Browsing network question

Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of times
already)

I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they
were networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything was
ok.
I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise both
are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP and
so added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work.
This was a while ago, and due to moving house I haven't used the network
for a while.

I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a
WAP/router (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I took
the opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification.
Although the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for both
PCs at the moment.

So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting (in
Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the portable
becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows under
Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be the
Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
Neighborhood.
In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access
files. It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable is
the Browse Master.
Any ideas why this should be?

Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).

John










John Fryatt

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 19:53:08 +0000, John Fryatt wrote:

> Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of times
> already)
>
> I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they were
> networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything was ok.
> I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise both
> are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP and so
> added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work. This was a while ago,
> and due to moving house I haven't used the network for a while.
>
> I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a WAP/router
> (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I took the
> opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification. Although
> the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for both PCs at the
> moment.
>
> So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting (in
> Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the portable
> becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows under
> Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be the
> Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
> Neighborhood.
> In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access files.
> It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable is the Browse
> Master.
> Any ideas why this should be?
>
> Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).
>
> John

Best option is to set the machine you want to be the Browsmaster to
Browsmaster = YES and the other one to Browsmaster = NO. It takes a while
for the Network Neighbourhood to sort itself out, even on a small network.
By forcing a Browsmaster it will speed up the 'negotiating' but it can
still take 30 mins (the first time) to sort itself out.

Graham.

John Fryatt wrote:
> Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of times
> already)
>
> I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they
> were networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything was
> ok.
> I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise both
> are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP and
> so added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work.
> This was a while ago, and due to moving house I haven't used the network
> for a while.
>
> I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a
> WAP/router (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I took
> the opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification.
> Although the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for both
> PCs at the moment.
>
> So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting (in
> Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the portable
> becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows under
> Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be the
> Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
> Neighborhood.
> In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access
> files. It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable is
> the Browse Master.
> Any ideas why this should be?
>
> Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).
>
> John
>

Even when one machine is acting as madte browser a LM announce is turned
on Win98 isn't good at maintaing a browse list, the usual solution are
either run netbui in parallel with TCP/IP or run the TCP/IP with fixed
IP addressing and keep the host file and lmhostd files up to date.

"Graham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 19:53:08 +0000, John Fryatt wrote:
>
> > Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of
times
> > already)
> >
> > I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they
were
> > networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything was ok.
> > I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise
both
> > are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP
and so
> > added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work. This was a
while ago,
> > and due to moving house I haven't used the network for a while.
> >
> > I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a
WAP/router
> > (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I took the
> > opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification.
Although
> > the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for both PCs
at the
> > moment.
> >
> > So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting
(in
> > Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the
portable
> > becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows
under
> > Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be
the
> > Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
> > Neighborhood.
> > In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access
files.
> > It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable is the
Browse
> > Master.
> > Any ideas why this should be?
> >
> > Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).
> >
> > John
>
> Best option is to set the machine you want to be the Browsmaster to
> Browsmaster = YES and the other one to Browsmaster = NO. It takes a
while
> for the Network Neighbourhood to sort itself out, even on a small
network.
> By forcing a Browsmaster it will speed up the 'negotiating' but it can
> still take 30 mins (the first time) to sort itself out.
>
> Graham.
>

Hi Graham,

As I said originally, that's what I've ended up doing. One PC has
Browsemaster set to Enabled and the other is set to Disabled.
I was just wondering why an Automatic setting, which effectively sets
things up the reverse of my manual settings, doesn't work properly. Just
some kind of s/w conflict I suppose, or maybe Win 98 is just a bit naff
at this sort of thing?

Regards, John

"bonzo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bse9gq$n32$(E-Mail Removed)...
> John Fryatt wrote:
> > Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of
times
> > already)
> >
> > I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they
> > were networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything
was
> > ok.
> > I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise
both
> > are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP
and
> > so added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work.
> > This was a while ago, and due to moving house I haven't used the
network
> > for a while.
> >
> > I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a
> > WAP/router (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I
took
> > the opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification.
> > Although the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for
both
> > PCs at the moment.
> >
> > So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting
(in
> > Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the
portable
> > becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows
under
> > Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be
the
> > Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
> > Neighborhood.
> > In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access
> > files. It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable
is
> > the Browse Master.
> > Any ideas why this should be?
> >
> > Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).
> >
> > John
> >
>
> Even when one machine is acting as madte browser a LM announce is
turned
> on Win98 isn't good at maintaing a browse list, the usual solution are
> either run netbui in parallel with TCP/IP or run the TCP/IP with fixed
> IP addressing and keep the host file and lmhostd files up to date.

Well, I was running NetBEUI, but I've removed it now. Everything seems
ok as long as I set the Browsemaster in a particular way.
Thanks for pointing me to the Hosts and LMHosts files. I have read up on
them a bit and think I understand. Seems that there are several ways of
getting a result in this area, which is a little confusing.
It all works now anyway, but I at least I've advanced my knowledge a
little.

Thanks, John

On Thu, 25 Dec 2003 14:10:00 +0000, John Fryatt wrote:

> "Graham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 19:53:08 +0000, John Fryatt wrote:
>>
>> > Here's a funny one.... (although probably been discussed loads of
> times
>> > already)
>> >
>> > I have two PCs, one big box and one portable. Up until recently they
> were
>> > networked together through a hub using TP cables. Everything was ok.
>> > I had TCP/IP installed for Internet and NetBEUI for LAN. I realise
> both
>> > are not necessary but I seem to remember having trouble with TCP/IP
> and so
>> > added NetBEUI to get the local file sharing to work. This was a
> while ago,
>> > and due to moving house I haven't used the network for a while.
>> >
>> > I recently got cable broadband and connected this up through a
> WAP/router
>> > (Netgear MR314). The Internet connection works fine. I took the
>> > opportunity to remove NetBEUI, in the cause of simplification.
> Although
>> > the router is also a WAP I am using a cable connection for both PCs
> at the
>> > moment.
>> >
>> > So, my 'problem'. With both PCs set up with the BrowseMaster setting
> (in
>> > Control Panel/Network/File & Printer Sharing) at Automatic the
> portable
>> > becomes the Browse Master. In that config, only the portable shows
> under
>> > Network Neighborhood, on both machines. If I force the big box to be
> the
>> > Browse Master then everything's fine and I can see both PCs in Net
>> > Neighborhood.
>> > In either setup I can Find the big PC through Explorer, and access
> files.
>> > It just doesn't show under Net Neighborhood if the portable is the
> Browse
>> > Master.
>> > Any ideas why this should be?
>> >
>> > Oh yes, both PCs run Win 98 (with patches but not SE).
>> >
>> > John
>>
>> Best option is to set the machine you want to be the Browsmaster to
>> Browsmaster = YES and the other one to Browsmaster = NO. It takes a
> while
>> for the Network Neighbourhood to sort itself out, even on a small
> network.
>> By forcing a Browsmaster it will speed up the 'negotiating' but it can
>> still take 30 mins (the first time) to sort itself out.
>>
>> Graham.
>>
>>
> Hi Graham,
>
> As I said originally, that's what I've ended up doing. One PC has
> Browsemaster set to Enabled and the other is set to Disabled. I was just
> wondering why an Automatic setting, which effectively sets things up the
> reverse of my manual settings, doesn't work properly. Just some kind of
> s/w conflict I suppose, or maybe Win 98 is just a bit naff at this sort
> of thing?
>
> Regards, John

Sorry about the delayed responce. I have been off the air for a couple of
days while I upgraded my PC. All didn't go to plan.

Anyway, with all machines set to Browsmaster = Automatic, it can take
several hours for the negotiations between PC's to sort themselves out,
even on a two PC network.

The network usage is deliberately low to keep network traffic due to
browsmaster negotiations low on large networks. The downside of this is it
takes an eon for network neighborhood to become correctly populated,
especially for the first time.

Graham