Yet more help for a Network Noob.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Steve_Perry

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
3,241
Location
Wales, U.K.
Car
CLS350CDI Grand Edition
Well, I've had my network up and running since the weekend but I have a minor snag that I'm not sure how to resolve... I cannot get two PC's to see one another over the network.

I have two laptop PC's & a PS2 connected to the router, one PC & the PS2 linked via CAT5 cable & the other PC linked wirelessly, see the attached schematic. All 3 can access the internet (simultaneously too) with no problem but I can't get either laptop to see the other.

Both laptops belong to the same workgroup, one runs XP Home whilst the other runs ME. I have also setup one shared directory on both PC's so that when they eventually do communicate I can transfer files between them. If I link them point-to-point using a cross-over cable then I can get them to talk without problems but it seems they have taken a vow of silence as far as my new network is concerned.

Any ideas oh network gurus? :confused:
please.gif


TIA,

S.
 

Attachments

  • Network schematic.jpg
    Network schematic.jpg
    39.5 KB · Views: 65
Have you run the Home Networking wizard on both machines ? Seem to remember I had this same problem when trying to get Win XP machine to talk to Win 2000 ... , but sorted it in the end - can't quite remember how though !

S.
 
sym said:
Have you run the Home Networking wizard on both machines ? Seem to remember I had this same problem when trying to get Win XP machine to talk to Win 2000 ... , but sorted it in the end - can't quite remember how though !

S.
I had run it on the XP machine and got one of two options...

My computer and all other computers on network connect to internet independently... which resulted in all sorts of warnings about how this was not good network practice.

My computer connects to the internet via another computer or gateway... which seemed to please the OS

I opted for the latter thinking that my router is the gateway? :confused: Is that right? It's running NAT so as far as NTL are concerned I have only one IP address and one item linked to my broadband. The router is also running DHCP so both laptops & the PS2 get their network IP addresses allocated automatically on the fly from the router.

I haven't run the wizard on the ME laptop as I use this computer at work and it plugs into the work's network every day. I don't want to run the wizard and risk upsetting the settings such that it then can't talk on the work's network.

S.
 
if your work laptop is connected to a work domain on startup, it will be expecting to see that domain at home, therefore cannot "see" your other laptop

you will need to tell that laptop it is now connected to your "home" workgroup

i have the same problem with mine - you cannot be connected to more than one domain/workgroup at once
 
andyw said:
if your work laptop is connected to a work domain on startup, it will be expecting to see that domain at home, therefore cannot "see" your other laptop

you will need to tell that laptop it is now connected to your "home" workgroup

i have the same problem with mine - you cannot be connected to more than one domain/workgroup at once
I thought I'd covered that... I have purposely set my home workgroup to be exactly the same name as the work workgroup. That should be okay shouldn't it?

S.
 
i would suggest running the network setup wizard then - if your workgroup is the same name it shouldn't cause problems with work

i have exactly the same setup btw with NTL
 
Ok, although being on the same workgroup makes things easier, it is not a requirement. Computers on the same network can all talk with one another, even from different workgroups. Looking at what you've posted, it could be a few different things stopping the two computers from talking to one another. Firstly, on all XP machines, make sure your NOT using simple file sharing, its a nightmare. Switch it of via windows explorer, go to Tools menu, folder options, and its at the bottom of the view tab options. Secondly, make sure your router is set up so that all clients are on the same network. Most wireless routers have the option to create a seperate virtual network for each wireless client, which stops clients from talking to one another. I can't remember what the setting is called off hand, and I expect its called a few different things by different manufacturers. Lastly, check you have a lowlevel connection between the computers. On XP go to start run, type in cmd, then in the command box, type ipconfig. This should list your internal network IP for that machine. Now on ME, start -> run type in "command", then in the window that opens, type "winipcfg". That should give you the ME machines IP. Now from each machine, in the command box, type "ping <IP address of other machine>" and see if you get reply's....
 
I got it working!!!!! Result! :D The solution required a combination of actions.

1. Switched off my XP firewall.

2. Configured my Norton firewall to place IP addresses on my home network into a trusted zone.

3. Configured my router's DHCP server to always allocate the same IP address to items on my network e.g. ???.???.???.2 for laptop1, ???.???.???.3 for laptop2 and ???.???.???.4 for PS2. Plus checked my router's hardware firewall settings were maxed out.

4. Manually edited my 'lmhosts' file to explicitly list matched home network IP addresses against PC names.

After that little lot my PC's are now talking :D Thanks to everyone who took the time to help :)

S.
 
Last edited:
Steve_Perry said:
...
1. Switched off my XP firewall.

2. Configured my Norton firewall to place IP addresses on my home network into a trusted zone.
...
S.

Probably just the firewalls that were stopping you by the sounds of it, and although you got it working now, it probably isnt the best solution to be running without firewalls, especially on a wireless network! I hope you have restricted wireless clients to the laptops you have via MAC address, and that you are at least using 128bit WEP encryption or preferably WPA if your hardware supports it... Othwise practically anyone can connect to your network very easily... You should be able to setup your windows firewall to allow you to talk to the other compuer, if you enable the windows file/print sharing exception... Norton firewall can just be set to accept everything from the IP of the other machine.. That way you can still be secure. ;)
 
McGreggor said:
Probably just the firewalls that were stopping you by the sounds of it, and although you got it working now, it probably isnt the best solution to be running without firewalls, especially on a wireless network! I hope you have restricted wireless clients to the laptops you have via MAC address, and that you are at least using 128bit WEP encryption or preferably WPA if your hardware supports it... Othwise practically anyone can connect to your network very easily... You should be able to setup your windows firewall to allow you to talk to the other compuer, if you enable the windows file/print sharing exception... Norton firewall can just be set to accept everything from the IP of the other machine.. That way you can still be secure. ;)
Thanks for the advice :) Although I have switched off the XP firewall, my Norton firewall is still active but manually configured to allow access to the other PC's on my network. My router also has a hardware firewall with intrusion detection and I have turn up the security on that to its highest setting. I've also got my wireless network protected using WPA-AES security encryption. I think I should be okay with that level of security enabled even if XP's firewall is disabled.

S.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom