Help! PCs can access Internet but not each other!

My setup:

1x Belkin Wireless Modem/Router, hardwired to Broadband phone socket only.
3x desktop PCs each with external USB wireless Network adapters.
2x laptop PCs each with internal wireless network connections.
(All computers are running either XP Home or XP Pro)

The situation:

All computers can 'see' the Belkin Modem/Router and access The Internet
wirelessly via Broadband with no problem whatsoever. HOWEVER, they cannot
'see' each other's network adapters so that a file-sharing network can be
established.

My dearest wish:

To have a wireless home network that allows me to share files, printers AND
access the Internet without having to hardwire anything to anything (it was
suggested I run a cable from the Modem/Router to one of the PCs).

My question:

Is this possible? I have tried all sorts of procedures to try and connect
the various PCs (all of which are on the MSHOME network) but each time only
the Belkin/Router is picked up and none of the network cards.

Am I asking too much of my system or doing something mindbogglingly stupid?
If any of you experts out there could offer some advice I would be eternally
grateful.

Many thanks.

Rick

Rick Burton wrote:
> My setup:
>
> 1x Belkin Wireless Modem/Router, hardwired to Broadband phone socket only.
> 3x desktop PCs each with external USB wireless Network adapters.
> 2x laptop PCs each with internal wireless network connections.
> (All computers are running either XP Home or XP Pro)
>
> The situation:
>
> All computers can 'see' the Belkin Modem/Router and access The Internet
> wirelessly via Broadband with no problem whatsoever. HOWEVER, they cannot
> 'see' each other's network adapters so that a file-sharing network can be
> established.
>

This is the point of the router; all your network traffic will go via
the router. If you wanted to connect one PC to another then you'd need
to set up an ad-hoc wireless network between two individual PCs, but
there's no need. So, you /should/ already have a file sharing network
avialable, though you may need to check that things like simple file
sharing are enabled on the Pro machines, and that you actually have
shared some folders.


> My dearest wish:
>
> To have a wireless home network that allows me to share files, printers AND
> access the Internet without having to hardwire anything to anything (it was
> suggested I run a cable from the Modem/Router to one of the PCs).
>
> My question:
>
> Is this possible? I have tried all sorts of procedures to try and connect
> the various PCs (all of which are on the MSHOME network) but each time only
> the Belkin/Router is picked up and none of the network cards.
>
> Am I asking too much of my system or doing something mindbogglingly stupid?
> If any of you experts out there could offer some advice I would be eternally
> grateful.
>

I'll assume that you're not seeing anything when attempting to browse
your MSHOME network via Windows explorer. I can't say for the belkin,
but my Netgear router assigns an IP address to each PC that connects
using DHCP. Open a command prompt from each PC and "ping <name of
machine>" to find it's IP (or your router admin screens may list the IP
it's assigned to each connecting PC), and from there you can also try
"ping <other machine name>" to see if you get a response. If that
fails, then after finding the IP of each machine try "ping <other
machine IP>", if you can see things then it's a start. I can't "see" my
laptop on my home network whilst browsing via Windows Explorer, but once
I know the IP I just map a network drive (Explorer > Tools > Map Network
Drive) to \\IP of desktop machine\name of shared folder. This is a pain
in the arse, but it works for my needs!

--
[ste]

"[ste parker]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Rick Burton wrote:
>> My setup:
>>
>> 1x Belkin Wireless Modem/Router, hardwired to Broadband phone socket
>> only.
>> 3x desktop PCs each with external USB wireless Network adapters.
>> 2x laptop PCs each with internal wireless network connections.
>> (All computers are running either XP Home or XP Pro)
>>
>> The situation:
>>
>> All computers can 'see' the Belkin Modem/Router and access The Internet
>> wirelessly via Broadband with no problem whatsoever. HOWEVER, they cannot
>> 'see' each other's network adapters so that a file-sharing network can be
>> established.
>>
>
> This is the point of the router; all your network traffic will go via the
> router. If you wanted to connect one PC to another then you'd need to set
> up an ad-hoc wireless network between two individual PCs, but there's no
> need. So, you /should/ already have a file sharing network avialable,
> though you may need to check that things like simple file sharing are
> enabled on the Pro machines, and that you actually have shared some
> folders.
>
>
>> My dearest wish:
>>
>> To have a wireless home network that allows me to share files, printers
>> AND access the Internet without having to hardwire anything to anything
>> (it was suggested I run a cable from the Modem/Router to one of the PCs).
>>
>> My question:
>>
>> Is this possible? I have tried all sorts of procedures to try and connect
>> the various PCs (all of which are on the MSHOME network) but each time
>> only the Belkin/Router is picked up and none of the network cards.
>>
>> Am I asking too much of my system or doing something mindbogglingly
>> stupid? If any of you experts out there could offer some advice I would
>> be eternally grateful.
>>
>
> I'll assume that you're not seeing anything when attempting to browse your
> MSHOME network via Windows explorer. I can't say for the belkin, but my
> Netgear router assigns an IP address to each PC that connects using DHCP.
> Open a command prompt from each PC and "ping <name of machine>" to find
> it's IP (or your router admin screens may list the IP it's assigned to
> each connecting PC), and from there you can also try "ping <other machine
> name>" to see if you get a response. If that fails, then after finding
> the IP of each machine try "ping <other machine IP>", if you can see
> things then it's a start. I can't "see" my laptop on my home network
> whilst browsing via Windows Explorer, but once I know the IP I just map a
> network drive (Explorer > Tools > Map Network Drive) to \\IP of desktop
> machine\name of shared folder. This is a pain in the arse, but it works
> for my needs!
>
> --
> [ste]

Many thanks for such a prompt and helpful reply. I'll check out everything
you mention and hope it solves my problem.

Rick.

Rick Burton wrote:
>
> Many thanks for such a prompt and helpful reply. I'll check out everything
> you mention and hope it solves my problem.
>

Forgot to mention one thing - it's entirely possible that if each
machine is running a firewall then they're just all blocking each other,
so watch out for that.

--
[ste]

"[ste parker]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Rick Burton wrote:
>>
>> Many thanks for such a prompt and helpful reply. I'll check out
>> everything you mention and hope it solves my problem.
>>
>
> Forgot to mention one thing - it's entirely possible that if each machine
> is running a firewall then they're just all blocking each other, so watch
> out for that.

Yes, especially anything like norton will cause problems, the older windows
firewall can cause all kinds of problems......

Gaz

> --
> [ste]

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:37:03 +0000 (UTC), "Rick Burton"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>Many thanks for such a prompt and helpful reply. I'll check out everything
>you mention and hope it solves my problem.

If your still getting stuck try this:

Make sure you have shared a folder or drive on each machine and then
open a command window:

Start Menu "RUN"

Type> CMD <enter>

Then type into the window:

Type> NET START <enter>

It should give you confirmation and list all the services started.

Do the same on all your machines and then try browsing your network
again.

If this works then it means that in "Services" there is something
disabled that really needs to be up and running. Usually it's
something like "Server"...

If it doesn't work then keep a note of the above as it may be useful
in the future.

Pete

In article <dbggan$r1c$(E-Mail Removed)>, Rick
Burton says...
> My setup:
>
> 1x Belkin Wireless Modem/Router, hardwired to Broadband phone socket only.
> 3x desktop PCs each with external USB wireless Network adapters.
> 2x laptop PCs each with internal wireless network connections.
> (All computers are running either XP Home or XP Pro)
>
> The situation:
>
> All computers can 'see' the Belkin Modem/Router and access The Internet
> wirelessly via Broadband with no problem whatsoever. HOWEVER, they cannot
> 'see' each other's network adapters so that a file-sharing network can be
> established.
>
> My dearest wish:
>
> To have a wireless home network that allows me to share files, printers AND
> access the Internet without having to hardwire anything to anything (it was
> suggested I run a cable from the Modem/Router to one of the PCs).
>
> My question:
>
> Is this possible? I have tried all sorts of procedures to try and connect
> the various PCs (all of which are on the MSHOME network) but each time only
> the Belkin/Router is picked up and none of the network cards.
>
Allow File and Printer Sharing in the firewall.


--
Conor

-You wanted an argument? Oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse. You want room
K5, just along the corridor. Stupid git. (Monty Python)

"[ste parker]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Rick Burton wrote:
>>
>> Many thanks for such a prompt and helpful reply. I'll check out
>> everything you mention and hope it solves my problem.
>>
>
> Forgot to mention one thing - it's entirely possible that if each machine
> is running a firewall then they're just all blocking each other, so watch
> out for that.
>
> --
> [ste]

I'm running Windows Firewall on all PCs - I think. Could this cause a
problem? And what's the alternative, run without firewalls? Isn't that a bit
dangerous these days?

Rick