We are having some problems with the internet and I was wondering if this had anything to do with our server (being a proxy server). The problems are:
a. Whenever we try to download something, the download program we have tells us that the host (the one we try to download from) is not responding.
b. When we try to log onto the MSN Gaming Zone it gives a message: “Failed to establish server connection”.
c. The ICQ and mIRC chat programs won’t register somehow (even though we put in the correct information).
d. Every 1 out of 4 web pages take 15 min to load.
We are running a Celeron 400 with IE5. Maybe you could shed some light on these problems because we are wasting a lot of internet time trying to find the solution to the them.

All of your problems probably relate back to the fact that you are behind a proxy server and/or firewall (as you mentioned). If you have a system administrator, you need to ask about what you are allowed and not allowed to do on your network (different networks have different policies and it is ultimately set up for your protection). Now turning to your questions and working them through from top to bottom. The first thing to check is whether your proxy server is configured correctly in your browser. You can check this in Internet Explorer by going to (in IE5) the ‘Tools’ menu > ‘Internet Options’. Click the ‘Connections’ tab and double-click on your dial-up connection under the heading ‘Dial-up Settings’. Make sure that your proxy server is configured under the ‘Proxy Server’ heading. If you are using Netscape, you can find your proxy configuration under the ‘Edit’ > ‘Preferences’ menu. Expand the ‘Advanced’ tree and then click ‘Proxies’. You must also make sure if you are using a third party download utility, for example GetRight, that your proxy server is configured in there as well. But it may be that your proxy server does not allow you to download certain things in which case there is not much you can do to change the situation. Regarding MSN Gaming Zone, I think that it is again a proxy server issue so follow my previous instructions. With ICQ and mIRC if you are behind a firewall, you need to configure the firewall in mIRC and ICQ to tell it that you are going through one. You can do this in ICQ in the ‘Preferences’ and in mIRC you can configure it in the ‘Options’. However, if you are behind a firewall, it may restrict traffic on certain ports (the ports with ICQ and IRC use) so you still may not be able to use these. And your last question on the slow loading web pages may just be a case of your proxy server being slow. In this case, I suggest that you use another free proxy server service which may offer several advantages. Firstly, it may be faster for you and secondly, it may not restrict the data flow so much. One such free and fast service is ProxyMate (www.proxymate.com). Another major contributing factor to all of your problems may be that you have not configured your TCP/IP settings correctly. These are vital to get your internet connection working. You can check your settings by going to the ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘Network’. Double-click on ‘TCP/IP’ and a box will be displayed with your TCP/IP settings in it. Compare these with your ISP’s original settings. If you don’t have your settings, call your ISP to check whether in fact these are necessary (because some ISP’s have their configuration set up so that you don’t need to configure your TCP/IP settings) and obtain the instructions if needed. Finally it is possible that, your TCP/IP protocol in Windows may be corrupt, so I suggest if nothing else works that you reinstall this protocol. This can be done from the ‘Network’ control panel. NB: Make sure that you have all of your ISP’s original settings with you because you may need to re-enter these.