How can I set up my home network?

Ricochet J · 4 Feb 2008 at 23:27

Hi! A bit of a simple one, but I don't know how to do it!

- I have a wireless laptop which connects to the internet via wireless through the router
- I have a computer near the router which is connected via ethernet to connect to the internet.

How can I get my Laptop and Computer to be networked such that I can share files between them? The laptop is wireless, the computer is connected via ethernet.

Thanks

PhillyDee · 4 Feb 2008 at 23:42

Whcih operating systems? Its slightly different Vista and XP in home networking. It basically means setting them both to the same Workgroup and enabling file and print sharing.

There is a wizard that ships with windows to allow you to do exactly that.

Fr0dders · 5 Feb 2008 at 02:00

depending on what OS you've got, the location of the wizard varies

but you want the file and printer sharing wizard. This will walk you through getting the PCs talking to each other

if they're already both physically connected to the internet via a router then most of the work is done.

joey1211 · 5 Feb 2008 at 02:21

You may also need to configure any firewall software on the pcs. Did this over the weekend on 98 and xp systems. Pain in the ****

Ricochet J · 5 Feb 2008 at 19:07

I take it I put the Laptop and the Computer on the same workgroup and that's it!

How do I tell my laptop to connect to the workgroup wirelessly?

slowrunner · 5 Feb 2008 at 20:25

If it's on xp try running the wireless network wizard.

Ricochet J · 6 Feb 2008 at 15:36

I've tried the wireless network wizard and no luck.

Admiral Huddy · 6 Feb 2008 at 15:45

First, both computers must have the same "workgroup" which is specified in control panel under the system applet. This effectively forces the two PCs to work as a p2p network.

You then have to select which folders you want to share by selecting the folder properties and select share.
It maybe best to turn off simple file sharing, is this doesn't give you as much control.

Then just click on network neighbourhood, and drill down until you see the folder.

Ricochet J · 6 Feb 2008 at 18:59

^^ Tried that. Still nothing. I can access the workgroup from the Laptop but can't see the computer. I can't access the workgroup at all from the computer as it says I don't have permission.

I should have mentioned, they're both XP.