How To Connect Computers In A Wi-fi Network - Peer-to-peer connection?

My parents have been persuading me over and over again to do something about our wireless internet connection. No, its not that the router has any problems connecting the computers to the internet. My problem is that i want to connect my computers together to enable the sharing of files, programs, and most importantly, my printer. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to use the already set up wireless connection to link all the computers together. I've done networking with cables yeah but never with wireless. I've tried the wizards Windows XP provides to create networks but it won't work because the computer doesn't know how to use my wireless adapter as a network adapter. This topic probably has appeared somewhere around the forum but the words "wireless" and "networking" is not exactly unusual and searching for the right topic will be a problem.

Details:
3 computers: All running Windows XP, one using a wireless LAN card (laptop), one using a PCI wireless adapter, and one using a external wireless adapter.
Access point: Wireless Linksys router connected to cable modem.

I don't think much information is needed for this since all the computers connect to the router just fine. I would glady appreciate anything that might help me out with this and if you could, maybe a website with step-by-steps telling me how to do this. Thanks!!

Happy Christmas!
tech

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

If each of your computers is able to connect to internet through the wireless adapter, you have nothing more to do in order to have everything interconnected.
Simply verify that everything works correctly.
On your computer, open a DOS-prompt window and type "ipconfig /all" in other to see your own IP address, given by your router, let's say it's 192.168.1.4 . Then, go to the second computer, "ipconfig /all" to see the second address, let's say it's 192.168.1.5.
Then, from the second one, ping the first one's address : "ping 192.168.1.4", it should work. This means that physically, the second computer is able to reach the first one through wifi as physical layer.
I guess you want to do that in order to share folders on each computer ?
Then, create a shared folder the master computer (by the way, each one can be a master, the first one for pictures, the second one for text files etc...).
Then, verify that the naming things are correct : in the DOS prompt window, type "net view" in order to see which computer names are correctly defined, or right click on the "my network" icon and choose "look for a computer". If each computer is able to react when called by it's name ("net view \\sistercomputer"). Else, you will have to use the old good command line things ("net use * \\192.168.1.4\myphotos), which is slightly less comfortable.
So, if you are familiar with neworking with cables, now you have enough info for continuing by yourself.
Regards
Yordan

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Well first off you'll want to enable File & Print Sharing on each of the computers and I believe you'll want to enable the IPX protocol.

Secondly, you'll want to have a decent firewall since you are opening yourself up to the world.

I ran into this same situation where I wanted to share files and printers across my network. Some computers were connected to the LAN via CAT5 and others were WIFI. But I made sure to get a firewall such as ZoneAlarm which I configured to allow access to computers within a certain range of IPs on my LAN.

Once you set this all up, you'll also need to mark which files, folders, or drives that are shared across the network.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Of course, each one of your systems is on Internet, so you really need a firewall, of course, and first of all you need an efficient antivirus, choose a free one or a commercial one but of course you need one. This is far away of the topic subject, which was "how can i share files", but you really need an antivirus, especially if you share folders. Remember that some viruses precisely look for shared folders.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Thanks for the help. I'll be working on it now. I've heard ZoneAlarn is pretty good but I'm keeping my network to a "lowly" Norton Anti-virus 2003 on both computers. (Actually, three of them). I'm sure the anti-virus program will do the trick in preventing hacker/virus access. Besides, this is just a home network, nothing fancy. Just something to connect the computers together. Thanks again! Really appreciate it! I'll ask more if any problems pop-up.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

OK problems that i terribly hate to have encountered but i did:

1) To make this easier I'm going to name the computers 1, 2, and 3. 1 gets a reply when pinged with 2 but doesn't get any reply when pinged with 3. 2 gets no reply from any of the computers. 3 gets a reply when pinged with 2 but doesn't get a reply when pinged with 1. Obviously, 2 is the master computer here of some sort but it is unable to ping to any of the computers except the access point (obviously).

So basically 2 cannot "talk" to any of the computers and 1 and 3 can both talk to 2. I tried net view and typed in the computer names of each computer and it didn't work. All the computers are able to ping to the router (192.168.1.1). So i tried creating a shared folder in computer 1 but it only shared the files among users of that computer. There was nothing about which network the shared documents folder was supposed to share in in the properties dialog of the shared documents folder. I was thinking maybe it is because of the adapter diversity? As in computers 3 and 2 are both using wireless-G while 1 is using wireless-B. I tried re-configuring the setup of my router, restoring it to its factory defaults and trying again but nothing worked. This is all very weird and new to me and i hope someone is able to help. All help will be appreciated thanks!

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

I have this problem with one of my computers.
I found a way of overriding it, just try it.
On computer 2, open a DOS prompt window, and type "route add computer_1 the-router" (replace the_router with the IP of the router, something like 192.168.1.1 probably).
If not successful, go on computer 1 and "route ad computer_2 the_router".
Tell us if this works or if your problem is differerent form mine.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Yes, i think my problem is different from yours. For one thing, when i tried the command on computer-2, the computer "beeped" and gave me a weird error message. When i tried the command with computer-1 it didn't work too. I substituted "computer_2" in the second command you gave with the computer name of the second computer but it still doesn't work. I'm very sure the IP of my router is correct because i am able to change/edit the settings by typing the IP on a internet browser. I'm sorry if this is very troublesome but I've been trying to fix this problem for ages and still am not able to get the computer to "talk with each other 2-ways". Any more help will be glady appreciated. Thanks!

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Hey techocian, if you successfully form a home wireless network with your three computers, then please give me a ring. I have two computers at home for the use of my family and am wanting to form a network so we can share files and data.

I am also planning to get a laser printer someday... someday soon And maybe a scanner as well?

Yeah, so if you get the network formed, please tell me Much appreciated!

Regards
Bobin

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

cyborgxxi, I set mine up exactly as techocian mentioned initially (that didn't work for him). Here's how I got it to work:

Assuming you have XP:

1. Check to see if all the computers are on the same workgroup. Right click on My Computer and go to Properties. Then go to the Computer Name tab. In Workgroup, see what name is there. By default, it should be MSHOME. If you want to change the name, hit the Change button and give it a new name...make sure to do this for all the other computers also.

2. Then go into My Computer and on the left, click on Network Places. Next click on the link that says Set up a home or small office network. Follow the wizard there which should be straight forward. If needed, click on the View Example link for pictures on what they mean...then choose the one that represents how you're setup. When you are done, it will ask you if you want to make a network setup disk for this. You may do this if you wish and then apply the settings to the other computers or do them individually on the other computers. If you have Windows 98, then create the network setup disk to use on Windows 98.

3. Share a folder. Just choose a folder you want to share and then right click on it and go to Sharing and Security. Under Network sharing and security check that box to share it on the network and give it a name. Do this for the other computers also...choose what folder you want to share in them.

You should be all set up now. Go back to My Computer->Network Places and click on the View workgroup computers link. It should show all the shared computers foldernames. You should be able to share files now.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)