wireless connection between laptop and desktop

[formerjudge]

i have desktop connected to netgear router wgt624 v3 and also have dell I6000 laptop. Is there a way i can set up wireless connection between desktop and laptop or do i need to add wireless card to my desktop before i can do that?'

[mbossman2]

wireless networking requires client cards in both PC's (at the minimum).

In your case, the wireless laptop can communicate the router, the router will use a wire to connect the desktop. if you want both to have no network cable you will need the wireless card for the desktop...

Please note: it is not recommended to have a completely wireless network as configuring and updating the router over a wireless link is difficult

[formerjudge]

mbossman2, thx for reply. I never set up wireless network before but have wired. Do i set it up the same way or is there something different you go to do to set it up when you dealing with wireless

[Gizmo]

Setting up a wireless network is pretty much the same as setting up a wired network. The same rules apply. The only additions that I know of (because I haven't worked with wireless for a while) are that you have a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) key for security. The higher the encryption is set to, e.g 64-bit to 128-bit, the slower the download/upload speeds are going to be.

[mbossman2]

to expand on DBG:

you need the same things as wired (same IP subnet, same wrokgroup name) PLUS:

-set the SSID (this identifies the client to the access point) to something over than the default.

-turn on MAC filtering and select the stations that you want on the network (hence why you really should be physically attached to the network)

- set the WEP/WPA key (this can be a straight text or hexidecimal string that sets the encryption between the client and wireless aggregation point)

- once all of this is done and the wireless is working properly, then turn off the SSID broadcast (if your router is so configurable).

[formerjudge]

Originally Posted by mbossman2 to expand on DBG: you need the same things as wired (same IP subnet, same wrokgroup name) PLUS: -set the SSID (this identifies the client to the access point) to something over than the default. -turn on MAC filtering and select the stations that you want on the network (hence why you really should be physically attached to the network) - set the WEP/WPA key (this can be a straight text or hexidecimal string that sets the encryption between the client and wireless aggregation point) - once all of this is done and the wireless is working properly, then turn off the SSID broadcast (if your router is so configurable).

haven't set ti up yet but i already done the change of ssid, mac filtering and wpa encryption. I was adviced in another forum that turning off ssid broadcast dose nothing really for security. If i have strong wpa password dose it really matter if i am brodcasting or not?

[mbossman2]

I turn off SSID as a matter of course...

WPA should give you the necessary security you need...

[formerjudge]

i set tcp/ip on my laptop, same default gateway and subnet mask and only different in ip is the last digit and same workgroup yet computers can't see each other. I try turning all firewalls off(windows firewall off on both computers) I am able to ping both computers with no problem(even if firewall is on), so what am i forgeting?

[bailey]

shareing something on both computers, folders, or drives, or files.

[formerjudge]

Originally Posted by bailey shareing something on both computers, folders, or drives, or files.

yes have folder shared on both computers, sorry forgot to mentioned that.

[formerjudge]

i can see laptop from desktop computer but not reverse. When i try to acces laptop it says I may not have enough permission to use this network resources

[glc]

XP Home or XP Pro? If Pro, is simple file sharing enabled or disabled? (Folder options, view, last item down)

[formerjudge]

Originally Posted by glc XP Home or XP Pro? If Pro, is simple file sharing enabled or disabled? (Folder options, view, last item down)

both xp pro, file and folders sharing is enabled on both

[glc]

Yes, but is simple file sharing enabled? If not, you have to set up users on both machines.

[formerjudge]

UPDATE:Found the problem, the problem was security feature in my router., specifically lan ip setup feature. I added each computer to the lan ip setup and everything started working. I knew something basic i was doing wrong. Thx for everyone help

[formerjudge]

update:still have problem but every close to solution, have work around but don't like it. Let me start from begining. I found out that basically the problem is my desktop firewall using trillian pro version. Desktop is the comp that connected to router. In order for me to connect from my laptop to desktop i need to turn my desktop firewall to allow all, then both comp can access each other until one of them is restarted,shutodwn or put on standby. When i try to access my laptop from my desktop i get an error that you can see in "desktop picture attachment" When i try to access it from my laptop you can see the error "laptop picture" On my laptop i have 3 folders maped to my desktop and have no problem accessing them. Same thing do not work on desktop

On desktop firewall i set up rule letting laptop ip access. Do i also need to make another rule letting router ip access? if so how big of a hole will i be making for my self in terms of security.

[cmillar6]

I have the same problem with my home network and the Norton firewall running on my desktop. When I disable the firewall everything works great. The only solution I have found is to disable any running software firewalls and just rely on the the hardware firewall built into my WRT54G router, which is actually quite good.

[formerjudge]

Originally Posted by cmillar6 I have the same problem with my home network and the Norton firewall running on my desktop. When I disable the firewall everything works great. The only solution I have found is to disable any running software firewalls and just rely on the the hardware firewall built into my WRT54G router, which is actually quite good.

i would love to avoid that as i still want to have outbound protection. If i let connection connect once it works untill one system restarts or go to standby Now if i can find how to make it so i do not have to lower the firewall every time i want to connect to laptop that been shutdown or restarted

[cmillar6]

well if you find a solution let me know, I have been struggling with this problem for awhile. I configured my Norton firewall to allow the IP addresses of the wireless PC's on my network, just like you did. But for some reason, the firewall decides to restrict access after awhile. Maybe somebody can offer some advice.

[formerjudge]

found solution some what. I review my desktop firewall log and found that my computer when try to establish network with my laptop first time in that session meaning after comp have been restarted, shutdown etc previously and this's first time it trying to connect to it, my computer uses ip 192.168.0.255 instead of .9. Can anyone explain why this is going on? Once i granted access to this ip by creating a rule problem from desktop side vanished. On my laptop i still can't see my desktip but if i click on share folders that i mapped from desktop i am able to access it. I have mcafee firewall on laptop not the best one in my opinion, anyone know how to access the log on mcaffe firewall so i can determine what ip it's blocking?

[glc]

Why did you say this then?

I try turning all firewalls off

Sure looks to me like you had McAfee running the whole time. You aren't going to get quality assistance here if you mislead us like that.

Personal firewalls are not designed to be used with lan filesharing. The XP SP2 firewall works fine with file and print sharing because you grant that as an exception. 3rd party firewalls are nothing but a pain in the neck, you might as well just lock it back up tight and use NetBEUI for filesharing if you insist on using McAfee, it will go right through any firewall and is not visible to the Internet.

Installing NetBEUI in XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...301041&sd=tech

Your firewall isn't doing diddly squat to protect you when you allow 192.168.0.255 anyway - this is basically saying that anything going back and forth to the router is okay. That's the whole cotton pickin subnet.

[formerjudge]

Originally Posted by glc Why did you say this then? Sure looks to me like you had McAfee running the whole time. You aren't going to get quality assistance here if you mislead us like that. Personal firewalls are not designed to be used with lan filesharing. The XP SP2 firewall works fine with file and print sharing because you grant that as an exception. 3rd party firewalls are nothing but a pain in the neck, you might as well just lock it back up tight and use NetBEUI for filesharing if you insist on using McAfee, it will go right through any firewall and is not visible to the Internet. Installing NetBEUI in XP: http://support.microsoft.com/default...301041&sd=tech

i know i said that, at the time it was still blocked not sure why but that was the case. I had no intention of misleading as i get no benefit from it. Thx for netbeui suggestion will take a look at that.