Wireless Network - Access permission

I have 3 pc's linked in wireless infrastructure mode via D-link DI-714P+
router plus adsl broadband modem. The connection and signal strengths are
good to excellent for all 3 pcs; let me call them pc1, pc2 and pc3.

After setting up and installing all the wifi gear, I turned on all 3 pcs.
When I go to pc1/my network places/entire network/ MS windows network/
MyWifiNet( my ssid/workgroup name), i could see the 3 pc icons. Clicking on
pc1 and pc2 icons open up their respective shared folders alright, but on
clicking pc3, i get the message:
" \\pc3 is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network
resource....The network path was not found"

The same happens when I go to pc2/my network places/entire network/ MS
windows network/ MyWifiNet.

When I go to pc3/my network places/entire network/ MS windows network/
MyWifiNet, i do not see any of my networked pc icons listed under MyWifiNet,
but instead i get this message on clicking MyWifiNet icon:

"MyWifiNet is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource...The list of servers for this workgroup is not available"

I set up this network to share internet connection as well as to share
files/printers. The internet connection part works ok - all 3 pcs could
simultaneously and seperately connect to internet. My problem is with the
file/printer sharing part of the network. I have very minimal knowledge of
networking and was just following the manual's step-by-step instruction in
setting up and installing the AP and wifi adapters on all the 3 pcs. I could
not figure out what i did wrong in pc3 which causes it to be not accessible.
Hope some kind souls could help me out. 2 further questions (forgive me if
they sound rather stupid):-

Q1. When we set up the AP for internet connection, we talk about "ssid" .
When we set up a wifi network to link up pcs to share files/printing, we are
told to name each pc and assign it to the same workgroup name. So ssid name
and workgroup name are one and the same thing?

Q2 A book i consult on setting permissions/adding users to the workgroup
says we can use Windows XP's New User Wizard to add users. It says: choose
Start/Settings/Ctrl Panel/Users & Password icon to bring up the
users&passwod dialog box. I do not find any of these in windows XP. What do
i miss?

TIA

"chungacs" <(E-Mail Removed)> schreef in bericht
news:439bd932$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have 3 pc's linked in wireless infrastructure mode via D-link DI-714P+
>router plus adsl broadband modem. The connection and signal strengths are
>good to excellent for all 3 pcs; let me call them pc1, pc2 and pc3.
>
<snip>
> "MyWifiNet is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
> network resource...The list of servers for this workgroup is not
> available"

Sounds like a firewall issue. XP has a built-in firewall or you could be
using something like zonealarm. Did you check the firewall settings? Perhaps
temporarily disabling the firewall can prove this either is or is not the
cause of your problem. If it is, solve it by adding your local IP range to
the trusted zone.
>
> Q1. When we set up the AP for internet connection, we talk about "ssid" .
> When we set up a wifi network to link up pcs to share files/printing, we
> are told to name each pc and assign it to the same workgroup name. So ssid
> name and workgroup name are one and the same thing?

Not quite. The ssid name is used to identify the AP for wireless devices.
The workgroup name is the name under which you want to find related
machines. Perhaps easyer to understand: on your door you probably have a
sign with your family name (=workgroup) and your housenumber (=ssid). Both
can be identical if you want but don't need to be.
>
> Q2 A book i consult on setting permissions/adding users to the workgroup
> says we can use Windows XP's New User Wizard to add users. It says: choose
> Start/Settings/Ctrl Panel/Users & Password icon to bring up the
> users&passwod dialog box. I do not find any of these in windows XP. What
> do i miss?

Consult help on your XP machine, look for user accounts. When you start it
up, does it require you to log on as a specific user? If so, you should be
able to find the page to add or edit current users, their names and
passwords. This is another way to add or modify user accounts.
>
> TIA
>
You're welcome, hope this helps...

Paul

My advice to anyone using wireless is to turn off SSID broadcasts, don't use
WEP encryption. Instead use WPA and use the full 63 character key as keys
with 20 character or less can be crack. A 63 character/ASCII key will be
ultra secure and be almost impossible to be crack.

Back to your main problem try checking;

(1) NetBIOS settings
(2) all on same workgroup
(3) firewall not preventing access
(4) file and print share is enabled on all Computer and share directories
added.

One other point, I would lock down each shared directory/folder with a
password.

--
JM

> My advice to anyone using wireless is to turn off SSID broadcasts, don't use

Why?

> WEP encryption. Instead use WPA and use the full 63 character key as keys
> with 20 character or less can be crack. A 63 character/ASCII key will be
> ultra secure and be almost impossible to be crack.

Yes so why turn off SSID broadcast which doesn't actually hide anything
from anyone trying to find it?

David.

Turning off SSID will help prevent the average user from seeing your
wireless network, but as you say someone that's determined to search for a
wireless networks and have the right software will see the network anyway.

It's really down to personal preference.

--
JM

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 19:22:42 GMT, "JM" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Turning off SSID will help prevent the average user from seeing your
>wireless network, but as you say someone that's determined to search for a
>wireless networks and have the right software will see the network anyway.

1. Turning off SSID will cause Windoze Wireless Zero Config to not
show the system under "Show available networks". The "average user"
will be lost trying to establish a connection.

2. The "average user" wrongly assumes that if the SSID broadcast is
disabled, then they also don't have to have a unique SSID. The result
is a mess when multiple neighbors all have "Linksys" as their SSID and
end up connecting to the wrong access point.

3. While the average Windoze wireless sniffer will not show AP's with
hidden SSID's, all the Linux passive sniffers will show them. I'm
tempted to write a Windoze version that will show them, but my
programming abilities are limited.

4. Access points with built in site survey tools will not show nearby
access points that do not broadcast an SSID. This will make selecting
an unused or least used RF channel difficult.

5. Interference problems are being a serious issue in crowded areas.
Hiding the SSID makes it more difficult to identify the culprits.

6. Eventually, someone will write a wireless client program that
allows connections by access point MAC address, ignoring the SSID.

>It's really down to personal preference.

Yep. You can't get any furthur down.

--
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

> Turning off SSID will help prevent the average user from seeing your
> wireless network, but as you say someone that's determined to search for a

And seeing it presents what threat exactly? Enabling WPA with the full
63 characters, totally prevents them from connecting so what's the issue
with SSID? Hiding SSID broadcasts is pointless and just makes it harder
for others to see what channels are in use which lets them avoid yours
and reduces interference probabilities.

> wireless networks and have the right software will see the network anyway.

Quite hence it's pointless.

If you cover your car with bushes and leaves to hide it every time you
park, then i'll agree with you.

David.

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 19:22:42 GMT, "JM" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Turning off SSID will help prevent the average user from seeing your
>>wireless network, but as you say someone that's determined to search for a
>>wireless networks and have the right software will see the network anyway.
>
>
> 1. Turning off SSID will cause Windoze Wireless Zero Config to not
> show the system under "Show available networks". The "average user"
> will be lost trying to establish a connection.
>
> 2. The "average user" wrongly assumes that if the SSID broadcast is
> disabled, then they also don't have to have a unique SSID. The result
> is a mess when multiple neighbors all have "Linksys" as their SSID and
> end up connecting to the wrong access point.
>
> 3. While the average Windoze wireless sniffer will not show AP's with
> hidden SSID's, all the Linux passive sniffers will show them. I'm
> tempted to write a Windoze version that will show them, but my
> programming abilities are limited.
>
> 4. Access points with built in site survey tools will not show nearby
> access points that do not broadcast an SSID. This will make selecting
> an unused or least used RF channel difficult.
>
> 5. Interference problems are being a serious issue in crowded areas.
> Hiding the SSID makes it more difficult to identify the culprits.
>
> 6. Eventually, someone will write a wireless client program that
> allows connections by access point MAC address, ignoring the SSID.
>
>
>>It's really down to personal preference.
>
>
> Yep. You can't get any furthur down.
>
I've never checked to see how many AP's have "WPS IE", in fact since I
updated my Laptops everthing has gone quiet about it.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=893357

Rob

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 20:13:16 +0000 (UTC), Rob <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

This has nothing to do with not broadcasting the SSID.

>I've never checked to see how many AP's have "WPS IE", in fact since I
>updated my Laptops everthing has gone quiet about it.
>http://support.microsoft.com/?id=893357

Be thankful that no AP's or wireless routers have Microsoft anything
inside. I dread the thought should I see such an abomination.

What that KB article addresses is adding WPA2 support to the Windoze
Wireless Zero Config client on XP SP2. Of course, the access point or
wireless router will need to support WPA2.

However, there's a problem. When MS released their WPA-2 supplement,
there was only one method of authentication available (EAP). At the
same time, Wi-Fi Dalliance added additional methods of authentication
(TLS, TTLS, PEAP), which are not supported in the MS WPA2 supplement.
For details see:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=67

--
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

JM <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> My advice to anyone using wireless is to turn off SSID broadcasts

"Hidden" SSIDs: the myth that will not die.