windows xp peer to peer 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?

thanks in advance

 

[Jeff]

Hi,

does this happen all the time or just some of the time? I
have several computer connected via a hub, then the hub to
the router. I only have problems here and there when
connecting outside of my network. I have to either reboot
the router or reset my port settings. It might be a
router problem not sure. As for the workgroup, as long as
they are on the same subnet and using the same IP range,
you can see the other computers with no problem. For
example, you could have 4 computers with 4 different
workgroup names, when you go to my network, you will see
the 4 different workgroup names, then the computers in
those workgroups.

Jeff

 

[Ross Durie]

More lost than you think.

 

[NobodyMan]

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.

And therein lies your problem. I've never seen a broadband router
that has the ability to provide DNS. It can hold the DNS addresses of
your ISP, but it doesn't provide the service.

The ISP DNS service has no way to know the machine names on YOUR side
of the router since they almost certainly have a nonroutable IP
address. Your router knows them, which is why you can map drives via
IP address but NOT machine name. Your router does NOT provide DNS or
this wouldn't be a problem.

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.

Simple. As above, your router is not providing DNS.

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

Because your router does not provide DNS!!!