Who's good at pc networking?

[T-Man007]

Here's my problem. I bought two new PCs last week and got them both running this past weekend. One is my new primary pc for work and the other is my wifes. I ran the whole network setup wizard and everythign was fine. My wifes pc is set up with a wireless connection. When I firstset everything up there was no propblem, all four pc's would communicate. Then, after installing a few more programs on my wife's pc it all of a sudden quite reading the network.

I called Linksys, the company the makes all the devices I use and we set up the network all over again. My wife's pc will connect to the access point and it will get online but it wont read my other pc's. On the flip side, this is the most confusing part of all. My primary pc detects my wife's pc as being on the network but it can't access it.

WTF am I missing? I even set up a whole new network and used a network CD to set up my wife's pc and still it will not detect the network. My pc detects hers, but hers won't detect mine. How the heck is that possible. I have no password protects set up at all.

Please help, this is driving me nuts.

[diggi]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Well, there must be one PC which should have an administrator to monitor all home network connections. Now, one reason why home networking is not so great is because it uses a router so you can connect all those pc's. When you go wireless you become vulnerable right away - it doesn't matter if you have "safe connection" or "sage lan" other people from your area might still connect to your assigned IP addy. This is impossible to stop. The problem that you're having is a common one, most people suffer from the same thing.

Other than that I would re-install everything.. your cable modem, your router .. 90% of the time when you re-install applications over the same ones with errors this will cause more problems so re-install everything, the modem drivers, your linksyz router etc..

Let me know how it goes.

[T-Man007]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Well, there must be one PC which should have an administrator to monitor all home network connections. Now, one reason why home networking is not so great is because it uses a router so you can connect all those pc's. When you go wireless you become vulnerable right away - it doesn't matter if you have "safe connection" or "sage lan" other people from your area might still connect to your assigned IP addy. This is impossible to stop. The problem that you're having is a common one, most people suffer from the same thing.

Other than that I would re-install everything.. your cable modem, your router .. 90% of the time when you re-install applications over the same ones with errors this will cause more problems so re-install everything, the modem drivers, your linksyz router etc..

Let me know how it goes.

I don't recall ever having an designated administer before. So, I checked my primary pc and there is only one person set upfor it and that's as the administer.

On another note, my modem and router never required installation. My cable goes from my wall to the cable modem, then to the router and then either a cable or wireless to the pc's. Here's the interesting part. My laptop, which is wireless, is having no probs at all. None. So, why is the wireless pc having isuues but not the wireless laptop? If none of my pc's could communicate then that would be one thing, but three of the four do. And, myprimary pc detects my wife's pc, but hers doesn't detect any of the others. Even if I could reinstall the modem and router I don't think it would change the fact my wife's pc doesn't detect the others. Also, and I left this out, I went to Linsys' home page and ran a network check from my wife's pc. It came back with no problems. It identified my wife's wireless adapter, it identified the router and it even identified my ISP.

I can only assume that for some reason there is some thing that is preventing my wife's pc from detecting the network. I just can't figure it out. I even completely deleted the network on all pc's and set up a new one.

[T-Man007]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Ok, I'm re-setting myr outer up and it's asking me if I want to set a WEP. Should I do that?

[Fit2bLarge]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

yes, wep will help prevent other folks within range of your wireless router to connect without authorization.

T-Man, I can help you, but i can't do this on a post. I'll PM you my cellphone, give me a shout tomorrow sometime after 9AM Eastern and I'll walk you thru it.

[T-Man007]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Cool, thanks!

[cyberlegend1994]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Here's my problem. I bought two new PCs last week and got them both running this past weekend. One is my new primary pc for work and the other is my wifes. I ran the whole network setup wizard and everythign was fine. My wifes pc is set up with a wireless connection. When I firstset everything up there was no propblem, all four pc's would communicate. Then, after installing a few more programs on my wife's pc it all of a sudden quite reading the network.

I called Linksys, the company the makes all the devices I use and we set up the network all over again. My wife's pc will connect to the access point and it will get online but it wont read my other pc's. On the flip side, this is the most confusing part of all. My primary pc detects my wife's pc as being on the network but it can't access it.

WTF am I missing? I even set up a whole new network and used a network CD to set up my wife's pc and still it will not detect the network. My pc detects hers, but hers won't detect mine. How the heck is that possible. I have no password protects set up at all.

Please help, this is driving me nuts.

It's possible that the wireless connection on the other PC may have been firewalled when the Network Setup Wizard was run - if that's the case it may not be visible on the network or others on the same network may not be able to initiate communication with it. Check the wireless adapter's settings and make sure that if it is firewalled that file and printer sharing is enabled.

Or try running the wizard again and make sure to select the option to connect through another device and not directly to the internet, it will also prompt you if that PC also has a wired connection - check the box to ignore disconnected hardware and continue the wizard.

Another possibility is that the wireless adapter may not be correctly obtaining the IP address from the router or access point. To find out about this, right-click the wireless adapter's icon in the system tray (the lower right corner where the clock is) and click Status. In the status window, click the Support tab. If the address comes up as a 169.254.xxx.xxx address, that's the problem - make sure it's set to obtain the IP address automatically, I also have mine set up to use a backup static IP if for some reason it can't get the IP automatically

I know this is a lot to try but wanted to make sure I didn't overlook anything - good luck....

[T-Man007]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

It's possible that the wireless connection on the other PC may have been firewalled when the Network Setup Wizard was run - if that's the case it may not be visible on the network or others on the same network may not be able to initiate communication with it. Check the wireless adapter's settings and make sure that if it is firewalled that file and printer sharing is enabled.

Or try running the wizard again and make sure to select the option to connect through another device and not directly to the internet, it will also prompt you if that PC also has a wired connection - check the box to ignore disconnected hardware and continue the wizard.

Another possibility is that the wireless adapter may not be correctly obtaining the IP address from the router or access point. To find out about this, right-click the wireless adapter's icon in the system tray (the lower right corner where the clock is) and click Status. In the status window, click the Support tab. If the address comes up as a 169.254.xxx.xxx address, that's the problem - make sure it's set to obtain the IP address automatically, I also have mine set up to use a backup static IP if for some reason it can't get the IP automatically

I know this is a lot to try but wanted to make sure I didn't overlook anything - good luck....

Thanks bro! Here's where I'm at now. I took my wife's pc and brought it down to my office and connected it via cable. I went to linksys to have it detect and configure the router. No probs. Then I connected the wireless adapter and had Linksys configure that too. No probs. But, it still wont detect the workgroup. So, I went through the troubleshooter and I found the IP address for both the cable connection and the wireless connection. Then, I sent a ping from my pc to my wifes. On the cable IP I received a response, on the wireless adapter IP I did not. So, I completely deleted the wireless adapter and all the drivers and everything and I tried to connect just via the cable. Still, no communication. The strange thing is, I changed the name of my wife's pc and it shows up as changed on the workgroup, however it says it's unavailable or I may not have permission to access it.

There was one interesting section that mention how to set incoming connections but it kept saying I needed to be logged on as the admin. Even though I'm logged on as the admin, the steps necessary to take are not available. I'm totally confused at this point.

[cyberlegend1994]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Thanks bro! Here's where I'm at now. I took my wife's pc and brought it down to my office and connected it via cable. I went to linksys to have it detect and configure the router. No probs. Then I connected the wireless adapter and had Linksys configure that too. No probs. But, it still wont detect the workgroup. So, I went through the troubleshooter and I found the IP address for both the cable connection and the wireless connection. Then, I sent a ping from my pc to my wifes. On the cable IP I received a response, on the wireless adapter IP I did not. So, I completely deleted the wireless adapter and all the drivers and everything and I tried to connect just via the cable. Still, no communication. The strange thing is, I changed the name of my wife's pc and it shows up as changed on the workgroup, however it says it's unavailable or I may not have permission to access it.

There was one interesting section that mention how to set incoming connections but it kept saying I needed to be logged on as the admin. Even though I'm logged on as the admin, the steps necessary to take are not available. I'm totally confused at this point.

Try re-running the network setup wizard - make sure you run it on ALL computers - a very common mistake. Also try rebooting after running the wizard - even if it doesn't ask you to. Sometimes changes like this don't work until you reboot.

[cyberlegend1994]

Re: Who's good at pc networking?

Try re-running the network setup wizard - make sure you run it on ALL computers - a very common mistake. Also try rebooting after running the wizard - even if it doesn't ask you to. Sometimes changes like this don't work until you reboot.

One more thing - I forgot to add this - goes to show how tired I was when typing the last message....

If your wife's PC has both wired and wireless connections, you need to run the network setup wizard TWICE - once using the wired connection, and again using the wireless connection. Be sure to use the same setup (connecting through another computer or a residential gateway) on BOTH network adapters. Also, remember to "ignore disconnected hardware" when prompted or Windows XP will prompt you to install a "Network Bridge", which will wreak pure havoc on your connectivity - I ran into that same problem when I bought the wireless card for my lappy after setting up a wireless router that was given to me. If you happened to install the network bridge, go into Network Connections through the Control Panel, remove it, reboot, and run the network setup wizard again as above. Good luck - you may PM me if you need any more help....