Gah, networking is giving me a headache...

[t3h l337 n3wb]

I have 3 computers in my house. One is running Windows 2k and is wired to my router downstairs. I also have a laptop that is wirelessly connected and running Windows XP Home. I'm sharing the entire drive on both of those computers, and also the 2 printers connected to the laptop. They can access each other's files and stuff absolutely fine. Howver, I just tried to add my desktop to the network today. It's running XP Home with a Linksys wireless adapter. I set everything up fine, and I can access the internet perfectly. However, there's nothing in My Network Places, and when I try to View Workgroup Computers, it says that the workgroup (HOME) is not accessible, and that I might not have permission... This is confusing... Can anyone help?

 

[orion23]

Did you run the network wizard on the 3rd pc yet?

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yes.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Help anyone?

 

[Fardringle]

Is the workgroup name set as HOME on the other computers, or do they have a different workgroup name? All computers need to be using the same workgroup in order to communicate.

Also, if you have Service Pack 2 installed on the laptop, make sure that the Windows Firewall is set to allow File and Printer Sharing traffic on the Exceptions tab.

 

[nweaver]

network neigborhod is crap. Use unc paths to access it. \\server\share and it should prompt you to intstall printer drivers

 

[ktwebb]

Excellent suggestion however typically if Network Places isn't working NetBIOS name resolution isn't either. So, use the IP in the path instead of the computer name. If the remote IP is 192.168.1.2 you'd click start, then run. Type \\192.168.1.2 and click enter. That would show you everything shared on that computer. You can also add the shared resource. \\192.168.1.2\printername for example. Network Places, without a DNS or WINS server used locally, is about as unreliable as anything in the computer world. Always has been. Doubt Vista is going to change that but who knows.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Okay, I'll try the IP thing. All computers are on the HOME workgroup (System Properties), and the XP computers all allow file and printer sharing.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

-_-; that didn't work either... This is really weird... Any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Okay, I installed the NetBEUI protocol and tried to ping the laptop in my house by IP, which worked. However, when I tried pinging by name (ping Laptop), it didnt work. Laptop is the name I designated in the System Properties. I'm about to just give up... Now, I'm also getting weird bottleneck problems or something. Before, bandwidth testers reported my bandwidth @ 4.5 megabit. When I tried it with my computer on the wireless, I got like 1.2 megabit. I can't even surf the web while downloading large files. This is so confusing...

 

[antsct]

Sorry this has nothing to do with this thread but t3h l337 n3wb you actually (at this time of posting) have 1337 posts