Home network help!
 

Hiya,

Just got a laptop, and I want my PC which is upstairs to be able to share files/documents and printer with. Have run Network setup wizard on both, and as I use a router I chose "uses a gateway" for both. However, they aren't seeing each other- I think it's down to Zone Alarm, as it blocked an incoming connection from the PC upstairs whilst i was on the laptop. Does anyone know a way round this? Or if I've made an error in setting it up this way! Do I have to install printer drivers on the laptop as well as up here?
Ta.

Re: Home network help!
 

IIRC you need to ad the network address of the other machine to the 'trusted zone' in zonealarm.

Re: Home network help!
 

Go to printer properties and click sharing then the name of the other PC then apply then ok.

Re: Home network help!
 

No offence, but zone alarm is horrid, ditch it ;) Besides most routers properly configured are very effective hardware firewalls anyway. I don't run any software firewalls on my home network at all.

Have a look here for a very handy firewall and security check

http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

Merrin

Re: Home network help!
 

How do I do this mate?

Re: Home network help!
 

Have a look around in zonealarm, you need the trusted zone. Sorry, I can't be of more help atm. I'm on a Mac.
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IIRC You need to add the internal IP address of the machine that zonealarm is blocking access from to the trusted zone on the machine that is blocking access.

You should then be able to ping the machine and set up shares.

Re: Home network help!
 

Sorted now, cheers.

Re: Home network help!
 

Agreed :)

Sorry, off topic but.....

The hardware firewall on your router only protects you from unwanted traffic entering your network from an outside source - if anything nasty finds its way onto your system, and you don't have a software firewall installed that filters outbound traffic, it will be able to establish an outbound connection and transmit whatever payload it is designed to transmit.

Having no software firewall is very risky, it leaves you open to the possibility of your machine being used as a zombie to transmit DOS attacks, or (potentially more damaging) there is the possibility that a keylogger could be installed which would then be free to transmit any sensitive data back to the originator without your knowledge.

I would always suggest the "belt and braces" approach, a hardware firewall on a router does not guarantee peace of mind - a software firewall in addition to your router is a must.

Re: Home network help!
 

Agreed, but provided you're careful about what you download it can be ok. I do tend to run adaware at least once a week and my AV software seems to catch most untoward activity (of the trojan, dodgy popups, weird installers etc). But I guess it's just my cavalier attitude to life :p:

Merrin

/edit

out of interest which sf firewall would you suggest then, ZA my opnion is above, I did used to run something I think was called Kaspersky (spelling?)

Re: Home network help!
 

I've been using BitDefender Pro for quite some time now. It's a combined AV/Firewall/Spam Filter.

Regularly updated. Very easy to configure. Catches everything I've thrown at it :)