Intermittent access between computers on network
 

A few weeks ago I bought a laptop plus a Linkysys WRT54G wireless router so as to be able to share NTLWorld Internet access with my main PC.

Both computers connect to the Internet without problem, but I have had problems with the two computers connecting together for file sharing between the two and for using the USB printer connected to my main PC.

I have set sharing permissions on the folders I want to be able to "see" on each computer (in addition to the standard XP home "shared folders").

Both computers use a Norton Firewall rather than the built-in XP option which has been disabled. On both computers I have gone into the Personal Firewall configuration and used the wizard on the Networking tab to set a Trusted Zone. This has configured the zone on each to be the following:

Main PC:
IP: 198.168.1.0
Mask: 255.255.255.0

Laptop:
IP: 198.168.2.0
Mask: 255.255.255.0

I have done an ipconfig on both computers and they report the following:

Main PC:
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Laptop:
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

As I write now, both computers can "see" each other, but I have other times as earlier this afternoon, when they don't, but I haven't changed anything.

Is the configuration I have correct? If so, why am I getting this intermittent access between the computers via the router when the connection on both out to the Internet always works?

Also, from time to time, I have another laptop that I use and I would like that to also be included in the network when at home. That too has Norton Firewall - should I be configuring that any differently than using the Norton Firewall wizard to create the Trusted Zone?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice on this.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

Not sure, but why would the IPs in the trusted zone be different from the actual IPs as reported by ipconfig?

Can you enter the actual IPs manually to be in the trusted zone?

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

What do you mean by "cannot see each other". Can they not ping, or do you mean you cannot browse to the other PC? Or something else?

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

Are they both connected wired, or is one wireless. If using a mix of wired and wireless make sure your router's configuration uses infrastructure mode.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

Hello all - thanks for your replies on this...

Yes, IPs can be entered manually into the Norton Firewall networking configuration, either an individual IP, or a range of IPs, or using a network address and subnet mask.

Would I be setting this manually and if so, what do I need to set to allow for both my main PC and laptop plus any other laptop I may bring home and want to allow to connect into my network?

When I say they "cannot see each other" (sorry probably a silly expression), I cannot browse to the other PC in My Network Places or connect to it in Add Network Place. I haven't tried pinging when they are in this state, so I don't know if that would show something different.

The main PC is wired into the router, the other is wireless. I have looked on the various tabs of my WRT54G's configuration but cannot find anything about "infrastructure mode" - sorry, do you know where would I check and set that. I've looked in the user manual too and it doesn't seem to mention this mode.

Thanks all.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

Well that looks wrong to me.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

I'd set 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.10(x-1) where x is the number of PCs connected...

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

If you go to Start... Run... and type the IP address of the PC, what happens? If you type the name of the PC, what happens?

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

OK, I will try that instead of the automatic setting from the Norton Firewall wizard. I presume I need to do that on each computer that I want to include in the network? I still do not understand where this "infrastructure mode" fits in or how I set it on my
---------- Post added at 23:21 ---------- Previous post was at 23:17 ----------

I tried both, but think I must be misunderstanding your instructions on this as isn't this the way to "run" a command such as an executable or batch file?

I get an error with both saying, "Windows cannot find 'xxxxxxxxxx'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search." (where 'xxxxxxxxx' is the IP address or name of my PC).

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

The user manual discusses this in Chapter 2: Planning your Wireless Network. Having said that I can't see where in the manual you are told how to change the setting.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

That's me being vague. Effects of a bottle of Riesling. I meant, type two backward slashes, then the name/IP address: \\mypc and \\10.9.8.7

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

That's OK, I hope it was good! :)

On my main PC it brings up a My Computer type window. On my laptop this morning it comes up with an error saying, "The network path was not found". In this state, the two computers cannot "see" each other again as per my earlier description.

Re: Intermittent access between computers on network
 

I think you set infrastructure/ad-hoc mode in your NIC's configuration software...

I'd be surprised if it was set to ad-hoc, infrastructure's usually the default.