802.11b and WinXP Pro

[RedClaw]

Hi all.

I'm new to the fourum so first off - Hi there.

Secondly, I'm seekind advice regarding a small P-to-P network.

Here is the situation.

I have a Linksys 802.11b wireless access point and router that is connected to a PC running winXP professional. And I am attempting to connect to a notebook (also running XP Pro) for simple file and printer sharing. Sounds like a piece of cake huh?

Well there are a few hang ups here. First off, there is no internet access except dial-up. And to set up sharing that really doesn't matter. But the config software for the router will not install unless there is either a DSL or Cable linkup present which there is not. So no router config. But it seems to be working fine, as I have network connectivity.

Secondly, after installing the PCMCIA Linksys card into the notebook I have signal conectivity at 100% and have access to the access point, but I cannot access the desktop PC.

On the desktop, I can see both machines in the MSHOME work group, but I cannot access the notebook. Yet all permissions are open and all file and printer sharing is set up and open.

So my question for the group is simple. Am I having hardware setup issues, or is it network setup error(s) on both machines?

I've been working on this for a few weeks and as far as I can tell (I've set up a few networks in my day) everything seems to be set up correctly.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[JackMDS]

Welcome to AnandTeck Network Forum.

The combo that you have will cause you constant grief, under such situation it is better to have a Router that can accommodate external modem and do the Routing through the Router.

If you have, ICS running stop it for the initial configuration as well as any Firewall or live Virus scanner.

Given the current situation, I would install NetBEUI, and do the local File and Printer sharing through NetBEUI.

Accessing the Router and the Wireless has nothing to do with having Cable or DSL Internet. You cannot access the Router because you NIC is probably configured with an IP that is not part of the Router?s IP band.

If your Router is (example) 192.168.0.1 your NIC has to be configured manually to (example) 192.168.0.2. When you can access the Router, make sure that DHCP if off, and configure the Aceess Pint, and the PCMCIA with an IP of the same band (example) 192.168.0.3 and 192.168.0.4

Once you make every thing working, you can try to configure ICS to share the Internet.

 

[ktwebb]

"but I cannot access the desktop PC."

What is happening when you try? Through Network Places? Have you tried to map a drive with a UNC path from a dos prompt or the run window? Can you ping successfully? Do you have user accounts setup for the remote PC login credentials? If not, have you enabled the guest accounts? Have you run the XP file sharing wizard?

Internet acces is irrelevant. You have a DHCP server on your router and that is your LAN side connectivity anyway. Address your internet connection later if your concerned with local traffic. It's not part of the equation with a NAT router for file sharing.