Ricardo Eloy Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Hey, fellas! I`m having a really weird problem here. I have a small home network to accomodate my laptop and a desktop where I do most of my work at home. Both are running WinXP SP2. The weird thing is that the only way they get to see each other is to start them only after the broadband modem is disconected. They are both web enabled, but can't work as a network. I was told this is due to the dynamic IP address they're assigned everytime I start them (DHCP) and that the only way to solve this would be replacing my hub with a router or switch. Question is: isn't there a way to solve this only configuring IPs or something? I really don't need both accessing the internet (I'm not THAT multitask myself ).... Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Do manual IP configurations, not DHCP. Kill the DHCP server (running on your desktop?) and setup the laptop with a primary DHCP for normal use and an alternate config with the manual info. Edit your hosts file (I think it's in \windows\system32\drivers\etc) and give each machine the other's hostname and IP. I had to do all that on a home network one time when I just couldn't find any other way to get the machines to talk over Windows networking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 Do manual IP configurations, not DHCP. Kill the DHCP server (running on your desktop?) and setup the laptop with a primary DHCP for normal use and an alternate config with the manual info. Edit your hosts file (I think it's in \windows\system32\drivers\etc) and give each machine the other's hostname and IP. Let me see if I got it (I'm not much of an IT guy...): 1- kill the DHCP server on the desktop and setup a fixed IP 2- edit the desktops host file and give it the name of my laptop 3- do the same with the laptop Ok, so let me throw some stupid questions: 1- this will make the desktop visible to the laptop at any time, right? Even if the laptop has only one connection and has a whole different IP assigned to it (DHCP)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it consider this a whole other network, making either the internet connection or the intranet not work? 2 and 3 - the host file shows something like this (laptop and desktop): 127.0.0.1 localhost How should I write it down to make it see both the internet and the desktop? 4- setting the IP for the desktop, could I set something like this?: IP 192.168.1.1 Subnet mask 255.255.255.0 Gateway 192.168.1.1 Hope I'm not abusing your good will on this, Andrew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 I think you've got it right, but it may take some experimenting - I used to be a sysadmin but now I forget a lot of the details Yeah, if the desktop has a static IP on the network that the laptop is on, and the laptop knows the IP, it will see the desktop. Write new lines in the same format as the localhost line, substituting the host name of the remote system and its IP. Though, now that I think about it more, it may be easier and less error-prone to take the "for dummies" approach and run the Windows home network configuring wizard on the desktop, set up connection sharing there, and have it make the settings disk, which you use to configure the laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 Done that, but it doesn't find the desktop, even if I tell it it's IP... really starting to think I should get a switch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Hmm...thats really strange, when I had a hub, I couldn't connect to the internet on both computers at the same time, but, I could always see the other computer, then when I got a switch, I could get online with both simotaniously, So I would say there is somthing wrong there, What CLIENT, SERVICE, and PROTOCOLs do you have setup in your local area connection properties ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 That would be the normal thing, but not here... Anyway, this is what I figured: once both get DHCP to set their addresses, unless there's some huge coincidence, they behave as they're in 2 different networks. The IPs they get are like 201.something and 200.something, meaning they will never see each other. Even if I have the desktop setup with a fixed IP, since the other gets his dynamically, it will never see the other. Unless I gave the desktop a similar IP, such as, let's say, 200.something. Gotta test that, tho. Anyway, that would turn out impracticable, since DHCP on the laptop would make me change the desktop IP everytime I turn it on... or am I saying something really stupid here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutaj Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 you need a router, That is the simplest way to do it, they all come with a 4 port switch. A switch will not do the same thing as the router. The only other way that you could do it, is to install another network card into your machine that is currently pluged into the modem directly and then you plug the secondary card into the hub with the laptop. That main machine would have 2 ip address, one Wan address and one local address. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 Thanks, Mike! That's probably what I'm goint to do, anyway... my wife is already bugging me for a wireless home network, anyway, so I might as well do that. Meanwhile, pulling the internet plug to make my 2 friends see each other seems like the easiest way...(sight) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Wait, did you have the main PC acting as a router before, with 2 network adapters, one address on WAN and the other on LAN and the laptop linked up via the WAN adapter? And the laptop was getting Internet access without being on the same subnet as the main PC? Or were you doing something else? Nevermind, just get a wireless router and end your misery, it will upgrade your security at the same time, try anything but D-Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 I will Thanks, Andrew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Alexander Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 with 2 network adapters... try anything but D-Link Did he have two? or did I miss that in his posts. Router, yes! D-Link, NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 This is kindda old, but I found a workaround (at least until I buy a router). I disconnect the modem from the hub and turn it off (sounds like a lot to do, but it's actually simply pulling a plug). Start both machines normally and wait a minute until they find each other. After that, I turn on the modem and connect it to the hub. Voilà! Internet works for both and they see each other normally. Why this works: when I start the machines with the modem on, the modem assigns their IP addresses. Since there's no garantee it will assign them to the same network, you never know if they will see each other. But, if you start without the modem, they will automatically find each other and get their IPs. After they get their IPs, you can start the modem, making it recognize their IPs. Did I get it right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltaire_ira Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 does the laptop and pc belong to the same workgroup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Eloy Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 Yes, they are, John. Anyway, problem solved (it's temporary, I know). As long as the internet connection is the last one to be turned on, everything works smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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