Home Network compatibility

[Damned]

I have cable internet, like many do. But recently my roommate bought a computer and wants to share my internet. I bought a SMC router, and the internet flows fine on both. He has windows 2000, and I am with win 98. We decided that if we could network our computers together, we could share music files and documents easier and faster. I have tried to network the two together to no avail. I followed the advice of several websites and nothing seems to work. Am I doing something wrong with respect to using a router to try and network, or is it something to do with the different OS versions? I have done almost everything in the book. Is there something I am likely overlooking? Please help me. I'm a rookie at this and want to learn. X-)

 

[ChrisAC]

What exactly have you done to network them?

Chris.

 

[Kspade]

i have done somthing similar to what you are trying. i have several computers and cable internet. as of yet i have used a hub to network all system together, and i have the cable conection directly connected to one of the computers. then i use proxy software to share the internet with the rest of my network. and soon as i get my Linux bok setup i will use it soley for routing the internet hav it connected to the hub and we can al share files and internet with ease. all imediatly available apon request. I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every moment of it.

 

[Damned]

I have done everything I could to network, by using Windows help files. It suggested setting up a client for Microsoft networks with pretty much all default settings, including setting up file sharing for all files and printers (on the Microsoft network). This is all in win 98, and I tried to set up the same settings as best I could on his win 2000. It wont read or recognize the other computer. I set my drive to read as drive K on the network, and his drive to read as drive J, but neither computer will read the other. When I try to map the other hard drive, the search runs for a while, and then returns an error. I just bought this router, and I dont really want to buy a hub with proxy software like winproxy. I wanted my roomie to access the net without my computer being on all the time. Is this enough info for you? If not, I can try and retrace what I did by doing it again. Thanks for all your responces in advance.

 

[ChrisAC]

What protocols have you used? Are your network cards set up correctly? Can you ping the other node from each PC? How have you cabled them?

BTW, you will need to set up a user account on the WIN2000 box for the WIN98 user to access shared resources on Win2000.

I really need to know more about how you physically connected the PC's and how you set up the NICs and protocols!!

Chris.

 

[Damned]

Ok. the internet comes in to the router via cable, of course. The router then has two network cables exiting, one to each of the computers. Thats the physical layout. The two computers are not directly connected, only through the router.

I havent tried pinging, b/c I've only ever done it once, and dont know how to ping very well. Perhaps a lesson here is necessary.

The protocols are relatively simple. When I go to 'network' in the control panel, I have 'client for microsoft networks' installed on my win98 computer with the following properties:
Quick Logon
I also have IPX/SPX protocol on the 10/100 Network adapter enabled with all bindings checked.
I also have TCP/IP enabled with the same 10/100 pci network adapter with the following:
Automatic IP address
Disabled WINS resolution
No gateway initialized
disabled DNS
And all bindings checked.

My roomie, on his win 2000 computer has the following:
an incoming connection for me with me being the administrator, along with internet TCP/IP protocols enabled, file and printer sharing, and client for microsoft networks, all checked off.
IP address is automatic.

Thats about all I could find for protocols.
If that doesnt help, I need you to be more specific in what I should look for.
Thanks for your time Chris.

 

[ChrisAC]

You both have TCP/IP installed .. so you will need to check the TCP/IP properties:

1. Specify an IP address on both machines so that you are in the same logical network. Eg. On machine 1 set the IP address as 192.168.1.5, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and on machine 2 set the IP address as 192.168.1.10, subnet mask 255.255.255.0.

2. Set up the default gateway as the IP address of the router. Make sure that your IP addresses are in the same subnet as your default gateway.

3. I don't know much about the SMC cable router but I'm guessing that they perform some kind of NAT. Does it also double as a four port switch?

4. On the DNS tab make sure that at least two of your ISP's DNS servers are listed.

5. Make sure that Client For Microsoft Networks is your primary network logon.

6. On the Win 2K box the administrator will have to create a user account and logon info for your Win 98 box in able to share files in Win 2K.

7. Re-boot both machines and make sure that when they come back up you get the Client For MS Networks logon box.

8. Open a DOS windows on both machines and ping them:

On machine 1 you would "ping 192.169.1.10", for example. You would expect to see a reply from the other machine and 0% packet loss. This simply checks physical connectivity!!

On machine 2 you would "ping 192.168.1.5".

9. If you get replies from both pings then you're good to go!! Set up sharing on your drives and away you go!!

10. If you get "request timed out" then you have a problem. Check to make sure that TCP/IP is correctly configured. Make sure that it's properly bound to your NIC's. Ensure that the NIC is set up with the right drivers and is working, and check your cables!!

I hope that this is of some help to you!!

Good luck!!

Regards,

Chris.