[SOLVED] Can't share files with new Linksys router

[Agman]

I have 2 XP SP2 computers and 1 Vista computer all hardwired together through 1 Linksys router. I was able to share files and printers across network. Then, existing Linksys router burned up.

I replaced router with wireless Linksys (WRT54G), all computers are still hardwired into router, and all computers can access Internet fine. However, all file and printer sharing no longer works. I can't ping the other boxes on the network. I've tried changing Workgroup name on all 3 boxes and recreating all shares...still no luck.

Ideas?

[johnwill]

On each computer, please do this.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following two commands:

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[Agman]

Machine 1 (Windows XP SP2):

>nbtstat -n

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

Local Area Connection 3:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.105] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
PAUL-LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <00> GROUP Registered
PAUL-LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <1E> GROUP Registered
A4AHOUSE <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

SonicWALL Virtual Adapter:
Node IpAddress: [223.1.1.128] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
PAUL-LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <00> GROUP Registered
PAUL-LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <1E> GROUP Registered
A4AHOUSE <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Local Area Connection 2:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache


>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Paul-Laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Networ
k Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-A1-EB-A1

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connect
ion
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-A9-12-3E-86
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.105
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.85.98
68.87.69.146
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 03, 2008 8:57:39 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 04, 2008 8:57:39 PM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-A9-09-B9-2E

Ethernet adapter SonicWALL Virtual Adapter:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SonicWALL VPN Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-60-73-EA-59-9F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 223.1.1.128
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 223.1.1.2
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 03, 2008 8:57:37 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:57:37 AM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TAP-Win32 Adapter V8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-00-1B-28-76

[Agman]

====== Machine 2 (Windows XP SP2): ======

>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.121] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
A4AOFFICE2 <00> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <00> GROUP Registered
A4AOFFICE2 <20> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <1E> GROUP Registered
A4AHOUSE <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered


>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : A4AOFFICE2
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 M Network Connectio
n
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-E9-E5-8E-29
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.121
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.85.98
68.87.69.146
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 10.21.2.12
Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 10.21.2.11
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 03, 2008 5:25:09 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 04, 2008 5:25:09 PM


====== Machine 3 (Windows Vista): ======

>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.104] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
KITCHEN-HP <00> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <00> GROUP Registered
A4AHOUSE <1E> GROUP Registered
KITCHEN-HP <20> UNIQUE Registered
A4AHOUSE <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache


>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Kitchen-HP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-F9-B6-C5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82566DC-2 Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-60-D0-66-A1
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bcf5:ef7a:292d:289d%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 02, 2008 4:58:47 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 04, 2008 10:21:55 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201333756
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.85.98
68.87.69.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e66:24d5:36f9:3f57:fe97(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::24d5:36f9:3f57:fe97%11(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.tx.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.104%13(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.85.98
68.87.69.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{533640CA-E5EB-4D6F-8D77-643B39E2F2BA}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

[johnwill]

Try disabling ALL the firewalls on the machines. I see that both of these machines think they're the master browser, which indicates they don't actually see each other.

Can you ping by computer name, or just by IP address?

[Agman]

I cannot ping with IP address or machine name. I get timed out responses. The Windows firewall is disabled on the computers and still no luck. Other ideas? I've never had this issue before.

Is there a way to change the Master Browser setting? None of the machines are listed in My Network Places.

[Agman]

Also, doesn't "..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered" just mean that the browser service is running on that machine (so it should show up in the other list from the other computers).

Could my ping commands be looking at the Internet instead of looking at the local network?

[johnwill]

You have another firewall that is blocking the request.

..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered means that machine thinks it's the master browser, it doesn't mean that the browser is just running. On a properly working network, you'll only find that on one computer.

Since you can't PING, you have to fix that first, and the master browser will probably take care of itself.

[Agman]

The Linksys has a firewall (obviously <grin>) to protect the network from the outside. Are there settings that would cause the behavior I am seeing internally? Everything was working before I replaced the router.

[johnwill]

The Linksys router firewall has nothing to do with this issue, that is ONLY affecting WAN (Internet) traffic.

[Agman]

The Windows firewall on all 3 other machines is OFF. Also, file and print sharing was working between all 3 computers before I replaced the router. Any other ideas?

[johnwill]

Upgrade the firmware on the router?

FWIW, I actually ran into a similar situation with the Actiontec MI424WR that comes with Verizon FiOS service. My old one died and they sent me a later version. It killed network browsing, and I had to put a router in front of it to get it all working again.

However, the failure to ping has to be something more significant, that's a function that it's hard to believe the router is blocking!

[Agman]

This is definitely a puzzle. I'll see if I can find an update for the router.

I tried to release and then renew connections on all computers. Then shut down all computers and bring up the network one computer at a time. I watched the registrations in nbtstat and each one registers the browser...so, I don't know what the issue is.

Interesting, I've gotten TiVo on the network to be able to get to the files on the computers (photos and music). However, TiVo has a server module installed on each computer that publishes these files to the TiVo. So, there has got to be something going on with the machines, but I can't find it. I even went and selected everything as an exception in the Firewall settings in addition to making sure the Windows Firewall is turned off on every computer.


If you have any other ideas, please let me know. I appreciate all your help.

[Agman]

OK, I found the firewall causing the problem. I have Norton installed on all computers, and the web browsing firewall setting has the router MAC address memorized as a Trusted network. So, when I replaced the router, the MAC address was obviously different, and all the computers no longer trusted the local network. So, all file sharing and browsing (and pinging) activity was blocked.

Thanks for all your patience! I was sure I had turned off all the firewall settings (forgot about these).

[johnwill]

From post #8.

You have another firewall that is blocking the request.

Glad you got it going, thanks for the feedback.

[Agman]

By the way...

..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered still shows up on all computers on the network, so it might be because it is a Workgroup instead of a domain. Anyway, just thought I would share that seeing this in nbtstat doesn't really mean anything.

Thanks again.