[Anastasis]

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.