Wireless Adhoc Network Connection Error

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I few weeks back I setup a little wireless adhoc network between my pc and laptop. Basically my laptop is being used as a media center on the tv downstairs. I used windows network wizard to do it all and it worked great (PC as master, laptop as slave). I could watch video files on my tv downstairs that were actually stored on my main pc upstairs. Everything was great, each computer would just jack back into the network after a restart.

For various reasons I reformatted my main PC last week. I set the network back up again and generally it's all working as it was. The problem I have is that if I restart either the laptop or the pc then the network goes down and does not come back up again until I switch BOTH off at the same time and power them up again at the same time.

Strangley the laptop will report that it is connected to the network but the pc says otherwise and it cannot detect any networks in range. As I've stated, after a restart of both machines simultaneously the network all starts working again automatically.

Any ideas? This is getting frustrating now as I often leave my pc on all day but not the laptop. I want to be able to come in from work and switch the laptop on and use it to watch a film or listen to some music. This is how it worked before the reformat.

Much appreciated.

 

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Coo - 2 wi-fi questions on the go at the same time!

Does the main PC have SP2 on after the reformat?

Are there *any* other Wi-Fi devices about (that you own), such as a router for Broadband?

Without knowing how you set things up it is going to be difficult to guess at things to look for. When the laptop claims it has connected to the PC what IP does it get? Is it in the same network as the main PC? Can you ping betwen them?

In this setup I wouldn't expect the PC to show any networks in range, because it is the one putting out the beacon - normally the laptop won't do that. But it *might* show itself - depends on the adaptor it seems to me.

Harry.

 

Both have SP2 on. Both had SP2 on before hand too.

No there are no other Wifi devices either. I understand about the PC not showing that it's detecting the network as it is the one putting the network out there.

Example:

I shutdown my laptop after watching a movie, go to work leaving my PC on. I come in, power up the laptop, look at the taskbar icon and it says CONNECTED to wireless network blah blah blah. Then when I try to access the internet or my files on my main PC it gives me errors that the ip address cannot be found. I go upstairs and the PC taskbar is showing that no networks are in range and none are connected. I'll try making this happen later and then try pinging them as you suggested.

Oh and yes, it is the same network that the laptop is reporting as being connected to.

 

have you tried changing the channel?
is the main PC using the same driver for the wireless as it was before it was formatted?

 

We really need to know what the IP addresses on each machine are here. I suspect that somehow there is DHCP running (or not, where it should be). Knowing the relevant IPs will give us more info.

 

Yes I'm using the same driver.

I'm not sure what you mean about changing the channel.

The IP of the pc is set as 192.168.0.1
The IP of the Laptop is set as 192.168.0.2

Both computers are part of the workgroup: CHEEZE-WEB
The network is named as: WORK-DAMN-YOU
(because I was originally having problems getting it back up lol)

I am not using windows firewall, I am using McAfee firewall on the PC which is configured to allow the address: 192.168.0.2 access.

On the laptop TCP/IP settings I have also set the DNS server to 192.168.0.1 to allow the Laptop to use the PC's internet connection.

Netbios setting is at DEFAULT

I am using static ip addresses on both machines.

Having recreated the problem (ie I turned my laptop off and back on) the laptop is still saying it is connected to the WORK-DAMN-YOU network... the pc is not connected to the network and cannot detect one. Also I have tried to ping each computer from the other with no luck either.

Like I say, everything works fine until one or the other gets restarted... then I have to shut both down and start up at the same time to get the network back.

Any more info I can give?

 

Um - it would seem that you are running ICS on the main desktop. If that is so then you should not be using static IPs. OK - you have picked the standard range, but you should really let things work themselves out!

I'd start by switching off the firewall. Dangerous I know - but it is sometimes impossible to work out what the probs are when one is on.

How are you managing to get a name for the 'network' which is different from the workgroup name? Or is this the SSID?

When you set up the first wifi unit for an ad-hoc network you *must* set the channel it operates on, along with the SSID. Many units won't start if this isn't set.

Harry.

 

Yes sorry it's the SSID.

I have tried this with the firewall turned off already with no luck.

I am using static ip's as I had no luck at all with letting them work themselves out... but I will try this again in a moment. The problem I was having with the auto setting was I needed an ip to put in the DNS setting on the Laptop so I could get into the internet connection on the pc.

I'm still not understanding this 'Channel' on the wifi unit, all I have is a 54Mbps Wireless Network Adapter on my PC and an inbuilt wifi card in my laptop. Never seen anything about setting a channel.

Also when I looked at the Netbios setting, which is at default, it says something about if you are using Static IP's then use the 'Netbios Over TCP/IP' setting... could this be the problem?

 

There are up to 13 channels (IIRC) used for 802.11b/g, depending on the part of the world. Normaly a 'station' is expected to connect to an AP or similar, so will scan through the allowable channels looking for the signal. If, on the other hand you are an AP, or are putting up a beacon inviting connections, you can't do that; if you are moving about they can't catch you. So you set a channel to operate on.

Harry.

 

Okay I understand what you are saying, BUT this setup worked perfectly last week before I reformatted my PC. I could restart either Computer at any time and the network would just pick right back up and carry on upon a restart. So I don't understand why it won't now.

 

Because you haven't done something the same way as last time.

IMHO 'formatting' a PC is a last resort. Too many things break.

Harry.

 

Trust me it was a last resort.

Anyway... I think I've sorted it, but not sure how... only problem is that I have now lost my internet access on the laptop which it gets from the pc.

 

Yes it is all connecting as and when I restart any machine now... not sure what I did but there you go.

Got the net connection back too, I just missed the Gateway field in the TCP/IP settings.

Thanks for all the advice... something you said got it going, just not exactly sure which bit of advice it was.

Thanks a lot!

 

Cheeze,

Glad you got it working.
Whenever i set-up a wireless network i always knock of all firewalls and run the network setup wizard on all machines. At then end when it asks if you want to use for another machine select yes and put the .exe on a floppy or network drive.
This way all your machines will have the same set-up.