Resolved FIREWALL problems - can't network

I have just set up a home network for two PCs connected via a router and each PC can accesses the internet (cable modem) via the same router. Probably not the safest set up but the only other way (I believe) is for one PC to have internet access via a modem and other PCs connect to the internet via the main PC which (obviously) needs to be on for the other PC to have access.

Anyway, my problem.
I cannot obtain access to shared folders, drives etc on the other PC while ZONEALARM is running. Is there a way of configuring Zonealarm so that this problem doesn't exist?
John

 

Open up ZA and go to Firewall on the left and Zones on the the top right. What does it say there?

 

Thwe FIREWALL tab in ZoneLabs (sliders) are BOTH (Internet Zone Security and Trusted Zone Security) set to MEDium.
Should I be setting up the network so only one PC is connected to the internet via the modem and other PCs connect to the internet through the main PC? Problem with that setup though is that the main PC must be powered up for the others to have access to the internet - is that correct?

 

Yes, that is a valid way of approaching your problem, and yes, that is one of the problems of such a set up.

I would strongly recommend you invest in a router.

If you are using ADSL rather than cable broadband, I recommend you get a router with an inbuild ADSL modem so that it will replace your existing modem rather than being used with it. A DSL router will work with an ADSL modem, but in my experience is no cheaper than an ADSL router (which has a modem built in) and the added complication of having two devices to configure makes it more difficult to set up.

If on the otherhand you are using broadband supplied by your cable service provider, I'd recommend contacting them for advice on choosing a router.

 

Reggie ...

Not to be a nudge, but Jparnold says he's already networked via a router, and that he's using a cable modem.

jparnold ...

Reggie and others know far more about networking than I do, but I have two computers networked via a router, also, and my preference is for your initial setup, where either computer can access the internet, even if the other is turned off.

On ZoneAlarm's Firewall > Zones tab, only the network adapter/s on each computer should be in the Internet zone. The other computer should be in the Trusted zone.

If you connect to the internet using Ethernet and wireless, as I do with my laptop, and you use ZoneAlarm, it's best to use static IPs, rather than to let the router assign them dynamically. Otherwise, the IP addresses must be changed in ZA each time you want to connect your computers to each other.

Open ZA's Firewall > Zones tab on each computer and check the IPs listed. The IP for the adapter card on computer A should be the same as the IP listed for A in the Trusted zone on computer B, and vice versa. If not, change the IP in the Trusted zone on each computer to match the adapter IP on the other computer and click on the "Apply" button in the bottom right corner of the ZA window. If the IPs match, you should be able to see/share folders/files between computers.

 

Thank's Jim. Buffoonary on my part. I concentrated on the last posting without paying enough attention to the original one.

Jparnold. Both PCs should be able to use the router at the same time, unless it only has one port, in which case you need a network switch to connect the two PC and router together so that all three can communicate at the same time.

 

Thanks guys,
I use a NETGEAR RP614 Cable/DSL Web Safe Router with 4 port 10/100 Mbps switch.
Since my first posting I set Zonealarm Zone TAB on each PC to contain the IP address of the other PC as a 'trusted zone' but still could not get access to the shared folders on remote PCs connected via the router.
Strangely I have been able to set up my printer so that I can print to it from the PC which does NOT have the printer connected to it via the router/network AND I can 'control' one PC from the other using VNC.
All this I find strange that I can do some things but not others.
Anyway I will try out what suggestions I have been given.
Thanks again
John

 

As you may have gathered from other threads, name resolution on an XP peer to peer network (that is, a network without a server) can be hit and miss. Name resolution on these networks is via a system call NetBIOS, which when there is no server available, relies on broadcasts to discover other names available on the network. Often the system works fine, but when it plays up it can be very difficult to get to work correctly.

On the other hand the IP address system is very reliable and works well in the vast majority of systems. When there are problems with IP address, they tend to be easy to fix.

Therefore, if you are having problem with connecting to other PCs, try using IP addresses to connect to them rather than name. For example by using an address like \\192.168.0.5 rather than \\ComputerName.

You need to be aware that IP addresses can change with time if you are using automatic IP addressing (DHCP). If you keep your router on all the time, the addresses shouldn't change too often. If you find they do change too often, you can switch to static IP addressing.