Strange network problem

[Xanin]

Hi, I've got a strange problem with my network: I'm running a home network using a Netgear Router, with 4 computers connected. As you go from machine to machine, the ability to view and access other machines changes. I've googled a lot on the topic, but there has been nothing helpful. A breakdown of all the computers is here:

Computer A: Running XP Pro SP2. Has IP 192.168.0.2. In My Network Places, can see the shared docs of computer B and C, but can only access C's docs. Can ping successfully only computers C and D.

Computer B: Running XP Home SP1. IP: 192.168.0.3. Can see shared docs of only A, but can't access them. Can ping only C and D.

Computer C: Running XP Pro SP1. IP: 192.168.0.4. Can see A, B and D on the network, but can only access D's documents. Can ping only D.

Computer D: Running XP Pro SP1. IP: 192.168.0.5. Can see A, B and C on the netowork, but can only access C's documents. Can ping only C.

The IP of the router is 192.168.0.1, so when I configured the static IPs I put this IP as the gateway and the DNS server.

All four computers have shared folders; the shared documents. On the computers running XP Pro, I disabled simple file sharing and edited the permissions of the shared docs so that anyone can access them. On the computer running XP Home I went into Safe Mode as Administrator and changed the permissions of the shared folder in the same way.

All computers have the 'File And Printer Sharing' services, as well as 'TCP/IP' protocols installed and ticked in the connection properties. NetBIOS is enabled on all four computers, and Windows Firewall has been disabled. There are no software firewalls running either.

There is something else but I'm not sure if it's relevent. Computer C has an extra protocol installed that the others don't. It's an 'NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS compatible transport protocol', and it won't let me uninstall it, so there's something on that machine that is using it, but I can't work out what or why it is only on that machine and not the others.

I'm really confused, because the ability to ping and see and access various machines changes from computer to computer. It's not like there's a universal rule or just one machine that isn't visible. Each is visible/pingable/accessible to various other computers. Now that I've given all the info, maybe someone will have an idea? I hope so!

Thanks for help in advance

[Noise]

When you try to ping the computers are you using the computers name or IP Address?

Lets say you're on computerc, and you want to check the connection to computera (192.168.0.2)... Does the following hold true?:

ping computera and you get a "host not found" error

ping 192.168.1.2 and you get a connection

If the above holds true than all you have is a simple name resolution problem. This is easily fixed by editing your hosts file. Click Start / Select Run and enter the following:

notepad.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

This will bring up your hosts file in notepad. Enter the name and IP Address's of the three other computers. DO NOT add the name and IP address of the computer who's hosts file you are currently editing. For example, on computerc you would add the following lines to the hosts file:

192.168.0.2 computera

192.168.0.3 computerb

192.168.0.5 computerd

No reboot is neecessary after you edit this file.

[Xanin]

Thanks for the reply Nois3, but I always get a ping timeout if I use the IP or the name. The shared internet connection is working though, so I'm not sure what could be causing the problem.

[m8rk]

Is that correct with your ISP that your router does the DNS? Do you forward your DNS to any externl DNS then? [sounding like he knows what he's talkin' about ]

Edited June 17, 2005 by m8rk

[Xanin]

I wish I knew what you were talking about! To be honest I only have partial knowledge when it comes to networking, so I'm not sure what my router does. I know it normally assigns IPs (DHCP I think?), but since I've set static IPs it's stopped that. This is the info for my router, if it is any help

hxxp://www.netgear.com/products/details/DG834.php

[m8rk]

I've got one of those too Xanin [dg834g]

If the pings aren't finding thier destination - that's gotta be a phyical problem. different for the shares - that can be the PC config. hmmm...

Presume yuo must be able to ping the router from all devices. Are any of them wireless?

Ping your local address 127.0.0.1. This will tell you that TCP is functioning. [it does NOT tell you that your network card is functioning.]

Ping your default gateway or next hop Router. This will show that the router is up. Ping beyond the next hop Router. [tracert www.msn.com] If the ping fails, the request timed out” can mean that the destination host is down or that there is no route back to you.

Destination Net Unreachable will show the IP address of the Router that tried to route the packet but did not have a valid route.

Since the Internet sharing works, the network is fine.

Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. Make sure the workgroup name is identical - case sensitive

Make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

Edited June 17, 2005 by m8rk

[Xanin]

Success! I followed your advice and found that I was getting timeouts when doing a trace to msn, and when pinging the other computers. Also the fact that I could see some computers and not access them. I'm not sure what it was, but I think uninstalling my firewall did the trick.....I had it disabled but evidently that wasn't enough! Thank you so much for your help, I've been puzzling over this for days! Thanks again

[m8rk]

No problem