Re: Vista-to-Vista new plan still won't work


Thanks for all that Ralf. I shall take it away and absorb it as best I
can.

One further question - how come when both computers were XP Pro, this
all worked "out of the box"? I made wireless connections from each PC
to its respective Livebox, then connected a crossover cable between
them, which just worked, as soon as I'd set up the shares. Having
spent three months failing to make it work with Vista PCs, I bought an
ethernet switch, which PC World assured me would solve my problems,
but in fact has made no difference at all.

I think your Plan B is what I had in the first place. I'll see when
I've had a proper read.

Thanks again.

Gale.

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:45:40 -0500, "RalfG" <itsnotme@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

In a previous message you said the computer IPs were

fe80::5cae:4050:be2d:c9dd%10(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.123(Preferred)

And

fe80::3050:6b5c:f086:29f0%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.12(Preferred)

Both were connecting to
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

so those two addresses should be able to talk to each other on the Private
network, assuming the workgroup is the same for both , other network
configurations are correct and that this network is the default connection
on both computers. I'm not familiar with Live box so I don't know if it
provides NAT routing services for LAN but from your descriptions it sounds
like not. Without routing services the Live Box connections would act as
independent internet connections, with no LAN communications possible over
the Live Box.

Without NAT routing or if your wireless adapters are connecting to two
different DHCP servers then there is no way that they can communicate with
each other as the adapters are effectively connected to separate networks
even if they are both using the same IP subnet. Since you also have 2 active
network adapters in each computer you have the equivalent of 2 separate
networks installed on each computer, one on wireless and a different one on
the ethernet adapters. Without adequate configuration Windows networking is
liable to randomly switch between the networks whenever you restart the
system, which isn't going to work. Ideally you want to connect the computers
to only a single network if possible, that means one common DHCP server with
NAT routing. The alternative is to configure a LAN on the crossover
connection manually as a distinct network from the internet connection(s).

The 169.x.x.x address on the LAN adapters indicates that they are configured
for DHCP but aren't getting a DHCP address because they aren't connected to
any DHCP servers. There is no DNS service either. The only way they could
get DHCP addresses is to connect them directly to a router or other DHCP
server, or enable Internet Connection Sharing on one of the computers (not
what you want to do in your situation). In order to use a crossover cable
you'd have to assign addresses to the ethernet adapters manually. You could
use the 169.x.x.x addresses for the LAN connection but you'd also have to
make sure the rest of the TCIP configuration is correct for that subnet
(i.e. no 192.x.x.x references at all in their configs). The LAN adapters
would not communicate with anything having a 192.x.x.x address so the
crossover connection is effectively isolated from your internet connection.

I ran with a vaguely similar setup to what you want to do, in the deep,
dark, distant, past. :-) If you want the LAN to function your network
topography should be arranged something like these :

Plan A

Internet ====[NAT Routing + DHCP]==SWITCH ----------PC1
|
----------------PC2

Plan B


Internet ==== [DHCP] ----------------PC1
| |
X crossover cable with
manual configuration
| |
Internet ==== [DHCP]-----------------PC2


Plan A typically works 'out of the box', whether wired or wireless. Plan B
requires extra configuration to make it work. In either case you should
assign numeric metric values in the tcp/ip settings for all of the adapters
in your computers.. lower numbers indicating higher preference. That will
help keep Windows networking from mismatching the network connections. If
you won't be using the ethernet adapters at all you can simply disable them.

A useful networking resource site here:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/troubleshoot_index.htm




"Gale Green" <gale@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:02gkn454g7405i8maor4oj1rdease8is8a@xxxxxxxxxx

Thanks for the reply. I have now made both PCs attach to the Internet
using wireless connections to their respective Liveboxes. I thought
this might simplify the home LAN problem. However, it hasn't changed a
thing. Both computers still show their IP addresses as 169.254.x.x, on
the Local Area Connection, which I think are invalid IP addresses.

The wireless networks are Private on both machines; the local network
shows as Public on each computer (and each shows as "Unidentified
network"). If I change them to Private, they revert to Public a short
time later, or when I reboot.

On both computers, Network Discovery is on, as are File Sharing,
Printer Sharing and Public Folder Sharing. Each computer has a single
folder, C:\somename, that is shared with Everyone and Guest (both
Co-owners).

I have had this problem for three months with Vista, originally with a
crossover cable, which worked as soon as I plugged it in, back in the
good old days of XP Pro, and now with straight-through cables
connected to an Ethernet switch.

I'm beginning to think that I'm never going to get these computers
talking to each other, and I'm doomed to spend the rest of my days
walking USB Flash Drives between them. <g> I wish I knew a bit more
about networking.

Gale.

They both look to be on the same IPv4 subnet already. The rest you should
be
able to ignore for LAN connectivity. Is either computer showing that they
are connected to a Public network in your Network and Sharing Center? That
would cause it to block incoming connections from the other computer. The
connections on both would have to be flagged as Private Network
(Customize).
Are Network Discovery and File Sharing turned on in both computers and are
there any shared folders on each computer?

"Gale Green" <gale@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3bfgn4dt33bknlsqhiqmo7rmcepo593a36@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:06:08 -0600, "Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)"
<findemail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

It seems to me they are not in the same subnet physically. How do you
connect those Liveboxes?

The wireless one on computer B uses an 802.11g driver supplied by
Orange (the ISP). It's not configured by me at all. The one on
computer A is just connected to the ethernet switch.

Should I be somehow setting the Local Area Connection on computer B to
point to the (sub)net of computer A? Presumably, if I change the one
on computer A, it will lose sight of the Livebox?

Gale.



.

Relevant Pages

  • RE: Odd network results from two installed adapters, wired/wirelss
    ... system has both wired and wireless adapters, ... I can't seem to establish any network ... Connection Type: Dynamic ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: Loss of Connectivity on Only One PC on a LAN
    ... When you ran the Network Setup Wizard, ... The original setup of the LAN was done entirely by the user of the other PC on that LAN in July. ... I use a LAN connection which consists of two PCs each connected to a Linksys BEFSR 41 Router. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • RE: Problems with Permissions
    ... And SBS server is only take ... the role of an internal server. ... they are all configured to connected to internal network. ... g. Run the Configure Email and Internet Connection Wizard on SBS server. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: VPN usage question
    ... Exactly the same as a LAN. ... > A VPN is a network connection on top of another connection. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Vista-to-Vista new plan still wont work
    ... I can't say for sure but I suspect it is because XP does not have an interactive firewall trying to identify and secure your network connections for you. ... You can have two network connections in Vista but if they aren't well defined (as with adapters that get random addresses from automatic addressing when you reboot) Vista may see a new network any time the IP of an adapter is different than it expects. ... For instance you shouldn't be seeing things like an 'unidentified network' to nowhere being discovered on the ethernet connection or a wired LAN adapter that is apparently connected to the network via your wireless Live Box. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.vista.networking_sharing)