nasty Network problem

[oreo]

hi..
my friend used his laptop to set up an ad-hoc network (wireless p2p) to play LAN games, everyone can connect to it, including me, but i cant see their computers in network neighbourhood, nor in the game lobby of the game..all other friend's computer work well, i've tried turning off firewall, allowed exceptions for the programmes etc.. but my computer is still invisible to them and they are invisible to me, what should i d??

[vseehua]

Change your workgroup to MSHOME

[youngyew]

Change your workgroup to MSHOME
Wow great diagnosis, PC doc! :D Haha anyway, what's the purpose of all those workgroup names? I would like to learn more about it. :)

[vseehua]

it's part of Microsoft's network function to differenciate between 'groups' of workstations in a network. It's pretty vital in a business network actually, as only people within a workgroup can see each other and no others...

[youngyew]

it's part of Microsoft's network function to differenciate between 'groups' of workstations in a network. It's pretty vital in a business network actually, as only people within a workgroup can see each other and no others...
But the problem is, when you install windows, the setup doesn't tell us that MSHOME is the default setting for home networks, and that has caused many people to change their workgroup name to fancy names.

[vseehua]

it will be renamed to MSHOME after you used their create network wizard, the default workgroup is WORKGROUP.

Well, the situation you just talked about is just one of the senarios that happened because people don't take their time to understand the tools that they are using...

[kelvinlym]

I would like to add to vseehua's post.

You have to restart your PC after that too to see the changes.

And depending on your PC config, your PC might refresh the network neighbourhood or not at all depending on it's mood. (don't ask me why, ask Bill).

I had a lot of bad experience with networking under Windows.

[Thirdshifter]

You can't create a "network" with the method your using.

Because all that your friend did is turn his laptop into a gateway(hub) directly to the internet. Although it is Lan but.. it's along story.. so lets just call it that. Intranet, but you wont be asking this question.. so whats the point.

You will need to setup a router. No work around. Its the easiet and the cheapest.

however if there's only 2.. then it will work. Because that's just p2p.

[vseehua]

Third, yes we can, actually had been using this kind of network when i jus got to germany...

the easier way to create an ad-hoc network will be to use intel's own wireless utility if you are using centrino based notebooks... download them from www.intel.com and you will have less headaches setup-ing an ad-hoc network for your gaming sessions...

For internet connections, follow third's advice, save yourself some time and sweat, and get a router instead.. they aren't that expensive nowadays...

[kelvinlym]

Agree with vseehua: Yup, did gaming without a router by setting wireless ad-hoc network.

Agree with thirdshifter: It's easier with a router.

[oreo]

thanks for all the help.. i'll try it again

but my workgroup is set to WORKGROUP like all of my friend's computer

i'm using AMD Turion based notebook..

it's weird that all my friends can fight each other, 2v2, 5v5 etc , only me invisible to them

thanks again.. i'll try it again

[kelvinlym]

Check under the properties of your NIC and make sure the proper services are installed.

[oreo]

Other than the normal ones, i have

AEGIS Protocol (IEEE 802.1x)
NWLink NetBIOS
NWLink IPX/SPX/NewBIOS compatible transport protocol

[kelvinlym]

I'm running out of ideas myself.

I used to have this problem before but couldn't get to the root of it, because it seems to work fine one day, and not the next.

[vseehua]

networking with windows to windows is hit and miss affair...i never got it to work properly either...