windows xp and peer to peer networking and adsl

[lost]

hi

i have networked 4 workstations using windows xp pro and
have an adsl connection to the internet which we share.

lately i seem to lose connection to printers and network
shares.

if i map a network drive to the ip address of the
computer and then the network share it works. However if
i try to map using the computer name it does not work.

my adsl modem router is the dns server and dhcp server.

also, when the people came to setup the adsl connection,
they put the workgroup name on the adsl modem router
different to my workgroup name on my lan. Could this be
a problem? I can still access the internet ok from every
workstation. However it appears my dns is not working
and i do not know why.

What are some things to check for? Why can i map using
ip addresses rather than hostnames?

I networked the workstations using the windows xp
connection wizard which i copied to a floppy (netsetup)
and then ran on each workstation.

thanks in advance

 

[Alan]

I would look at your statement that the workgroup name on your router is
different from that of your machines. Have you tried to change the
workgroup name of your PC's to match the one used in your router?