My Wireless Sharing Problem -- Specifics

I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.

I have a home office network consisting of 7 computers, 6 of which run
Wiudows XP Pro SP2. The other one is Windows Vista Ultimate (the machine I
am on now). It's patched daily automatically by our friends at Microsoft.

I use Bright House/RoadRunner for my cable modem ISP.

File and print sharing is set up so that all computers can print to and
share with two other machines. The router I was using before moving to
wireless was a LinkSys BEFSR81, firmware revision 2.51.1 It was a perfectly
functioning network for what I wanted to do. Then I moved to wireless.

The changes:

I installed a LinkSys WRT54GS, version 6.0, with firmware revision 1.52.0.
I have two Dell Latitude laptops with built-in wireless capability. On all
other machines I installed LinkSys PCI wireless adapters, model WMP54GS
(with SpeedBooster).

The setup worked nicely as far as throughput and reliability were concerned.
I had a problem with dropped connections on the router, but I found the
cause and eradicated the problem (it was being caused by one of the laptops
going into sleep mode while connected to the network -- why it screwed with
the router itself I don't know, just that it did).

In the network neighborhood on the XP machines they could all see other, and
all computers showed up on the Vista network map as being in the same
network.

WPA-Personal with TKIP encryption is the protection scheme. Again, no
problems with that.

I made sure all of the adapters were operating in infrastructure mode
instead of ad-hoc.

I soon discovered that NONE of the machines could communicate with each
other in terms of file and printer sharing. The exception is a Brother
MFC-665CW printer/fax with wireless support. As long as the Brother control
center software is installed on each machine, they can print to it. They
cannot, however, install via Network Neighborhood or through the Windows
printer setup in the control panel. It is only through the software they
are able to do so.

After spending 24 hours researching the problem on the 'Net, I finally
decided to disable wireless on a few workstations and hook them up again via
CAT-5 only. The WRT54GS still would not allow the machines to share. At
last, I removed the WRT54GS and reinstalled the BEFSR81. Voila, I had file
and printer sharing back, even with the Vista machine.

I believe I have isolated the problem to the WRT54GS OR perhaps the setup of
the individual wireless adapters. On the laptops the wireless worked out of
the box -- all I had to do was enter the security information. When I
installed the wireless adapters for the PCs, I did nothing out of the
ordinary in setup. Again, general connectivity to the router and to the
Internet was smooth as silk. But internally, the machines will not transact
with each other.

Getting back to the wireless router (WRTG54GS), I will conclude by saying
that it shipped with the most current firmware (according to the LinkSys
Website) and I have made absolutely no changes to the routers optional
settings, except, of course, to enable the WPA-Personal security and to
enable SSID broadcasts.

There it is. I have to make this work via wireless, or I have to take all
this stuff back to Office Depot for a return. Please help if you can.

Thank you.

The Rejuvenated Techie wrote:
> I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.

Make sure all of your machines have the same workgroup name. I don't use Winblows so I can't tell
you how to do that in M$ world. Make sure all machines get their address via DHCP. Go into the WRT's
setup screen by typing 192.168.1.1 in a browser. Look around for settings that may twig you to the
blockage. Mine works flawlessly with a Mac and several Linux boxen on the inside. You'll get it.
Others may have other helpful ideas...or not

On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 14:06:46 -0400, "The Rejuvenated Techie"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<46153b99$0$17381$(E-Mail Removed)>:

>I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.
>[SNIP]

Troubleshooting File and Printer Sharing in Microsoft Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 14:06:46 -0400, "The Rejuvenated Techie"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> <46153b99$0$17381$(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
>>I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.
>>[SNIP]
>
> Troubleshooting File and Printer Sharing in Microsoft Windows XP
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
>

With all due respect, it is obvious you did not read my entire message.
There is ZERO problem with file and print sharing with a wired router. I
isolated the problem to the wireless setup.

"The Rejuvenated Techie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:46153b99$0$17381$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.
>
> I have a home office network consisting of 7 computers, 6 of which run
> Wiudows XP Pro SP2. The other one is Windows Vista Ultimate (the machine
> I am on now). It's patched daily automatically by our friends at
> Microsoft.
>
> I use Bright House/RoadRunner for my cable modem ISP.
>
> File and print sharing is set up so that all computers can print to and
> share with two other machines. The router I was using before moving to
> wireless was a LinkSys BEFSR81, firmware revision 2.51.1 It was a
> perfectly functioning network for what I wanted to do. Then I moved to
> wireless.
>
> The changes:
>
> I installed a LinkSys WRT54GS, version 6.0, with firmware revision 1.52.0.
> I have two Dell Latitude laptops with built-in wireless capability. On
> all other machines I installed LinkSys PCI wireless adapters, model
> WMP54GS (with SpeedBooster).
>
> The setup worked nicely as far as throughput and reliability were
> concerned. I had a problem with dropped connections on the router, but I
> found the cause and eradicated the problem (it was being caused by one of
> the laptops going into sleep mode while connected to the network -- why it
> screwed with the router itself I don't know, just that it did).
>
> In the network neighborhood on the XP machines they could all see other,
> and all computers showed up on the Vista network map as being in the same
> network.
>
> WPA-Personal with TKIP encryption is the protection scheme. Again, no
> problems with that.
>
> I made sure all of the adapters were operating in infrastructure mode
> instead of ad-hoc.
>
> I soon discovered that NONE of the machines could communicate with each
> other in terms of file and printer sharing. The exception is a Brother
> MFC-665CW printer/fax with wireless support. As long as the Brother
> control center software is installed on each machine, they can print to
> it. They cannot, however, install via Network Neighborhood or through the
> Windows printer setup in the control panel. It is only through the
> software they are able to do so.
>
> After spending 24 hours researching the problem on the 'Net, I finally
> decided to disable wireless on a few workstations and hook them up again
> via CAT-5 only. The WRT54GS still would not allow the machines to share.
> At last, I removed the WRT54GS and reinstalled the BEFSR81. Voila, I had
> file and printer sharing back, even with the Vista machine.
>
> I believe I have isolated the problem to the WRT54GS OR perhaps the setup
> of the individual wireless adapters. On the laptops the wireless worked
> out of the box -- all I had to do was enter the security information.
> When I installed the wireless adapters for the PCs, I did nothing out of
> the ordinary in setup. Again, general connectivity to the router and to
> the Internet was smooth as silk. But internally, the machines will not
> transact with each other.
>
> Getting back to the wireless router (WRTG54GS), I will conclude by saying
> that it shipped with the most current firmware (according to the LinkSys
> Website) and I have made absolutely no changes to the routers optional
> settings, except, of course, to enable the WPA-Personal security and to
> enable SSID broadcasts.
>
> There it is. I have to make this work via wireless, or I have to take all
> this stuff back to Office Depot for a return. Please help if you can.
>
> Thank you.

Briefly disable the personal security encryption. Keep the SSID. See if
they can connect. That will at least eliminate a possibility. You might
also back everything off to Wireless 'b' temporarly to establish a baseline.
I note that you did say that all computers have Internet connectivity. My
suggestions were to just get a base line.

On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 15:08:52 -0400, "The Rejuvenated Techie"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in <46154a46$0$1370$(E-Mail Removed)>:

>"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 14:06:46 -0400, "The Rejuvenated Techie"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> <46153b99$0$17381$(E-Mail Removed)>:
>>
>>>I'll try this again, and I won't be vague at all.
>>>[SNIP]
>>
>> Troubleshooting File and Printer Sharing in Microsoft Windows XP
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
>
>With all due respect, it is obvious you did not read my entire message.
>There is ZERO problem with file and print sharing with a wired router. I
>isolated the problem to the wireless setup.

I did read the entire (lengthy) message.
I suggest you read and follow the advice from Microsoft.
And not just blow off those trying to help you.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> I did read the entire (lengthy) message.
> I suggest you read and follow the advice from Microsoft.
> And not just blow off those trying to help you.

You must forgive the length, but the devil, it seems, is in the details, and
many here love the devil. I gave brevity a shot and it didn't go over well.

I'm not blowing anyone off. But if you read the message, you should clearly
see that when the old router is put back in, Microsoft Networking works
fine. Put the wireless router in, and nothing works.

I'm wondering if the wireless network name should be the same as the
workgroup name in Windows?

"The Rejuvenated Techie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> I'm wondering if the wireless network name should be the same as the
> workgroup name in Windows?

Answer: No.

"Mellowed" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> Briefly disable the personal security encryption. Keep the SSID. See if
> they can connect. That will at least eliminate a possibility. You might
> also back everything off to Wireless 'b' temporarly to establish a
> baseline. I note that you did say that all computers have Internet
> connectivity. My suggestions were to just get a base line.

Tried all of that, including G only. No luck.

I'm calling LinkSys now. If anyone is interested in the final answer, let
me know. Otherwise, thanks for the help.

On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 16:47:51 -0400, "The Rejuvenated Techie"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<46156179$0$24695$(E-Mail Removed)>:

>"John Navas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> I did read the entire (lengthy) message.
>> I suggest you read and follow the advice from Microsoft.
>> And not just blow off those trying to help you.
>
>You must forgive the length, but the devil, it seems, is in the details, and
>many here love the devil. I gave brevity a shot and it didn't go over well.
>
>I'm not blowing anyone off. But if you read the message, you should clearly
>see that when the old router is put back in, Microsoft Networking works
>fine. Put the wireless router in, and nothing works.

That _doesn't_ mean the Microsoft advice isn't worth following!

I'd be more sympathetic if you said, "OK, I tried that, but it didn't
help." Instead you just didn't bother.

>I'm wondering if the wireless network name should be the same as the
>workgroup name in Windows?

Irrelevant.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>