Networking Nightmare 4

[IanLatchford]

Scenario
2 computers and a laptop all less than 6 months old running XP Pro with service pack 1. All set up for wireless communication.

Problem
The wireless system works great and all computers can access the internet. However, communications are one way for the Lan. I get "See systems admin error msg" depending on which computer I am using to access the remaining two.

All drives on all computers are set to share.
I used the network wizard to create a client disk ( and ran it).
I verified that the Network id is the same on all computers.

 

[LordMaximus]

Hi IanLatchford

If you're using wireless network, you have ip's and everything if im right, right?

One thing to make sure of is that the machines ip addresses fall in the same ip range, ie. 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2 and so on.

The pc's will all be able to access the internet because they're using the same gateway.

 

[paul172]

Check that the XP firewall is not enabled on any of the netowrk connection.

Zone Alarm is another regular culprit for this sort of problem.

 

[LloydSev]

Also keep in mind that wireless bandwidth is a shared medium. Unlike wired connections, the 11Mb/s that 802.11b offers is divided up between all the machines connected. So you may experience some errors if you are downloading at high speeds from the internet, plus connecting simultaneously from all the machines. It's a strain on the limited network.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[linney]

How to troubleshoot wireless network connections in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313242/EN-US/?FR=1

Simple File Sharing- enabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm

Simple File Sharing - disabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm

http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm

 

[IanLatchford]

Thanks all for the help.
It turns out that one computer had an incorrect tcp/ip setting. The main culprit was the laptop. Its firewall was enabled and it blocked the ping. Once I disabled the firewall everything worked properly. Again thanks all.
Ian