can't connect 2 laptops thru router

I have 2 laptops with wireless cards, both XP Pro SP2, and i have a linksys
router with broadband internet. I set up the router with WPA-PSK security,
and to allow both laptops with MAC filtering.

Both laptops connect to the router perfectly to gain internet access.

one of the laptops is on a desk and i don't usually nove it around the
house, the other one is with me everywhere. I would like to be able to move
files i download on one laptop to the other.

I know there are a lot of threads here about this; but i got lost and
couldn't find anything about connecting both laptops together thru the router
for file shaing.

can anybody recommend a step-by-step link to do that?

thank you very much.

Thanks Rob for your reply.
here is the confusion, I will probably need to start connecting from
scratch. I don't have anything set up yet.



"Robert L [MVP - Networking]" wrote:

> Do a simple test first. Can you ping each other by IP?
>
> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
> "elietabet" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news06AC8B5-DA87-4DE8-990F-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have 2 laptops with wireless cards, both XP Pro SP2, and i have a linksys
> router with broadband internet. I set up the router with WPA-PSK security,
> and to allow both laptops with MAC filtering.
>
> Both laptops connect to the router perfectly to gain internet access.
>
> one of the laptops is on a desk and i don't usually nove it around the
> house, the other one is with me everywhere. I would like to be able to move
> files i download on one laptop to the other.
>
> I know there are a lot of threads here about this; but i got lost and
> couldn't find anything about connecting both laptops together thru the router
> for file shaing.
>
> can anybody recommend a step-by-step link to do that?
>
> thank you very much

elietabet wrote:
> Thanks Rob for your reply.
> here is the confusion, I will probably need to start connecting from
> scratch. I don't have anything set up yet.
>
>
>
> "Robert L [MVP - Networking]" wrote:
>
>> Do a simple test first. Can you ping each other by IP?
>>
>> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
>> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
>> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
>> "elietabet" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news06AC8B5-DA87-4DE8-990F-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have 2 laptops with wireless cards, both XP Pro SP2, and i have a linksys
>> router with broadband internet. I set up the router with WPA-PSK security,
>> and to allow both laptops with MAC filtering.
>>
>> Both laptops connect to the router perfectly to gain internet access.
>>
>> one of the laptops is on a desk and i don't usually nove it around the
>> house, the other one is with me everywhere. I would like to be able to move
>> files i download on one laptop to the other.
>>
>> I know there are a lot of threads here about this; but i got lost and
>> couldn't find anything about connecting both laptops together thru the router
>> for file shaing.
>>
>> can anybody recommend a step-by-step link to do that?
>>
>> thank you very much

If both laptops are successfully accessing the Internet through the
router, you've already accomplished what seems to be most posters'
problems. Here's MS-MVP Malke's standard advice on how to setup file
and printer sharing:

If both your computers are already accessing the Internet wirelessly,
you do not need a "interface card". All you need to do is set up your
local area network (lan) for file/printer sharing. When you get that
set up, to do the printer you may need to install the printer on the
second computer (the one that doesn't have the printer connected
locally). It depends on the printer. HP all-in-ones usually need you to
run the install from the cd on each client machine instead of using the
Add Printer wizard in Control Panel. Refer to your printer manual for
details.

Run the Network Setup Wizard on both computers, making sure to enable
File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will
turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like
Norton 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
--
Lem -- MS-MVP - Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer