WINS Help Needed

At home I have a 3 user ad-hoc wireless network consisting of 2 desktops and
1 laptop, all running XP Pro SP2 and connected via Belkin USB 802.11G
adaptors (although they only connect using 802.11B which I assume is a
limitation of not using a router).

IP addresses are assigned manually in the range 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.3
(subnet 255.255.255.0).

The desktop that has the shared internet connection is protected by a s/w
firewall (NIS 2005).

I recently performed an on-line security check on the Symantec site (which
checked out o.k) but noticed in the results summary the advice to enter an
IP address for the WINS Server and disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in the
advanced section of the n/w connection properties to increase security.

My question is, what IP address do I enter for the WINS Server? Is it the
manually assigned IP address I am currently using and do I need to do this
on each machine or am I completely mis-understanding what is required?

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Garry Douglas

***Please remove SPMOFF to reply***

"Garry Douglas" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>At home I have a 3 user ad-hoc wireless network consisting of 2 desktops and
>1 laptop, all running XP Pro SP2 and connected via Belkin USB 802.11G
>adaptors (although they only connect using 802.11B which I assume is a
>limitation of not using a router).
>
>IP addresses are assigned manually in the range 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.3
>(subnet 255.255.255.0).
>
>The desktop that has the shared internet connection is protected by a s/w
>firewall (NIS 2005).
>
>I recently performed an on-line security check on the Symantec site (which
>checked out o.k) but noticed in the results summary the advice to enter an
>IP address for the WINS Server and disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in the
>advanced section of the n/w connection properties to increase security.
>
>My question is, what IP address do I enter for the WINS Server?

None. You don't have a WINS server so the question is irrelvent. What
a WINS server does is provide NETBIOS machine names to IP address
translation. If you don't need that feature, you don't need a WINS
server. That function is currently being provided on your all client
network using the "Windows Browser".

Also, if you disable NETBIOS over TCP/IP, and you have an internal
network, Windoze Networking might cease to function depending on which
version of Windoze you're running. If it's XP Pro SP2 on every
desktop, then you're safe. However, if you have any Windoze 95/98/ME
clients, you'll need NETBIOS over TCP/IP enabled.
<http://www.petri.co.il/disable_netbios_in_w2k_xp_2003.htm>

>Is it the
>manually assigned IP address I am currently using and do I need to do this
>on each machine or am I completely mis-understanding what is required?



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558