Network Issues

[archived]

I have two separate NICs in my computer as I intend to have Pluto setup as a "Core" server between the cable modem and home router.  During the installation, where Debian attempts to retrieve an address through DHCP, I got nothing and attempted to statically assign the IP my ISP had previously assigned to the router.  Basically long story short, Pluto fails to connect to any repositories during install.

So I started over and put the router back in its usual place (connected directly to the cable modem).  I shut off the router's DHCP and during the second attempt at Pluto installation I provide a valid static IP.  Once again, during install when asked if I want the box to be a DHCP server and whether it is connected to the Internet, I say "Yes".  Still no luck connecting to repositories.

After what looks like a whole bunch of warnings during final installation steps (which may be normal) the box restarts and shows me the Pluto console menu.

I jump over to a terminal screen and do an ifconfig, which reports that eth0 is the static address I originally assigned, and eth1 is something like 192.168.80.1 which I assume means DHCP is setup correctly in Pluto.  So then I try and ping my router and here is where it gets really weird......I only get responses when I hammer a key on the keyboard.....as in if I just ping the router it sits as if it is waiting for a really long response time.  If I hit the "Alt" key or something it claims it just received a response and essentially displays the time between me initiating the ping and hitting a key.  Then every receive after that is associated with a key press.  So if I hold the key down I get 23ms responses.  If left alone with no key presses I get the "Destination Host Unreachable" message.

Additionally I am able to perform this weird pinging against other computers in my network, and externally to yahoo.com and such.  Yet when I try and ping from another computer on the same network that is successfully connected to the internet I get "Destination Host Unreachable".

If someone can shed some light on my connection woes that'd be swell.  Also if anyone has pointers on figuring out why I am unable to get Debian to get an IP through DHCP from my cable modem during the initial installation, that'd be great as well.

Thanks

[archived]

Another point to consider:

I attempted to connect a computer directly to the "internal" network on the Pluto Core and was not able to ping anything.  For one thing my computer did not receive an IP through DHCP, and when I attempted to statically assign it to 192.168.80.5 I was unable to ping either the Core 192.168.80.1 or anything else.