S
Steve
I have a network of about half dozen desktop PCs and two laptops, all
running W2K except one (apparently not involved in this problem)
running WinXP. Sometimes one computer (currently one of the laptops,
several months ago one of the desktops) will disappear from the list of
PCs under the workgroup directory (no domains here). I can still access
all the other PCs from that laptop, but I can't see the laptop from my
desktop. And then sometime later, for no apparent reason, it's back,
and is accessible just fine. I'd like to understand just what makes a
particular PC visible in the network neighborhood. Here are the things
I've looked at thus far, none apparently implicated:
All my PCs have windows client service, file and print sharing, and
TCP/IP loaded and running, no other network services. All PCs belong to
the same workgroup name and the workgroup name is never changed.
All my PCs use fixed static IP addresses, with the first three octets
set identically and the network mask set to all 1s in those first three
octets. There are no conflicts of IP addresses. I originally went to
static IP addresses at the urging of my ISP when I switched to DSL; it
makes things much more stable because the network address doesn't
depend on who rebooted most recently.
There's nothing in localhosts, and default wide-open TCP/IP security,
except at the DSL modem firewall. The DSL modem has a single connection
to the network router.
I'm behind a hardware firewall in my DSL modem, and it appears to work
very well so I have no internal firewalls to contend with.
The laptop makes its network connection via WiFi, but has previously
been on a wired connection with the same behavior. In any case, when it
disappears from the other PCs, it can still see and access all the
other PCs on the network.
What makes this really strange is that I recently set up a network for
my sister, with a desktop, a laptop, and a DSL modem plugged to a
simple hub. Same basic configuration strategy, using the DSL modem
firewall for security, and same behavior - she has one or the other
computer disappear for a while, then come back for no apparent reason.
Here I thought I understood networking and PCs, but clearly I'm missing
something. Clues, please??
running W2K except one (apparently not involved in this problem)
running WinXP. Sometimes one computer (currently one of the laptops,
several months ago one of the desktops) will disappear from the list of
PCs under the workgroup directory (no domains here). I can still access
all the other PCs from that laptop, but I can't see the laptop from my
desktop. And then sometime later, for no apparent reason, it's back,
and is accessible just fine. I'd like to understand just what makes a
particular PC visible in the network neighborhood. Here are the things
I've looked at thus far, none apparently implicated:
All my PCs have windows client service, file and print sharing, and
TCP/IP loaded and running, no other network services. All PCs belong to
the same workgroup name and the workgroup name is never changed.
All my PCs use fixed static IP addresses, with the first three octets
set identically and the network mask set to all 1s in those first three
octets. There are no conflicts of IP addresses. I originally went to
static IP addresses at the urging of my ISP when I switched to DSL; it
makes things much more stable because the network address doesn't
depend on who rebooted most recently.
There's nothing in localhosts, and default wide-open TCP/IP security,
except at the DSL modem firewall. The DSL modem has a single connection
to the network router.
I'm behind a hardware firewall in my DSL modem, and it appears to work
very well so I have no internal firewalls to contend with.
The laptop makes its network connection via WiFi, but has previously
been on a wired connection with the same behavior. In any case, when it
disappears from the other PCs, it can still see and access all the
other PCs on the network.
What makes this really strange is that I recently set up a network for
my sister, with a desktop, a laptop, and a DSL modem plugged to a
simple hub. Same basic configuration strategy, using the DSL modem
firewall for security, and same behavior - she has one or the other
computer disappear for a while, then come back for no apparent reason.
Here I thought I understood networking and PCs, but clearly I'm missing
something. Clues, please??