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Can't access workgroup; can ping by IP, not name


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#1
lizgold

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Hi. I have a network that has been working great for many moons until now. There are 2 wired PCs running XP Home and 1 wireless laptop running XP Professional. Everyone can communicate with the Internet, but the laptop mysteriously can no longer communicate with the PCs.

The laptop is an old Dell Inspiron 7500 with a Belkin 108.11g notebook card.

I've read the forums and tried turning off all firewalls. Everyone can ping everybody else by IP, but the PCs can't ping laptop by name. I've re-run the XP network setup wizard multiple times. I'm current on malware blockers.

When I open up My Network Places, all I see is the Residential Gateway icon. I read the Microsoft article saying to delete the Network Bridge, but there isn't one. Should I try deleting the Residential Gateway?

Any other ideas?

Thanks for the help!

Edited by lizgold, 09 February 2008 - 04:28 PM.

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#2
diabillic

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How are you sharing the connection?
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#3
Doobieus

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If the laptop is having an issue, try moving it away from any cordless phones or satellites and see if that improves connectivity. Modern cordless phones use the same wireless technology for the most part, and because of that, cordless phones tend to interfere with the actual wireless signal. The same goes for satellite dishes and cell phones.

Try that out and see if you can connect to the internet.

Also I'm having a hard time understanding if you're concern/issue is not being able to connect to the internet or if it's about not being able to utilize shared files between the computers. I apologize for asking for a little clarity on the subject, but I want to make sure I have the information right.

Keep me updated, I'll be happy to help out. :)
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#4
lizgold

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First, Celix, I am sharing the connection via a Netgear WGT64 Router. (Not sure if this is what you meant.)

Second, as I mentioned, I am not having any problems connecting to the Internet or with general connectivity. I'm having problems sharing files.

When I go to "My Network Places" on the laptop, instead of seeing the other computers, I just see an icon that says "Residential Gateway."

After reading some stuff on the Microsoft website, I tried going to Run and entering \\computername. When I entered it from the laptop, I could open folders on both the other computers. However, when I tried it in the other direction, from a PC to the laptop, I got the error "Network Path was not found."

Aha! I just discovered that if I ping the laptop by name (rather than IP address), it fails. So it looks like maybe it's a problem with the name on the laptop.

How do I fix this?
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#5
lizgold

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Well, I'm stumped.

I double-checked the computer name (using Run-->sysdm.cpl), and it was correct. I even ran the Network wizard again, but no change.

Help!
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#6
lizgold

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OK, here's some new information. When I ping'd the laptop from the desktop using the IP address, no problem.

When I ping'd the laptop using its name, my firewall blocked it because it had a totally different destination IP address (63.251.179.32).

I've done ipconfig on the laptop, and the IP address is as it should be (192.168.1.6).

What gives?
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#7
Doobieus

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Let's go ahead and try this out, on the Xp computers

1. Right click on My Computer

2. Click on Properties

3. Click on the Computer Name tab.

4. Click the Change button.

5. Change the workgroup from mshome to Workgroup

If you're not using the Default name for the network on Vista, put in what you have renamed the workgroup.

This is usually one of the biggest issues between Vista and Xp. Let me know if this helps any, keep me updated. :)

Edited by Doobieus, 09 February 2008 - 04:45 PM.

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#8
Doobieus

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Also do not delete the Residential Gateway. It's your network to the internet.
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#9
lizgold

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Hey, Doobieus--

I appreciate your help, but you're not reading my posts very carefully! (This happened earlier as well, when you didn't notice that I'd said I have Internet access fine.) This time, please recall that I said all computers are running XP--none are running Vista.

Also, the workgroup has a name, and it is not the default "mshome." And it's the same on all computers, so that's not the problem.

I've been ransacking the Internet for this problem, and trying everything, and nothing works.

But I've discovered that I can access pretty much all the computers if I do it directly, using Run and then \\ipaddress. I can access everything except the laptop with Run --> \\computer name.

So maybe the problem is with the Windows Computer Browser?

I'm wondering if the problem might be that a while back, I had a different laptop with the same name as the current laptop, and the network is looking for the old one's IP address?
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#10
lizgold

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I FOUND THE SOLUTION! This was insultingly easy (and I'm amazed that it took me days to find it on the Internet, and I saw dozens of unresolved posts and hundreds of frustrated users)....

I rebooted the router. :)

Problem solved.
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#11
lizgold

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I FOUND THE SOLUTION! This was insultingly easy (and I'm amazed that it took me days to find it on the Internet, and I saw dozens of unresolved posts and hundreds of frustrated users)....

I rebooted the router. :)

Problem solved.... :)
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#12
Doobieus

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A power cycle is usually the first thing to do, as far as any networking issues. I apologize but I assumed with your technical knowledge you already do have, that you had done that. Again my apologies.

Glad that you found the solution regardless of how simple the fix was.

Also I apologize for thinking you had Vista, I think I got mixed up with another networking case I was working on.

We are volunteer techs for G2G, so if it took a little while to get to you please understand.

One more thing, a suggestion, next time when you post a networking issue, let us know what troubleshooting steps you have taken, not just the symptom.

If you have any other issues in the future feel free to message me and I will help as much as possible.

:)
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#13
Kat

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This was insultingly easy


This happens quite often, to even the biggest Tech Experts around. Sometimes... the answer is so "simple", it's something you'd never think could fix the problem.

I'm glad you were able to get this sorted out ok, even though it took some beating of the head on the desk. :)
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