Question Problem connecting a new wireless laptop to the local network ?

[ZenMusic]

I am defeated by Windows networking. I have been a professional programmer for 40+ years. Designed hardware and computer music systems also. Now retired, I simply want my local (ethernet) network with a wireless router (works fine). Today I added a HP wireless laptop. It can see the network and the routers, but no PC's. And they can not see it. I have all pc's (windows 10 or 11) with network discovery on, sharing on and on a private network. Each one is configured the same and they all have different views. One see all 3 others, 2 see two others but not the same. So the AI tells me to look the workgroup , they all have the same default "WORKGROUP".

Why isn't there a program to run to set it up and verify it. I'm working on that, I can show the network from each PC , I can see many details but can't get any further. Help please.

[last sentence offering payment has been removed by moderator].

 

[hedwar2011]

Did you make sure that each of them aren't being blocked by a firewall or other AV program? Might try disabling it and see if that helps.

 

[kanewolf]

I am defeated by Windows networking. I have been a professional programmer for 40+ years. Designed hardware and computer music systems also. Now retired, I simply want my local (ethernet) network with a wireless router (works fine). Today I added a HP wireless laptop. It can see the network and the routers, but no PC's. And they can not see it. I have all pc's (windows 10 or 11) with network discovery on, sharing on and on a private network. Each one is configured the same and they all have different views. One see all 3 others, 2 see two others but not the same. So the AI tells me to look the workgroup , they all have the same default "WORKGROUP".

Why isn't there a program to run to set it up and verify it. I'm working on that, I can show the network from each PC , I can see many details but can't get any further. Help please.

[last sentence offering payment has been removed by moderator].

Poor security (WEP) might be one possibility. The WIFI on an RF channel that the laptop doesn't support (they differ by country) is another possibility. Strange characters in the WIFI name (SSID) is another possibility.
So, verify your WIFI security to be WPA2.
Verify the RF configuration of the router.
2.4 Ghz on channel 1, 6, or 11.
5 Ghz on a channel less than 50.
Verify that there are no special characters in the WIFI name.

 

[Misgar]

Ever since Microsoft switched off SMB 1.0 (Server Message Block Version 1.0), persuading computers to "see" each over a local home WORKGROUP network has become more difficult.

SMB 1.0 has a number of security weaknesses - hence Microsoft decided to disable it several years ago. The problem is it's made network visibilty more obscure.

When I click on the Network icon on a networked computer (10 Gigabit RJ45 Ethernet and FSP+ Fibre Optic LAN) it's normal for some/all computers to be completely invisible with SMB 1.0 disabled.

To get round this, I open a Command Prompt window and type in IPCONFIG on every computer, then write down the local DHCP IP address of each machine, e.g. 192.168.1.23, 192.168.1.98, etc.

Then I open Windows Explorer and type in \\192.168.1.xxx into the field near the top of the screen, to access shared folders on another computer with IP address ending in xxx. Not very elegant but it works.

Despite knowing the network names of other computers on the LAN, entering the TCP/IP v4 address of the relevant computer seems to work better.

With some apps, I'm forced to re-enable SMB 1.0. To do this open Control Panel, select Programs and Features, on the left hand side click 'Turn Windows Features on or off', in the list enable 'SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support' click Apply and restart the computer. Repeat for other machines on the network.

Your network security will be weakened, but you should find it becomes easier to see other computers on the LAN without resorting to addressing them directly via their IP address. It can still take 5 to 10 minutes before one machine takes on the task of Master Browser, so be patient.

I don't advise leaving SMB 1.0 enabled permanently, but it's up to you.