My office network works...well sort of

[Guest]

I run a small Civil engineering firm, and I have set up my first network.
Almost everything works at this point, but for one thing: file sharing.

My network consist of two xp pro machines. One machine is running a Zone
Lab firewall, and the other one is running a norton firewall (the default
dell setup). They are networked by a Netgear 318 vpn router (I hope some day
to be able to work from home..) Also on the network is a couple of print
servers, one is a Netgear ps110, and the other is an old Intel Netportexpress.

My print servers both work fine. They are not running static IP address,
but I have set up the router to alway assign their mac address the same ip
address through the dhcp server. This way I never loose a printer port.

My issue is with file sharing across the network. I have read the Microsoft
howto regarding enabling Netbios browsing. Both my machines have the
browsing service activated, but only one is able to browse the workgroup. I
am wondering if my plethera(sp?) of firewalls on my network is not allowing
one of my systems to browse the work groups. I tried turning off my
firewalls on the computers, but i cannot turn off the one in the router. My
dell machine running norton firewall seems to be able to browse the workgroup
just fine. The other machine, running the Zone alarm firewall, cannot browse
the workgroup at all unless the firewall is down, and then, it only see
itself, and non of the other machines.

So If I do run firewalls, what ports and services need to be able to pass
through the firewalls in order to share files between computers?

 

[Chuck]

I run a small Civil engineering firm, and I have set up my first network.
Almost everything works at this point, but for one thing: file sharing.

My network consist of two xp pro machines. One machine is running a Zone
Lab firewall, and the other one is running a norton firewall (the default
dell setup). They are networked by a Netgear 318 vpn router (I hope some day
to be able to work from home..) Also on the network is a couple of print
servers, one is a Netgear ps110, and the other is an old Intel Netportexpress.

My print servers both work fine. They are not running static IP address,
but I have set up the router to alway assign their mac address the same ip
address through the dhcp server. This way I never loose a printer port.

My issue is with file sharing across the network. I have read the Microsoft
howto regarding enabling Netbios browsing. Both my machines have the
browsing service activated, but only one is able to browse the workgroup. I
am wondering if my plethera(sp?) of firewalls on my network is not allowing
one of my systems to browse the work groups. I tried turning off my
firewalls on the computers, but i cannot turn off the one in the router. My
dell machine running norton firewall seems to be able to browse the workgroup
just fine. The other machine, running the Zone alarm firewall, cannot browse
the workgroup at all unless the firewall is down, and then, it only see
itself, and non of the other machines.

So If I do run firewalls, what ports and services need to be able to pass
through the firewalls in order to share files between computers?

Alan,

First, let me set your mind at ease. The firewall in the NAT router, if that
router has a firewall, only blocks traffic between the WAN (Internet) and the
LAN (your computers). It does nothing between the computers themselves. The
LAN side of the router is simply a switch.

Now then, a misconfigured personal firewall (NPF / ZA) could well be a problem.
Also, check registry setting restrictanonymous.
Misconfigured / overlooked firewalls:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>
Registry setting restrictanonymous:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/restrictanonymous-and-your-server.html>

And please do not enable the browser on both computers. That can definitely
cause a problem. There can be but one boss in your company, and there can be
but one master browser in a workgroup.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html>

If no help yet, provide "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all" from each
computer, as a diagnostic aid. Read this article, and linked articles, and
follow instructions precisely:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>