[Wolves] Bizarre network problem

[Old Dan]

Hi all

I'm having a bizarre network problem at work.  The configuration here
is that we have a smoothwall box connected directly to a debian
domain/web/fileserver, which NATs the internet and acts a bridge
between the wired and wireless network.

Or it did NAT the internet.  At about 12:30 on monday it stopped doing
that.  Dead.  I believe it is trying to but has no access itself,
although it still gets an IP from the smoothie box and when I connect
clients directly to the smoothie they can connect to the internet.

So I thought, 'it must have died', and being someone who frankly still
has mostly a Microsoft background I thought 'I know, I'll reboot both
boxes' (admittedly this was after sshing in and looking around and
finding nothing apparently amiss).

No difference.  Although I was able to access the web interface of
smoothwall throughout all this.  Using that interface, I found out
that the internet was connected and we had an external IP.  I could
log into the smoothie no problem and ssh out from there to my home
server.

In desperation, I enabled the smoothie proxy.  Aha!  Web access
returned!  Although then I couldn't access the web interface any
more....  Switch back to direct connection, I could again, but no web
access again.  I understand not being able to access the web interface
because of the port number, but I can't understand not being able to
access the 'net through NAT like I was able to before.  I changed
/nothing/ (that I know of) on the server which could have done this.

I'm completely baffled.
-- 
Dan