linksys router lan problem

i know there have been a lot of posts regarding problems with the switches on these products, but i could not find anything that matched my problem.

i have recently got a 1Mbps ntl:home cable conection (im in the UK), and a linksys befsr41 cable router for my student house. there are 4 of us living here:

one laptop with windows xp
3 desktops, 2 with windows 98, one with windows xp home

we want to share our files using the switch in the router. i set up everyones computers, had a bit of trouble (setup said it couldnt connect to the router) during the automated setup with the linksys cd on the two win98 pc's, but then when i tried to get on the net it worked, so i left it. so everyone can access the net, but only 3 of the computers show up on the network workgroup. i set up the workgroup to be MSHOME and the computer names are all the users names (eg, MATT, GLYN, JON...) but JON's (the last one i added, using win98) can't see or share files, and no-one else can see his computer on the network, but he is listed on the routers DHCP client list.
if anyone could help me out here it would be greatly appreciated.

 

When you speak of no one being able to "see" that PC, I assume you mean it isn't displayed in the network neighborhood or "computers near me" or whatever. Unless the PC has something (printer, file, folder) shared, it won't show up there.

The router's DHCP list will "see" the PC in many cases where the network neighborhood thing won't.

One thing you will absolutely need to do if you haven't already to have the XP machines and the 98 machines share resources properly is to have everyone log on with a username and NON-BLANK password.

Then the XP PCs will need to be taught who the users are. Several options:
- have each logon/password the same (easiest)
- have each logon/password different and put each account into the Users section of both XP PCs (give the most security options)
- have each logon/password different and enable the Guest account on the two XP PCs. It is enabled by default on XP-home and disabled by default on XP-Pro. Gives the users somewhat limited access and is the least secure option.

After you've gotten the logon accounts piece done, try this and post back with your results (and I'm giving PC and share names but any you have will work - these are just by way of examples):

- Enable file & print sharing on JON and then share a folder named testit. Put a file or two in the folder. And assume the IP for JON is 192.168.0.5

From MATT, do the following
start~run~\\JON\testit and if all is well, it should open a Windows Explorer window on MATT showing that folder on JON. If not and still from MATT, try
start~run~\\192.168.0.5\testit.

If it works or if it fails, try the same thing from a PC running a different OS than MATT.

Post back with your results.

And FWIW, there haven't been many Linksys problems that were due to the router/switch. Most were bad user configurations.

 

im confused by what you mean about the xp pc's and the logons.
our network thing is just a normal network, not requiring any logon procedure to do with the network, so do you mean the user logons in xp?
i enabled file sharing on Jon, and now i can see him on my workgroup computers, but he cant get any of my files.
and he is sharing his folders but i cant see them.

 

I do mean the user logon to the XP PCs.

 

right, thanks
i shall try that tonight when all my housemates are in, and i'll post back with the results. thanks very much!

 

right, tried all suggested, and jon, who isnt running windows 98, but windows ME, still cannot see any of the others in network neighbourhood, he could for a day, but thats it. we're all a bit confused now! pls help!

 

Network Neighborhood is sorta iffy and I try to avoid it.

Try the following from JON and if any step fails, post back with details because if a step fails, the rest will too.

start~run~command and the remainder will all be done from the command prompt

- ping 127.0.0.1 to make sure the network setup on the PC is functioning
- ping 192.168.0.1 the router's IP address to make sure the PC is on the network. Note: I think Linksys uses 192.168.0.x for all addressing but it could be 192.168.1.x and in that case, substitute that when I specify an IP address - i.e., your router would be at 192.168.1.1
- ping -a 192.168.0.2 the -a switch will force the ping to tell you the PC name that matches that address. Use that name for the next one so that if 192.168.0.2 is MATT
- ping MATT now assuming MATT (or whatever PC is at that address) has a share named Shareit

Now exit the command window.
- start~run~\\MATT\Shareit and you should get a windows explorer window opened with the contents of \\matt\shareit displayed

If any of the above fail, please say specifically which one and exactly what happened including any error message you received.