet since it was the ARPAnet.

 

problems hardware adress vm

Thanx Joem,

With your answer i tried the host only networking because i will use Windows only in emergence cases if there's really no other option. That wont be too often, so buying a special router isnt worth the effort in my opinion, but i totally agree that one cant trust Windows, not only concerning the security issues by the way

Well, maybe interesting for other users here on the forum, the only thing wich works for me is the host only networking with internet sharing. Dynamic ip doesnt work (well, at least with the standard DHCP number range of Parallels and i have not the knowledge to define a range for myself)) and the problem with static ip is that i havent got the 'Parallels host-guest adapter option' in my OSX network setting which the user guide is talking of.

So, the internet sharing was the solution with the OSX firewall off (pity of course i'd rather like it on). Is there anything to warn of regarding security issues? What i could understand of the user guide is that Parallels with internet sharing is quite safe.

thanx for the help

Debugger

 

If you are using host only networking, you are using the Parallels adapter, and the built in Parallels DHCP server.

You don't have to turn off the OSX firewall to make it work, you only need to turn on the required services. I'm not using it, but I suspect that if you turn on Windows Sharing, you can use the firewall.

In my not so humble opinion, having a computer, especially a Windows computer on the Internet without a firewall is an ill advised security risk. The OSX firewall, if you are using Internet sharing, will provide some protection for your VM. The sharing itself provides some protection, but it wouldn't be enough for me. I use both a hardware firewall, and the OSX firewall myself.

If you can't run a firewall between Windows and the Internet, download the free version of Zone Alarm into your Windows VM and run it. It's a pretty good firewall as local firewalls go. It isn't as good as a hardware firewall at keeping the hackers out, but it can prevent much spyware from "phoning home" which a hardware firewall has a hard time doing.

Not protecting yourself because you are only on the net a little is a bit like closing your eyes while crossing a street because you don't do it very often and there isn't much traffic. If there really is a car coming, and it hits you, it's 100% for you even though it's unlikely on a road without much traffic.

My anti virus and firewall have saved my bacon many times. If you don't run them, at least be sure to keep a couple of backups of your .hdd files around for when (not if) you get zapped.