Internet Sharing

[toetoe]

Both laptop and pc have wireless network cards in them and still can`t get them to look at each other which is a real pain, but my question is, do i need to get a wireless router to share the internet connection or should i be able to do this if the networking was working properly. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

[Exfso]

I have 3 computers, 2 desktops and my laptop networked, and they can all share the internet. I gather you have separate network cards in each computer. Are you running Windows XP.?


Peter

[Howzat]

if your not using a router the network cards need to be set up as "ad-hoc" this will make the cards look for other network cards and not a router/hub

[toetoe]

Sorry, xp on both and i have done the ad-hoc.

[toetoe]

I am using the software on the pc which came with the network card(Belkin). Would it it simpler not to use this software and let xp do it all.?

[Exfso]

My network is fixed wiring and not wireless, initially had some problems, but the secret is to let windows do it and you nominate the addresses for each card and it should work ok.
EG for my main computer I am using:

IP: 192.168.1.51
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: nominated IP address
Pref DNS: nominated IP address

Next computer:

IP:192.168.1.52

Remainder as for the main computer

does this help at all?

[Exfso]

This shows it better, I have blacked out my isp IP address for obvious reasons. You should be able to see what I am getting at.

[toetoe]

I will give it a go and see what happens, thanks

[Howzat]

Do you have service pack 2 installed?
If so XP will be "wireless network aware" and it will be able to set up the network itself and you will be able to export your settings to the other computer

[mojo]

For the sake of accuracy and sanity, 192.168.x.x is a local subnet. It is not your ISP's ip address. It is your local router/server/cable modem address. Anything 192.168.x.x will never appear on the internet. It is a Class C subnet.

You can also use 172.16.x.x - 172.32.x.x
or 10.x.x.x as your local ip addresses.

No need to black out the ip address Exfso. It's meaningless to anyone outside your own network. And 192.168.1.254 would probably be a reasonable guess for a gateway on that subnet.

toetoe: you'll want to setup your network like Exfso. change the ip addresses of your computers so that they're all on the same subnet. eg. 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.XXX, etc.
or
192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, 192.168.1.XXX, etc.
It doesn't matter what subnet you use, just as long as it's on the same one. It'll make things simpler that way.

The gateway and dns fields will probably be identical. This is the ipaddress of the computer that is connected to the internet - where all the other computers connect through it to the outside world.

You can also use the DNS of your isp's ip address. If you don't know it, your ISP will probably have a page where they tell you your mail server, news server, etc. it'll be on that page.

But more than that, seriously, google is your friend :)

[toetoe]

Thanks guys, service pack 2 i have on the machines. I think i will uninstall the belkin software, give the pc a boot and let xp take over without the belkin software anywhere to be seen. All notes taken Terry on the ip numbers and yes google is a friend in deed. :)

[Exfso]

Thanks Mojo, wasnt too sure about that one, better to be safe than sorry. Sounds like you are the bloke to get him running mate, I am very much a learner in that respect and was only relating to what works for me.

Cheers.

Peter

[toetoe]

Still having no luck, what hair i have left i am starting to pull out. Back to the start again and step by step we will try again and see what happens. I must say this is very frustrating tho.. :(

[Exfso]

Here is a site that gives a fairly good tutorial on setting up a home network. It has a lot of adds and stuff, but if you ignore that, I reckon this should be of assistance.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/web-server.htm

:atom:

[acropolite]

Peter,
Howzat's right about the Ad hoc mode. Wireless networking devices can talk via each other to an access point and Ad hoc mode forces them to communicate with each other exclusive of an access point. Have you tried pinging the other machine/s?? Also it is worthy of note that windows is notoriously slow at recognising other machines on the network. This is because machines "elect" a browse master from all machines each time a new machine connects and it may be some time before your machines show up in each others "network neighbourhood". I usually just map whatever resource I am sharing by using \\machine_name\share name. Try allocating fixed IP addresses in the 192.168.x.x range (e.g.192.168.1.1) Subnet mask 255.255.255.0 to each machines wireless I/F then try pinging the other machine by using START RUN then typing ping192.168.x.x (the IP address you have allocated to the other machine). If you get a reply then your machines are talking to each other.

[toetoe]

Thanks again people, i will play around a bit more later on today after i finish work. I am not going to let this beat me..

[toetoe]

I thimk that site will be handy Exfso, thank for the link. :)

[Exfso]

No problems at all, I found it very useful when I was having teething problems as well

:)

[Howzat]

Another thing to try is to set the laptop to "obtain IP address automatically" and don't forget to allow internet sharing on your desktop

[toetoe]

I`m getting frustrated with all this. Think i best leave it for a while as i am getting cranky as i am having no luck. :(

[Exfso]

I assume you are running XP. If this is the case, you might try to confirm you XP firewall isnt the culprit. I turn it off on my computer as I am running another firewall anyway.
Also have you tried to ping the other computer?

[toetoe]

XP on both, have not done the ping or anything else as the network icons in the system tray on both machines are not active, (red X over the icon) connection unavailiable is what it says. I thought the card would become active on start up regardless of being configured or not.
I need a smoke i`m getting cranky.

[mojo]

Stop. Take a deep breath. Calm blue ocean. Calm blue ocean :)

The cards wont become active if there's no network. If there's no network, windows puts a pretty X in the tray.

The ethernet cables to the wireless devices are the cables that came with the devices? You're not using crossover cables when you're not supposed to, or vice-versa?

When you look at device manager, are there any errors. That is, are the drivers for the ethernet cards working properly as far as windows is concerned?

Describe the equipment you have and how exactly you're connecting them together.

[toetoe]

Hi Terry, it`s a wireless network system. The pc has a Belkin wireless network card and the NEC Laptop, it is a Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG network card. I have tried using the Belkin software with the pc and no luck with that, removed that software and let XP do the configuring and no luck with that. In device manager on both machines, it is saying all is ok, no conflicks, device is working prop and so on. Looking pretty close to getting me a tech down here.. :(

[Dennis]

Hello, toetoe

If you have Norton Internet Security or just Norton Firewall installed, you need to configure the Networking Tab so that the Firewall does not block your computers from communicating.

Regards

Dennis

[iceman]

I've been having troubles at home too, i've got a work laptop which obviously connects to the work LAN, but then when I take it home I want to connect it to my home PC (which is connected via ADSL to the internet, through a network card (not a USB modem)).

I bought a cross-over network cable to connect the cards to each other. My work laptop is running Win2k and my home PC is running WinXP.

I can't get them to talk to each other.. when I configure the network card on my home PC, when it reboots, XP complains about something not being verified for XP and asks if I want to stop installation or continue.. I can't remember the error, will have to write it down next time. Something like "deterministic network enhancer port".. :shrug:

I'm not sure if that's the problem.. or also if Windows XP is blocking it via the firewall.. I ran the network setup wizard on XP and told it to open up for file & printer sharing, told it which card is connected to the internet, and which card is connected to the other PC.

Still no go.. i'll try the IP addresses, it's something to do with that i'm pretty sure, they're not on the same workgroup and probably not the same subnet.

I'm wary of changing the IP addy on my laptop just incase it doesn't work when I take it back to work, but I suppose I can set it up with multiple profiles and when I log on locally ("workstation only" at home) it uses one profile, and at work (on the LAN via Novell) it uses another profile.

Terry or anyone else, any other tips?

[mojo]

Peter: Sorry, I was under the impresion that you had ethernet cards into wireless. It makes it more difficult to diagnose, because you don't really know if the cards are actually working. But assuming the cards work, post a screen shot of your network settings.
Also are you running a firewall?

Mike: Format C:, Install windows 2000. :) I can't believe people use that POS masquerading as an operating system.
Your laptop will have a completely different network configuration to what you need. You're going to have to change the laptop settings or if it gets its ip's dynamically on the work LAN, you'll need a dhcp server. And seeing as you don't have a dhcp server, you'll need to change the laptop settings as has been described in the previous posts.

[toetoe]

G`day Dennis and welcome to the forums :) I don`t have any norton s/ware on either machines.

[toetoe]

Terry, the f/wall is on with the pc which is the one connected with the adsl modem, the laptop`s f/wall is disabled. I will try and do a screen shot of settings for you (if i can work out how to do it as i am pretty dumb with computers) prob Tues or Wed.
Cheers.

[toetoe]

Hope you get yours sorted out Mike, this stuff is a pain at times. :(

[mojo]

turn off the firewalls. if you're connected to the internet, unplug the cable modem while you're testing.

Alt+PrintScreen takes a picture of a window and puts it onto the clipboard.

[toetoe]

My son bought home a wireless adsl router (with inbuilt modem) and i have sorted the internet sharing problem out. Both computers are going well on the internet together but i still cant get them to look at each other for file sharing etc etc. I will look at this a bit more over the next few days so there might be a few more tips needed from some of you who know what to do. :)

[toetoe]

Hey Mike, how did you end up with your two computers.??

[Dennis]

Hi Peter

I must have used some illegal characters in my previous response because some important text is missing. I have replaced these illegal characters with "" marks instead.

Repost follows:

Do both computers belong to the same workgroup? I believe that they need to have the exact same Workgroup name in order for them to share files.

Check the Workgroup name as follows:
"Double click" the "My Network Places" icon on your desktop.
Select "View workgroup computers"
"Right click" the Computer icon and select "Properties" from the fly out menu.
This should display the Computer name and Workgroup.

If you do this on each computer, is the Workgroup name the same?

Cheers

Dennis

[acropolite]

P.C.'s don't have to belong to the same workgroup to share. It's a rather complicated business but in a nutshell you should be able to map a shared resource (on a client machine) once sharing is enabled by using \\machine_name\sharename e.g. if you have named your machine "fudd" and you have shared the c drive as "c" then you can simply select tools, map network drive from the explorer menu, then type \\fudd\c and enter. The same trick works when you are connecting to a shared printer. Many people are blissfully unaware of this fact and simply assume that the network is not working because they can't see it immediately in network neighbourhood. Shared resources don't always appear immediately in network neighbourhood. I personally rarely if ever use network neighbourhood to connect to network resources. If you're interested in why this is so, do a search on windows browse master for an explanation. You can also map drives at the command prompt or during startup with scripts and batch commands. If you're interested in this method open up a command prompt window and type net use /?

[toetoe]

Thanks guys for the input,
Phil, i tried your way and it said the "the network path could not be found". All drives are enabled for sharing on both PC`s and same error on both..

[Howzat]

Frustrating isn't it? :bashcomp:
Are both network cards set to the same channel?

Try downloading netstumbler (http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/) it actively searchs for wireless networks and displays channel, ssid and encryption information

[toetoe]

At times it is beyond frustrating. Both have same ssid and channel number. It would have to be something so simple surely as they are so close and yet so far. Off to work now so i will be home at 8pm and have a bit more of a fiddle then. I d/loaded netstumbler so i will have a gander at that also..

[acropolite]

The key thing that has been repeated in this thread is to ping each machine. If the ping test doesn't work nothing else will. There should also be diagnostics with the wireless cards that will indicate connection, signal strength, errors etc. :D

[toetoe]

Soon as i get both PC`s to my self , i will do the ping thing and anything else that comes to mind. My son is on the desk top shooting and blowing stuff up on line and will not move.

[toetoe]

Soon as i get both PC`s to my self , i will do the ping thing and anything else that comes to mind. My son is on the desk top shooting and blowing stuff up on line and will not move.

[toetoe]

Bugger, how did i manage to do that with the post.
Sorry.

[Dennis]

Hi Peter

My Wireless Router has security features which can be activated and set up by the user, such as:

MAC Address filtering
WEP encryption
Limit number of DHCP Users

....as well as a few more which are buried deeper in the set up menus.

Do you have any of these enabled as they will prevent access to devices that do not meet the criteria?

Cheers

Dennis

[acropolite]

Hey toetoe, you can delete the duplicate post by selecting edit then marking for delete. :D

[toetoe]

Dennis, i am not realy sure what is and what isn`t enabled in the router. I can ping the router ok with both machines but cannot ping from one machine to the other. Perhaps there maybe something in the router blocking pc to pc networking for sharing files and stuff but it is letting internet sharing work with no problems, you maybe on to something there.

Phil, thanks for the tip with the post`s. :)

[acropolite]

Toetoe, I am puzzled as to which type of router you have. If it's not wireless then it's unlikely that it's stopping your sharing traffic. If you are using WinXP InternetConectionSharing then the most likely culprit is the (XP) firewall. If you can browse and ping the router from both machines you're almost there. Another path you could follow is to check www.ozcableguy.com If there's an answer to your problem it'll most likely be there.

[toetoe]

The router is a D-Link http://www.dlink.com.au/default.aspx?FolderID=227
Thanks for the link Phil, i will have a bo peep at that.

[Howzat]

It's definitely starting to sound like a firewall problem. If you can ping the router from both computers you'll proberly find that the firewalls are set to deny ping (echo) requests.
OzCableGuy posts on the bigpond.broadband.tech.lans news group It might pay to post your problems there.

[toetoe]

Finally got the network going, about 99.9% going that is. Sharing on both machines, no problems, the .1% problem now is that either machine will not let me go to the "program files" folder for some reason, everything else seems to be ok. The firewalls on both machines have been disabled all along. Earlier tonight i had a rotten thought:mad2: my virus program has a firewall, so i disabled that and all fell into place. :bashcomp:

[Dennis]

Great news - its a big relief when you fix these problems and suddenly the network bursts into life - well done!

Cheers

Dennis

[elusiver]

program files is default as local user access only. so by default it cannot be viewed from another computer on the network.. i think the windows directory is the same. Dunno why u'd want access to any files in the program files directory anyway. But.. if you still want to.. you have to enable 'advanced file sharing' in windows xp.. all the systems here at work run win2k and i can't remember how to do it so you can just do a search for it in help. Then just right click the program files folder, click properties then the security tab. Then just add the users on the other computers on the network that you want to have access to it.

sorry for reviving such an old thread. i just realised how old it is :( had to go to the airport early this morning so i came straight to work and i'm bored :(

el :)

[toetoe]

Some programs in this directory have files or images etc that i use on both machines that i want to transfer, depending on which pc i am on. These programs installed by default to Program Files directory as i did not create a directory myself, this was all before the network was up and going so i just let the install go it's own way.
New problem now :bashcomp: i just put a bigger hard drive in the laptop and installed xp pro, internet sharing through the router is ok but the network for pc to pc WONT WORK, not yet anyway, so back to the start again and see if i can get it going..