Age of Empires II multiplayer problem Windows 98

I have one machine with windows XP and one machine with windows 98. I have
both computers networked together. When I try playing Age of Empires II over
the network under LAN, sometimes I connect to the other to play, and
sometimes I don't connect. It seams to be random whether it works or not. I
don't even know if restarting the computer helps it or not. What are the
possible problems that could create this? What can I do to make it
consistent? Thanks.


mattmech