Any IT types lounging about? I need home networking help

[RevolutionStartsNow]

Thanks in advance...

[Technowitch]

1. Post your question/problem, and I'll see if I can help.

I'm sure others will chime in, too. Hard to help though if we don't know what the problem is. ;)

[RC]

3. Maybe if he knew what the problem was,

he'd fix it himself. :evilgrin:

[RevolutionStartsNow]

4. Okay, here's the deal:

Our router died yesterday, so I bought a new one and installed it today. No problem, all computers hooked up and connecting to the internet through the cable modem.

But I can't figure out how to set up the network correctly so that the computers can see one another and share the printer. The printer is attached to the desktop, which is wired (not wireless) to the router.

The desktop with the printer attached is running Win 2000, the 2 laptops are running Win XP.

I tried just running the XP network wizard on my laptop, but it creates a workgroup and won't find the other computers.

What am I doing wrong? Why can't it see the 2 other computers attached to the router?

[Az]

6. Bunch of possibilities

Did you have your system set up for such use on the previous router? If so then it may be a built in firewall on the router or ports not opened properly.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

7. Yes, it was set up on the other router

I turned off the firewall on the Wireless Network Connection, it didn't help.

[Az]

10. Sometimes XP/2000 doesn't see the other network

A solution to this is to hardcode the other net into a link ie \\otherPC\shared_drive_name .

The wireless firewall is different than the wired connection. Its probably just WAP security.

Make sure the other PCs are using DHCP to gain their IP addresses. If the previous system was using fixed IPs the new router may be on a different subnet.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

16. I'm assuming that's the problem (XP vs. 2000)

How do I hardcode that link in? I tried to force it to connect to \\otherPC\etc. but it can't get to the other PC at all.

Every computer is using DHCP for IP addresses. It was set up this way before and I confirmed that it still is.

[Az]

19. Based on that

The problem has to be in the router. Something is configed odd in there. What brand is it? Maybe one of us knows the configs for the particular species.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

21. It's a NetGear router

Just a basic 102.11g router.

[Az]

23. I'm not familiar with Netgear

I work mostly with Linksys and Cisco. There is likely a tweak or setting in there. Look in the help manuals and such conerning netbios. Thats the most likely culprit. MS uses its own protocol for network connections.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

26. I searched the web management site for the router

nothing about netbios.

There's got to be a simple way to do this.

[Az]

28. Doing a little digging

What's the model number of the unit.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

30. WGR614

And thanks! :)

[Az]

32. One more question

The various systems are just not seeing each other. Can they all get to the net? Or is it just the one system that can get there?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

33. They can all get on the net

The router seems to be working fine in that regard.

It's just that my laptop doesn't seem to be seeing or being seen by the other 2 computers on the network, including most importantly the desktop that has the printer attached.

It used to work, with the previous router, but I can't recall how that was originally set up. I know I had to monkey with it to get it to work before.

I have tried several times using the network connection wizard, and trying different settings in that wizard, but nothing makes this laptop visible to the other computers on the network.

[Az]

34. Sigh

Without actually looking at it I am hitting a brick wall. Too many options. I would recommend to try the single most frequent fix on all things MS. Reboot everything. Do it in this order.

Turn off everything.
Bring up the cable modem and wait for it to establish its connection
Turn on the router
Turn on the main PC (preferably the one running XP)
bring on secondary PCs

If its still not linking after that its going to take a techie ponding on the keys locally to see whats up.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

35. Thanks so much

I hear you. There are so many damn possibilities.

I will try the reboot process, just for kicks.

Then I'll get a local guy out to fix it.

Thanks very much for spending some time on this for me! :)

[Technowitch]

8. Couple ideas--

The router may not be permitting NetBIOS connections. Check that config, via whatever web management interface gets you into the router.

Another possibility, which I've often had good luck with is to open the Network Properties on the individual computers. Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click the Properties button. Under the "Advanced TCP/IP Settings", change the default NetBIOS setting from "Default" to "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP".

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. You got...

The correct workgroup name in there?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

11. I used the same workgroup name

on the laptop and the desktop, but they don't see each other

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

12. A little "trick" is needed when networking into Win2K

You need to create a specific user account and give it a password, then you can log onto it. If it's a local network and the printer is on the Win2K machine (as is yours) I usually create a common user account named "printer" and use the password "printer" (all sans quotations). Also be sure to check any firewalls so your local IPs (behind the router) can pass through it. To discover the local IPs, open up a command line window and type "ipconfig" (again, sans quotes). Do this at each machine.

Lastly, be certain all machines are on the same workgroup. Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, then go to Properties, then to Network Identification. You can change the workgroup membership from there.

[Az]

13. Thats for remote access

Shared links should be no problem as long as all the numbers and letters are in place. Netbios, IP subnets, ect. Even then linking between XP and 2000 draws a blank on network names. The initial link has to be forced sometimes.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. It's for ANY access to a Win2K machine

from an XP machine. It's just a quirk that was somehow built into the system, then removed from XP.

[Az]

18. Not so sure

Until recently I was an admin for a mixed 2k/XP network and we linked in through shared connections all the time. Only when turning to remote access did we hit the funky password requirement.

In fact I have been running my home net password free until I recently started using remote access to direct my main PC from one of the laptops.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

25. I kinda think it may be a security patch thing

That's just a guess on my part, but it makes sense. I was looking for the article I read online when I was having trouble figuring it out, but it's gone down the memory hole.

My philosophy is, if it works, then do it and move on to other things. If there's a quicker or better way, then I'm more than willing to listen to it! I do this for a living, too.

[Az]

29. Doh!

I just remembered. We linked into the 2k boxes through the admin account. It was so instintual that I didn't even register that it was an account.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

14. Where and how do I create the common account?

Also how do I check the firewalls?

I do have the machines on the same workgroup, at least set up with the same workgroup name.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

17. Simple

Again, right click on My Computer, then go to Manage, then to Local Users and Groups. Open it up, then right click on the Users item. You will then see a menu that has New User on it.

When you create the account, be sure to check the box that says the password never expires.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

20. Okay, I created the account, now what?

How do I make this work? How do I make the laptop see this on the network?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

22. Double click the My Network Places icon

Then follow the network chain from Entire Netork to Microsoft Windows Network to your workgroup to the computer you're trying to log onto. Just keep double clicking until you get there.

Don't forget that you need to share the printer first. Just do the right click on your printer icon and go to Sharing to set it up. You can also go into Windows Explorer and do the right click thing on any folder or file you wish to share.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

24. I tried that

I get to the workgroup, then to the computer, but it says "the server JD (my laptop name) can't be found on the network."

To clarify, I do have a workgroup with the same name set up on the laptop, but it only sees itself in there.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

27. Oops. One step I forgot.

When you create a new user, you have to reboot. It creates the user directories and registry stuff upon bootup.

Sorry about that. It's late.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

31. Okay, I've done that

Rebooted and logged in under the new user. But I'm not sure how this helps to find the remote computer. How do I force it to see the laptop from the desktop or vice versa?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

36. It's called "sharing"

You have to browse your local network resources to locate your remote machine, so you can then log on and use its resources. For example, once you see and log onto the desktop machine, if you've properly shared the printer you'll see it listed. You can then double click on it and your laptop will connect to it and you'll be printing over the network!

If you want to use the printer that's on the desktop machine from your laptop, it needs to be shared so all machines will have access to it over the network. To access it, and to access other things such as files, etc., they also need to be shared. This is just another way of saying you're giving permission to your laptop to use your desktop computer's resources.

To get to this point, you have to travel the network from laptop to desktop. You do that via My Network Places. Once you see the remote computer and log on, then you've expanded your laptop's capabilities to include all that you've shared from your desktop.

I have four machines shared on my personal network-- three desktops via a hard wired network (through a router), and a laptop that logs on via a wireless access point. I also have a high speed switch on the system so I can hook up the machines I am repairing so I can back their hard drives up to one of my hard drives, over the network.

The possibilities are endless, once you get the hang of it.

It was not necessary to log on using the new account, by the way. You can simply log off and log back on using your regular account. The other computers will still be able to use the new account even though you're not logged on to it. That's why it was created-- it's a doorknob, nothing more.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

37. Sharing is what I had been using

I had the printer shared, and was able to use it (as well as some other files), with the previous router. I just can't get it to re-establish the connection with the new router. The router is working properly as far as getting the PCs onto the internet, but I can no longer see the shared printer, etc. from my laptop.

Don't know why.

[johnnie]

2. Allah-kazam...

Did I fix it?

[Az]

5. Whatcha need?

There are always techies around. Just post the problem and lets see if anyone here can figure it out.