Why won't my laptop and PC talk to each other?

I currently have a PC with XP Pro (SP2) installed with a Belkin

802.11g wireless desktop network card installed. It's hooked up to the internet via a USB cable to an NTL broadband modem. I have recently bought a new laptop which is running XPHome (SP2) and is fitted with a Prism wireless network card. Is this all I need to set up a home network?

I know the card on the laptop is working OK because my wife tested it at work and there were no problems. But I can't get the laptop and my PC to talk. How do I do that? Do I need an additional AP or router? I've run network wizard more times than I care to remember on both machines without success. TCP/IP is set to automatic for IP address and still nothing happens.

As a last resort I tried a D-Link router and my laptop recognises it as a default network and connects straight away. My Belkin card recognises the default network but won't connect to it. If I take the router away neither of them work. I've set up connections on both machines but I'm unable to "enable" them, they just sit there with a red cross on them.

People tell me that setting up a network is easy but it's driving me nuts having a laptop and PC that won't talk. Anyone got any suggestions before throw them both through the window?

Cheers,

Mark.

PS. You can probably tell I'm a newbie so layman's terms or idiot guide's only please

Reply to
Mark Lassmans
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There are two ways to connect a wireless network. One is in Infrastructure mode the other is in ADHOC (Peer-To-Peer) Mode.

The main difference is that in Infrastructure mode you require at least one Access Point, and sometimes there may be quite a few. This mode would be the choice for most businesses.

ADHOC mode allows you to connect two wireless adapters together in a Peer-To-Peer network without the need for an Access Point.

-Max

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Reply to
Max

snipped-for-privacy@lassmans.me.uk (Mark Lassmans) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

If you want both PCs to share a single Internet connection, then you need a router. A router + wireless access point packaged in a single box is probably what you want - I guess the D-Link device is that kind of beast.

I strongly recommend that you first check that everything works with wired connections before moving on to a wireless network. That way you will have confidence that the router is working and that your local network and each PC are working OK. That leaves only the wireless side of things...

When using a wireless access point, you have an 'Infrastructure' network. All communications go to and from the access point. Check this when setting up the wireless cards.

Windows related things to be aware of:

- when using the Network Setup Wizard, choose the path that refers to a 'residential gateway' [this of course applies to both a wired and wireless network]

- there is often a conflict between the facilities of Windows and the utility program which comes with a wireless card. Use one or the other. To disable the Windows facilities, go to Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services, scroll down to Wireless Zero Configuration, double click, click Stop, and set 'Startup type' to Disabled.

- check in Internet Explorer via Tools | Internet Options | Connections that either nothing is shown in 'Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings' or that 'Never dial a connection' is selected, and that when you click 'LAN Settings' that nothing is selected.

One other thing - when testing, do not use any wireless security. That means no encryption (either WPA or WEP) and no MAC address filtering. Only when you are happy that things are working should you enable security - it's too easy for it to get in the way.

Hope this helps

Reply to
Richard Perkin

There are two answers to that.

1) Yes that is the min. hardware needed to make your network connection. 2) Now you have to manually setup your network because you do not have a router with a built in DHCP server to automatically configure your IP addresses and Subnets.....

The way you have it setup is called an Ad-Hoc Network. Running a network without a router to distribute IPs and the such.

Follow the below directions to setup your network.

1)On the desktop computer double click on the wireless Network icon in your system tray. 2)Click on the properties button 3)Highlight the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) 4)Click on Properties 5)Check the "Use Following IP Address" Option 6)At the IP Adress Box type 192.168.0.1 7)At the Subnet Mask Box Type 255.255.255.0 8)Hit OK 9)Now do the same thing on your laptop, except change the IP address to 192.168.0.2

That should get your Ad-Hoc Network up and running.

Now that might not get you the internet sharing you want. I have been told that enabling Internet Sharing in Windows XP will allow you to share your USB Broadband, But I have never been acle to get it to work or seen it work that way. To try this do the following.

1)On the desktop computer double click on the wireless Network icon in your system tray. 2)Click on the Advanced Tab across the top 3)Check the box to allow other network users to connect through this computers internet connection. 4)click OK

Now if this does not work for you there are Internet Sharing Proxy Programs out there that do work. Hrere are a few.

  1. Wingate-
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  2. Winroute Firewall-
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  3. WinProxy-
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  4. PPPShar-
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  5. CCProxy-
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  6. EzProxy-
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    Hope this all helps,

Robert......

Reply to
Robert Jacobs

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