Help Setting up linksys Wireless - N router / Gateway / ADSL for 2 PC's

Here are the basics for setting up P2P networking...

1)  If you are running XP Pro, then turn off Simple File Sharing
2)  Setup all machines with IDENTICAL user credentials, including username AND passwords
3)  Make sure you have File and Printer Sharing enabled in the TCP Properties
4)  Share your folders and make sure you give appropriate SHARE permissions
5)  On the Security Tab (available when Simple File Sharing is off with XP Pro, or on an XP Home system accessed by the Admin Account in Safe Mode), give the appropriate NTFS permissions.
6)  Access the remote computer using the Run Line or a batch file:  Start > Run > \\computername (or IPAddress)\sharename
7)  Oh, and don't forget the Firewall!  Make exceptions, or turn it off!

For troubleshooting P2P, please see my page posted here:

http://24.160.178.164/KipSolutions/P2PNetworks/TroubleshootingP2P.htm

Regarding setting up your Laptop...

It may have come with its own utility, and in this case, you should probably use it...  XP has the Zero Configuration Utility, which then should be ignored (or simply turned off)..    So, what do you find on the laptop?

BTW:  since this is your first time doing this..  P2P = Peer to Peer, meaning resource sharing between PCs..  this includes File, Folder, and Printer Sharing..  Sharing Scanners can be a tough problem though, so lets just get the basics setup first..  and get your PCs sharing basic resources..

Hello Fatal Exception, and thanks for your response.  I think this looks more complicated than I thought.

The good news I now have both the laptop and the desktop connected to the routers without cables. The both have interenet connection and they both have a network connection.

The other things you mentioned I will be able to figure this out once I know where these things are on my PC . This is all new terminology for me so its like hearing a foreign language at the moment.  Once I've done this once I'll be familiar with all the names and where these are on the PC but for now I'm still a bit lost. Could you tell me the following please so I can get started:


How do I switch of simple file sharing?
TCP properties - how do I get to them?
How to share folders and how do I set share permission?
I have Xp pro there which security tab and how do I get to the security tab?
Where to get the computer name? and what is the Sharename? How to set up Sharename.
Firewall - make exceptions?  I am using Windows Xp firewall on both computers.

How to turn off Xp Zero configuation utility?

Regarding the laptop what specifically am I looking for?

Thanks

John

Sorry I didn't visit the link you gave. I've just checked your link FatalException and I've found the answers to:

How do I switch of simple file sharing?
TCP properties - how do I get to them?
How to share folders and how do I set share permission?
I have Xp pro there which security tab and how do I get to the security tab?
Where to get the computer name? and what is the Sharename? How to set up Sharena

I'm still working on the rest. I'll post another message soon on progress.

Thanks

John

*grin*  I was just going to suggest you visit my page on that...   glad you found it informative...  come on back with any questions..

Hi
I've followed all the steps above. With the exception of 2 things:

1. setting identical username passwords. The reason is the protocol was not specific enough for me to know how to do this specifically on the link you gave. I don't know exactly what that would do? Are you suggesting I create 2 new accounts on each PC with the same username and passwords then log off each PC and then log on with those new accounts?

2. Disabling xp Zero configuration utility.


I undertook a Ping test and the test timed out.  The ping test for both PC's showed the subnet Mask IP the Default Gatway IP and the IP of each comptuer.

What else can you suggest?

One other thing both PC's have windows XP one of them is in English version the other is in Spanish version. I cannot change the Spanish Version to English version as it came with the PC.  Could this be preventing the connection?

Another question is how do I know if they are connected? What exactly would I expect to see once a connection between each PC is connected.

thanks

John

1.  All you need to do is to create the identical account on the other computer that you wish to use to access the shares...  using the same username and password...  For instance, if you have a user named User1 on Computer1 and password Pass, and wish that user to have access to a share, then create an identical account named User1, password Pass on Comptuer2..  

Now, you do not necessarily have to do this.. you can access shares on a remote computer system using the Run Line or a batch file (which is what I do here at home)..  BUT, the account that you are using must be password protected..  Just go to Start > Run > and type in the address:  \\IPAddress\Sharename

It will ask you for your user credentials, and connect to that share.  You can also access the Admin Share if that user has Admin Credentials like this:  \\IPAddress\c$

Or, create a batch file on your desktop with these lines:

========copy======

net use x:  \\IPAddress\"Sharename" "Password" /user:"Username"

Pause

=======End Copy====

Copy it into a txt file (notepad), and save with the extension of .bat (or .cmd).   Of course, put in your own IPAddress,
Sharename, Password, and Username

2.  Did you not say above you got the WiFi working?  :)

Never used any other version than English, but I don't think it would matter, other than the language barrier (for me that is!)

>>Another question is how do I know if they are connected? What exactly would I expect to see once a connection between each PC is connected.<<

If you use the 'net use' command above, it essentially maps a drive named 'x'.  You will find that when you open My Computers, you will have a mapped x drive.

If you have any problems understanding what I wrote above, please do not hesitate..  :)

Hi
I still can't establish a connection between the two PC's

What is working is the following:  A wirelesss Internet connection for both PCs via the router and a Wireless network connection to the router.  That is all.

I have created 2 new accounts on both PC's with the same username and passwords. I can connect to the internet via these new accounts but if I open up My PC there is no X drive.

When I do the Ping test for the IP of the other computer it times out. The two PC's are not seeing each other according to this ping test.

I've dissabled the firewalls, and followed the steps given in your trouble shooting guide right from the start to the end. Maybe Ive missed something  but I don't know what?

I ran the Network Scan  in Windows as explained on you trouble shooting guide.  The TCP / IP scan (even though I have internet connection) and  it passed.

I don't know what else to try?  Is there a step by step way to test and find out at what point the connection is not being made?  

When I set up the two new accounts on both PC's  non of the settings that I used on my main accounts are transferred across to the new accounts. Does this mean I will need to re-configure from scratch the new accounts with all my setting from my normal account?  This alone would be several days work? What I want is to keep my existing accounts and get the PC's to speak to each other.

You are using some terminology that I'm not familiar with e.g.

"Access shares"  
"Batch File"
"Sharename"

Perhaps I'm missing something here that is obvious to a network professional but I'm pretty computer savvy and I've spent the best part of 3 days on this now. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,  John

Hi FE  
all firewalls have been shut down.  The PC are still not seeing each other after a ping test form either PC.  The ping test times out.

These are the steps I've taken so far to connect the PC's wirelessly using the Router mentioned above

Created 2 new accounts with the same username and passwords. set accounts to have administrator access. I've used these accounts for attempting to connet the 2 PC's
Shut down Firewalls
Used network diagnositics Scan in XP - all passed
Placed PC's in the same workgroup ( the default work group with windows XP) Same name each
Tunred on computer Browser Service
Re-installed File and print sharing
NetBios over TCP /IP has been enabled
Undertaken a ping test to see if the desktop can see the lap top - it times saying that it cannot detect the PC
Disabled MAC Wireless authentication (just in case there is a problem with this)

the only thing I've got is two PC's with internet access.


What is there left to try?  The ping test shows the two pc's aren't seeing each other. I've tried the Ping test from both sides.

Thanks,

John

... forgot to mention, I've also disabled simple file sharing and set to the security  to share permissions to Everyone.

Tell you what..  lets look at your IPConfiguration on both computers..  post them both here..

Start > cmd (OK)

Then type these lines in the Command Shell (DOS Prompt)

ipconfig /all > ip.txt
notepad ip.txt

They will open in notepad..  just copy the contents into this thread (both computers)

I forgot I created a small batch file that will do this for you.. just open the zipped file and run the ipconfig.bat file...

http://24.160.178.164/KipSolutions/Downloads/ipconfig.zip

Hi FE
for security purposes I would prefer to send this type of information via a less public route e.g e-mail if possible?

Thanks,

John

Actually, since you are running Private IPAddresses here, you really are pretty safe, but if you want, you can look at my profile page for an address..  (we cannot post email addresses within the threads..)  :)

Hello Fe,
I've e-mailed the IP information for the 2 PCs hope you received it OK.

John

Got it..  all looks good here, as both computers have different IPAddresses within the same subnet..  so, if you cannot ping the remote computer, then it must be a firewall stopping the PING ICMP packets..  Or perhaps a bad ARP cache?

Try running this command before you run the PING for the remote computer:

netsh interface ip delete arpcache

Also, I have used this webpage for troubleshooting:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314067

Hi FE,

we're making some progress! I cleared the cache as you suggested and I tried the ping test again and the test timed out. I ensured to shutdown all firewalls completely.

The next thing I tried was to physcially connect a network cable to the router from the laptop and pinged the other 2nd IP for the physical network connection (the laptop has 2 ip addresses  one for Wi-Fi )  This time there was the ping test was successful.     Therefore the problem seems to be in the wireless connection between the laptop and the router.    When I ping the wireless IP I get timing out but when I ping the IP for the physical connection there is a response.      

The desktop has a wireless connection still. Therefore for some reason the wireless connection from the laptop to the router is only working for the internet connection and not being seen by the other PC on the network.       ie the ip ending   .101    is not being seen.

Since I'll be using the laptop remote from the desktop I need to find a way to get the wireless network working.  At least we've narrowed the problem down a little.  Any ideas as to what could be causing this issue?

 John

If I were sitting there at your computer, I would wager I could get this working in no time.. but..  lol, eh?  :)

Try disabling the Firewall on the router itself..  Although it should not interfere with the internal network, perhaps this router has something else going on and restricting the WiFi connection..

Hi FE,

I've tried disabling the Router SPI firewall. No luck - still nothing from the ping test to the wireless IP on the laptop and no response from ping test from laptop to desktop. The only time the ping test registers is with a cable connection from laptop to router.

With the network cable connected I was able to set up file exchange between the two PC's using the batch file you mention. so the 2 PC's can see each other but only with a Cable. The router is designed to be wireless though.  

I'm not clear on how the wireless connections works exactly. Using the Wireless connection I've got internet access via the router on the Laptop (and the desktop) . Is it possible to have an internet connection AND a wireless network connection for file sharing on the same IP at the same time?   Or do I have to shut down the internet connection and then somehow re-establish a network connection for file sharing?  

I don't think the firewalls are the problem because I've shut the SPI firewall, the MAC protection, the PC's software firewalls and the ping test still times out. If I re-establish all the firewalls again and undertake a ping test to the Wired connection IP then a signal is received. This shows that for the setup I have the firewalls don't appear to be causing the problem. It's something else.  Since I don't have enough experience with networking I don't know what else to try to diagnose the problem.

When I set up the router the instructions said that I needed to connect the network cable to the router to set the software up. It does not say how to set up a wireless connection network Lan connection for file sharing.  

What else can we try? What else could be blocking it.  Why is it connecting with the internet and not connecting with file sharing? If the laptop is connecting via a wireless connection to the internet via a router successfully I don't understand why there should be a problem with establishing a wireless network connection?

What else can we try?

Thanks again FE,  you say that patience is an important characteristic for solving networking issues - I've been at it now for over a week now so I hope I qualify for that character trait.


John

In my case, it is more about being stubborn!  :)

It is just that PING tests should work unless 1) there is something wrong with the NIC, or 2) there is a firewall in place stopping ICMP packets..   Try running these tests:

Step-1: Ping Loopback IP address (127.0.0.1). Success shows that TCP/IP is properly installed.

Step-2: Ping local NIC's Local IP address (meaning the IPAddress of the computer you are testing from). Success shows that NIC is working properly.

Step-3: Ping Default Gateway. Success shows that local physical layer connections are ok.

Step-4: Ping Remote IP address. Success shows that remote physical layer connections are ok.  (In your case, try PINGing any remote address, like 4.2.2.1)

Here are the results for the ping tests:

FOR The LAPTOP:
the ping test for 127.0.0.1  PASSED
the ping test for the local IP address i.e it's own IP - FAILED
the ping test for default gateway - PASSED
the ping test for the remote IP 4.2.2.1 - FAILED

For the Desktop
the ping test for 127.0.0.1  PASSED
the ping test for the local IP address i.e it's own IP - PASSED
the ping test for default gateway - PASSED
the ping test for the remote IP 4.2.2.1   - PASSED


John

In addition to the ping test results shown above I undertook a XP network diagnosis scan and came up with the following errors:

Error on Wireless adaptor Pro Wireless 3945 ABG Network connection

error: DNSServerSearchOrder

error on IP address 192.168.1.101

error on microsoft TV Video Connection.

Hi - here is an update to the ping tests I did earlier - I had made one mistake which I've corrected and will be explained below:

There are 2 network connections and the although I had correctly set one of the connections the wireless network connection was missing the Enable NetBios over TCP/IP setting.  I enabled this setting on the wireless laptop adapter TCP/ IP and this time I got the following results form the PING tests:

FOR The LAPTOP:
the ping test for 127.0.0.1  PASSED
the ping test for the local IP address i.e it's own IP - PASSED
the ping test for default gateway - PASSED
the ping test for the remote IP 4.2.2.1 - PASSED

the ping test to the desktop PC  - FAILED.

All antivirus and firewalls and XP firewalls were disabled during the ping tests.

I ran a network diagnosis scan on the laptop and it passed with no errors.

I have to tell you that I am just out of ideas here.. perhaps in retrospect, and considering I am not multilingual, that the Spanish version is causing a problem..  :)   but it still comes down to the PING not working against the remote computer..  lets try resetting the Winsock Stack?  At the Command Shell (prompt), type:

netsh reset catalog

Hi FE
 I receive the following error message at the prompt saying:   The following command was not found:  reset catalog

I also tried this command on the desktop and also received the same error.

My bad!  Forgot to tell the command what to reset!

netsh winsock reset catalog

Hi FE

I undertook the reset and ran the ping test.  It still does not see the other PC on the wireless connection.   The only way I can get the laptop to see the desktop on the p2p network and have a successful ping test is by connecting a network cable from the laptop directly to the router.

I disabled the windows XP firewall, I switched off Norton, I diabled the NAT and SPI firewalls.  There is no operational firewall on the network when I'm undertaking the tests.

If it was an operating system language problem then I would not expect the connection of a cable to the router to work either.

The problem is something to do with the wirless setup. Somewhere there must be some setting missing either in XP or in the Lynksys router software setup.  

What would cause a physical connection to work but a wireless connection not to work?  How can there be a wireless internet connection but no wireless network connection?  

any final ideas FE that might solve this problem?

John

Although there are several possiblities, the main 2 are that there is a firewall in place, or the computer is in a separate subnet where there are no routes possible...  lets look at your routing table..  Again, at the Command Shell, type in this:

route print

If you wish not to disclose the information, you have my email address..

Hi FE

do you want this route print with or without the firewalls?  Do you want me to connect the network cable to the laptop before running this route print or only with the wireless?  How can I  print this report to a text file so I can send it to you?

Cheers,

John

The firewalls don't make a difference with routing, so it does not matter...  but the WiFi does.. so go ahead and enable the Wireless connection and send it..  you can pipe it to a text file just like the IPConfig..  Do it with both computers..  :)  Now, just so you understand, I doubt whether it will help, as I am kinda grasping here...  :)

route print > route.txt
notepad route.txt

Hi FE,
this may seem a really basic question so forgive me if is sounds naive.  Is is possible that I just need a separate wireless network adaptor for each connection that is made.   i.e.  a network adaptor to make the ADSL connection and a separate wireless network adaptor for connecting to the p2p Network for filesharing?  

It appears we've set everything up correctly. There are no errors either with your diagnostics or with Windows Network scan. The only thing we can't see it the IP that is being used by the ADSL internet connection. If I connect a separate cable then the two PC's see each other. It is defintely not a firewall problem because I've completely disable all of them.  (shut them down completely and those of the router)  

To test this is there a way I can disable the ADSL internet connection on the laptop and then set up  the adaptor only for the network file sharing?  This way we can see if this is the problem.  

I am just using logic here. I don't know enough about adaptors or networks to know if this is correct or not but it seems to me that everything has been set up correctly in the software.. which leaves the hardware.                    

This is my adaptor:  Intel Pro/Wireless  3945ABG network Connection
http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/prowireless_mobile.htm                                                                 

John

No, not really...  When you have more than one NIC (WiFi or Wired) connected to the same Gateway, the connection with the lowest metric takes precedence..  By default, this will be the Wired NIC..  If the Wired NIC is not connected, it will use the WiFi, and send all packets to the Default Gateway router, which should determine the route of the packet.  If the packet is in the same subnet, the router should know where to send the packet, this being the other computer..  and therefore our delimma, in that the router does not seem to want to route the packet correctly..  The computer is not resolving the IPAddress to the MAC Address, the route either does not exist, or the router cannot see the remote computer (again, usually a firewall that is preventing this)..

Now, here is another interesting observation..  once you ping a remote computer, that route is placed in the routing table, and the ARP cache should know and be able to resolve the MAC address to the IPAddress of the remote computer..  then when you attempt to PING the remote computer through the WiFi NIC, the PING should work (which apparently is not happening here)..  so, I wonder where the route has gone?  Is it the router that now cannot find the route?  This is why we use the Route Print command, in an effort to see the routes in place...  you might try running the command with the Wired NIC in place, then without it to see if there is a difference...  

Also, you might take a look at the ARP Cache..  As an example, ping the remote computer with Wired, then run:  arp -a         This should show you the MAC Address and IPAddress of the remote computer, and the DG...   Then disconnect the Wired and with only the WiFi, try it again..  

BTW:  glad to find someone as stubborn as I am...  :)

Hi FE
Patience is stubborness with a smile :-)  

I'll send you the data via e-mail

Thanks FE, for being so patient!

John

So, if you are sitting at the desktop, with the laptop wired to the router, you can access the shares with:

Start > Run > \\192.168.1.102

But if you disconnect the Wire, and try to access the laptop, you cannot connect with:

Start > Run > \\192.168.1.101

Correct?

Yes that's correct.  

Ok, lets try adding a persistent route to that routing table...  again, at the Command Shell on the desktop:

route add 192.168.1.101 mask 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.1 metric 25 -p

Now lets see if it can find your laptop without the wire...  

I reset the IP's yesterday because I thought there might possibly be some problem with them. The reset changed the IP's for the PC and the Laptop.  The IP for the laptop wireless is now 192.168.1.102  I therefore used your command above but substituted for the new IP for the wireless laptop.

 I've undertook the command you gave above  but I get the error saying that IP   192.168.1.102 cannot be found.

If I do a ping test to .102  it times out
If I reconnect the cable and do a ping test to .104 (the cable IP)  I get a successful ping

Therefore it is still only seeing the cabled network connection.

John

You know, John..  at this point I would consider replacing that WiFi router...  it just is not allowing you to connect via the WiFi, for no reason that I can think of other than it possibly is defective..  after so much work via this thread, I hate to give up, but there is just no reason for the router not to allow connections in its routing table..  (you might want to ck the routing table on the router, using the scenarios we have used above...)  I share resources via WiFi through 2 routers on my home network, and have never had an issue like this!

The sun is shining here in the Midwest, and I am going to take advantage of the nice weather and get out of the house, but will be back later tonight..

Hi FE,
OK I hope you enjoy the sun!

although I don't completely discount the idea that there may be a problemw with the router I would say that it is a brand new router out of the box so I think it is unlikely to be faulty. The shop gives 15 days with which to return it however that time has passed so I don't think they will be willing to exchange it.  I bought the most expensive router on the market - it is $300 so I would have thought it would have been a breeze to set up - how wrong I was!!

I'm thinking that if there is a problem with the software configuration perhaps it is in the actual router software setup itself. The reason is you know the XP part of the setup like the back of you hand and we can't find a problem there. Therefore could it be someone in the actual Linksys software setup itself? To set the Lynksys softare up I had to logon to the Lynksys website with a username and password. Perhaps there is a setting there that is not correct?

John

I've been reading about the network types and would like to ask if there is a chance that the problem is due to incompatibility of the network cards?   The desktop has a Wireless N type network card. The laptop has a WirelessABG  card.   Could this be part of the problem?

PS the router claims to be compatible with Wireless b I802.11b and ,wireless 802.11b and wireless N but I don't know if it means that all adaptors on a network connecting to the router need to be the same type.

No, the type of adapters should make little difference, as all must be based on certain standards regulating TCP...

Here is something you might try...  this will take ARP out of the equation, but it does require that your computers undertake a little overhead in maintaining the connections...  IPX does not use ARP to discover remote MAC addresses..  (in TCP connections, computers find other computers using ARP, whereas in an IPX connection, the MAC address is embedded in the IPX addresses)..  So, go to your TCP configuration window and try installing IPX, then testing..  (again I am grasping here, and just firing at anything that moves, eh?  :)  and, you can always uninstall if this does not work...

FE

Hi FE
thanks for the suggestions. I've just spent another whole day on this and read a lot about more detailed configurations of the network card etc. I've realised that this type of troubleshooting now is a lot more complicated when the main avenues have been covered. What I think I'm going to have to do is call someone in locally to go through all the PC system configurations and see what the problem is.   I would love to solve this using your expertise and my time however I can see this is a little unfair on you and it certainly it not time effective for me either!

I have got a network connection if I use the network cable and I've got wireless internet connection from both laptop and PC.  I will have to make do with that until I can get an expert in to go through the PC's in person.

I would like to try your suggestion but I'm a little concerned that I may loose what I've got at the moment. I'm really concerned that it could then take a lot more time to put it right again. I suspect the problem is something to do with the Lynksys software itself and the compatibility with XP. If everything installs correctly then everything works fine but if there is an incompatiblity or one wrong setting then then it can cause a detailed problem like this that really needs someone to come in and sort it out.

Thanks to your assistance I've learn't A LOT about networking anyway which has been of great benefit.

Could I suggest that you help me with 2 more things and then I can award you the points you justly deserve.  If I use the network cable connection I can download files from the Laptop to the desktop however I can't seem to share files the other way.   How can I do that? I've created the batch file you talk about on the desktop would I also have to do the same with the laptop?  How can I set up bi-directional file sharing?

The other question is printer shares. How can I set that up?

I will run a cable between the laptop and PC for now until the wireless can be solved but the above 2 points will be really helpful to give the laptop resources that it does not have at the moment.

Thanks again for your help!!

Best regards,

John

Well, IPX is fairly easy to install, and it really does not create issues, other than a small amount of overhead on your network..  but, you are right.. if I were available in your area, I could probably solve this in a small amount of time if I were sitting there looking and I could view the entire setup..

Regarding bi-directional sharing, since you already have identical users on each system, with the proper rights (administrator), you should be able to connect both ways..  in that batch file, all you need to do is to change the IPAddress and the Sharename of the resource..

Printer Sharing is just as easy.  On the Computer that the printer is attached, just go to the properties of the Printer, check the Sharing Tab, ck the Permissions Button and make sure that it is shared with the proper permissions...  Then go to the remote computer, and Add a Printer > Choose Network Printer > Connect to this Printer > Fill in the box with the \\ComputerName\Sharename of the remote printer > Follow the wizard through to the end..

You can also create a TCP Port locally and attach to the remote printer, but lets do it the easy way (above)..

Also, you might want to print out this page so whoever comes over can view the troubleshooting attempts..  If they do solve the problem, I would be interested in knowing what the problem really was...

FE

Oh, and don't forget how easy it is to access the entire directory tree with the Admin Share (c$)...  On my personal systems, this is how I connect all my systems together, so I don't have to worry about specific shares and sharenames..    Everything is always at my disposal this way...

FE

Thanks very much for you help FE.  If I can find a network specialist here and they come to fix the problem I will be sure to send you the solution via your e-mail address.

Thanks again for all your efforts on the problem and for hanging in there right until then end! Although the issue has not been fully resolved I feel we took it as far as we could. Also I've learn't a lot about networks which I would have not learn't if we never had this problem and you did not supply the answers. I've also bookmarked your page as a reference source for troubleshooting networking problems.

all the best and thanks again for your help!!

Best regards,

John

And ----  Have a safe a Happy Holiday Season!  Thanks!

Thanks, and I hope you have a GREAT Christmas FE !  

All the best,

John

*grin*  I have all my Xmas shopping done!  It will indeed be a great Christmas, John!