My SO and I are trying to help my parents set up a home network, consisting of a desktop running Windows XP (Mom says it’s a version for teachers??) connected by wire to a wireless router, and a laptop, also running Windows XP, with a wireless card.
We have set up a number of similar networks before, so we are not complete novices at this, but this one has us stumped.
I have been able to set up the router so that the laptop will see a second wireless laptop just fine (so I know that the router is functioning), but I can’t get the desktop computer to acknowledge that the router is even there.
I’ve done some checking around, and I don’t see a version of Windows XP for Teachers (I do see Office for Teachers and Students, but not Windows). This could mean Mom is wrong, or it could just mean I’m not looking in the right places.
So…
Has anyone run across this problem before, and know what secret little button I need to change in Windows XP?
I’ve no direct help, but there’s no “XP for teachers”, just a licence for teachers (and students). So that isn’t the problem…kind of helpful, yet not…
Is the cable running from the desktop to the router a patch cable, or a crossover? The former is what you need; the latter what you use when you directly connect two different computers.
Oh, and presuming the router is also being used to access the internet, can the desktop see that? (If yes, then my previous suggestion can be ignored and you can focus on the settings of the desktop)
Actually, they are using an internal dialup modem in the desktop. As a stand- alone item, it works fine for connecting to the internet. They would like to be able to access the internet from the laptop through the desktop and the dialup modem.
If I can’t get this to work, the next step may be an external dialup modem.
Gotcha. Double-check the cable. If the laptop can see the router, then clearly XP doesn’t have a problem finding the settings. If all you need is internet access across the network, then reducing the network settings to 10Mb/s (I’m not on Windows now, but IIRC it’s Start-Settings-Network Connections, right-click the LAN icon, Properties, and somewhere in there is a way to reduce the speed). This can compensate somewhat for a crappy network card or cable, while still giving 20 times the capacity of the dial-up connection.
Oh, and check that the dial-up connectino (also in network connections) is permitted to share with other computers, and that the firewall isn’t on (install a separate firewall instead, such as Sygate Personal Firewall, free to find via google)
