Can't ping computers on home network

[johnnywc]

Hello all,

I have 2 computers connected through a Linksys WRT54G router (both with cables, not wireless) but the computers cannot ping each other.

Router:
Linksys WRT54G 8.02
Setup
IP: 192.168.1.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

DHCP enabled
Security
[X] Block anonymous internet requests
[X] Filter multicast
[ ] Filter internet NAT redirection
[X] Filter IDENT(port 113)

Computer 1:
Workgroup: MSHOME
OS: Windows XP MCE SP3
IP: 192.168.1.102
Firewall: Windows Firewall (disabled)

Computer 2:
Workgroup: MSHOME
OS: XP Professional SP3
IP: 192.168.1.101
Firewall: Windows Firewall (disabled)

I have been searching the internet for weeks trying to resolve this but with no luck. Each computer cannot ping the other, or browse each other. I have file sharing enabled on both.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks.

[johnwill]

Well, failure to ping is almost always a firewall component.


Let's see this for each of the computers.


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

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the - or / in the following commands.

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
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.

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Well, failure to ping is almost always a firewall component.

Thanks for the help. I have disabled Windows Firewall on both machines.

Let's see this for each of the computers.

Here is the first computer (MAJORHAVOC):

nbtstat -n

Home:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.102] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

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

ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MAJORHAVOC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.ct.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Home:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.ct.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-D1-29-B4-61
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.151.8.210
24.151.8.211
66.189.130.21
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, October 17, 2009 8:59:18 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 18, 2009 8:59:18 PM


And the second computer (TEMPEST):


nbtstat -n:

Home:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.101] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
TEMPEST <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
TEMPEST <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

ipconfig /all:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TEMPEST
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.ct.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Home:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.ct.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-43-47-49-B9
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.151.8.210
24.151.8.211
66.189.130.21
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, October 17, 2009 10:24:24 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 18, 2009 10:24:24 PM


It should be noted that both computers can ping the router (192.168.1.1) and both can connect to the internet.

Thanks so much for the help!

- John

[johnwill]

Those look good, so a question.

Can you ping either way by computer name?

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Those look good, so a question.

Can you ping either way by computer name?

No - Request times out.

The odd thing is that if I attempt to ping by name, it's trying to ping a weird name/IP address. For example, trying to ping TEMPEST from MAJORHAVOC:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\johnnywc>ping tempest

Pinging tempest.hsd1.ct.comcast.net [63.251.179.56] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 63.251.179.56:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Documents and Settings\johnnywc>

Do you think it has something to do with the router? I'm thinking of swapping out the router for a switch (I have one at work) tomorrow to see if this makes any difference.

Thanks again for your help.

[2xgrump]

hello johnnhywc,

do you have any Security/Firewall software installed such as Zone Alarm, McAfee etc? try disabling them then ping each other.

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by 2xgrump

hello johnnhywc,

do you have any Security/Firewall software installed such as Zone Alarm, McAfee etc? try disabling them then ping each other.

Hello -

I did have NIS installed on one machine, but I have been working on this issue for months and decided to uninstall it until I get this resolved. Right now both machines only have Windows Firewall and both are disabled (for now).

Would it be helpful to trace the packets when I issue a PING? I have Wireshark installed (packet sniffer) but I admit I don't understand completely how to interpret the logs. When I issue a ping, I can see the request on the network; immediately after I see a request to 192.168.1.255... is this a broadcast message being issued by the wireless router?

Thanks for all the help. I am going to try to swap out the router with a switch to see if that makes any difference.

[johnwill]

You have some odd DNS resolution issues, that's not a normal occurrence.

You can't simply use a switch, since you need the NAT layer to allow multiple computers to connect to your Comcast account. However, I'd certainly try a few things.

Let's try replacing your DNS server on both systems. Follow the instructions at OpenDNS for Windows and configure to use OpenDNS for your DNS server. See if that makes a difference.

[2xgrump]

Hi Johnny....

here are some other things that you can verify and can be done too:

1.) Make sure that Netbios over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers.
2.) Dbl check again if Files and Printer sharing are enabled
3.) Workgroup has the same name in your network
2.) Update router's firmware
3.) Power cycle your router
4.) finally.....reset your router, see if this helps

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by johnwill

You have some odd DNS resolution issues, that's not a normal occurrence.

You can't simply use a switch, since you need the NAT layer to allow multiple computers to connect to your Comcast account. However, I'd certainly try a few things.

Let's try replacing your DNS server on both systems. Follow the instructions at OpenDNS for Windows and configure to use OpenDNS for your DNS server. See if that makes a difference.

Hello -

I have changed my DNS settings to match OpenDNS. Pinging by name now does this:

C:\Documents and Settings\johnnywc>ping tempest
Ping request could not find host tempest. Please check the name and try again.

C:\Documents and Settings\johnnywc>

Very strange indeed.

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by 2xgrump

Hi Johnny....

here are some other things that you can verify and can be done too:

1.) Make sure that Netbios over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers.
2.) Dbl check again if Files and Printer sharing are enabled
3.) Workgroup has the same name in your network
2.) Update router's firmware
3.) Power cycle your router
4.) finally.....reset your router, see if this helps

Hello there -

I have confirmed that Netbios over TCP/IP is enabled on both computers. How do you confirm that File & Printer sharing is enabled? It appears in the list of items for the connection properties and I have Windows Firewall disabled; is that enough?

Workgroup is MSHOME for both computers.

I have updated the router's firmware (Linksys WRT54G to 8.00.7), power cycled the router and did a hard reset on the router.

We have made some progress, since now in the View workgroup computers pane I see MAJORHAVOC and TEMPEST. Clicking on TEMPEST from MAJORHAVOC pops up a dialog saying:

\\Tempest is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

I do have folders on both machines shared.

At one point tonight I could see MAJORHAVOC in the MSHOME workgroup on TEMPEST, but it's not there anymore (not sure if the DNS changes made a difference).

Interestingly enough, there is a SharedDocs on Major Havoc icon in the My Network Places / Internet for TEMPEST. However, selecting Properties on this icon reveals the target address as \\192.168.1.100\SharedDocs, created on October 10, 2007. As a reminder, the actual address of MAJORHAVOC is 192.168.1.102.

Thanks again for all you help... anything else I can try?

[2xgrump]

This might help: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/w...ilesharing.htm

Files and Printers sharing:
http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.ph...in-windows-xp/

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by 2xgrump

This might help: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/w...ilesharing.htm

Files and Printers sharing:
http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.ph...in-windows-xp/

Thanks for the links - I checked everything and the only that was different is that Simple File Sharing was checked for both computers. Un-checking them didn't help unfortunately.

[johnwill]

Well, the failure to ping still seems like some firewall or Internet security application, there are very few other things that would cause that.

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Well, the failure to ping still seems like some firewall or Internet security application, there are very few other things that would cause that.

Hmmm... I only have Windows Firewall on both machines and it's disabled for both. Is there a way to see what is happening to the packets when I try to ping?

[2xgrump]

Can you ping IP of the computers, also vice versa, no need to see if they are on workgroup? If you are able to see, try creating a new folder for both computers for test purpose, share it with full permission and see if you are able to access the folder.
Also, this is silly.... try changing the name of the Workgroup Name to something else, like VistaFamily, ect. restart both computers and see if it helps.

[johnnywc]

Originally Posted by 2xgrump

Can you ping IP of the computers, also vice versa, no need to see if they are on workgroup? If you are able to see, try creating a new folder for both computers for test purpose, share it with full permission and see if you are able to access the folder.
Also, this is silly.... try changing the name of the Workgroup Name to something else, like VistaFamily, ect. restart both computers and see if it helps.

Thanks for the tips... I have tried to ping both computers by IP (that's what started this whole debacle :))... I also changed the workgroup name a few times. I have also shared a new folder with full permissions but still nothing.

This did work at one time a long time ago... it's been months and I've tried dozens of changes but with no results. Should I just reinstall the operating systems from scratch and see if that helps? It would certainly get rid of any 'phantom' firewalls that may be blocking the pings...

[godsendjk]

Please try performing the steps mentioned in the below link:

http://tempvariable.blogspot.com/200...n-network.html

Also, try changing the encryption type to "WPA" or "TKIP" in the router.

Check if it helps.
(**,)

[johnwill]

The encryption type will have absolutely no effect on the ability or inability to ping another network machine, this most certainly won't help.

As far as the blog, if you have disabled firewalls, that doesn't apply either.

[2xgrump]

At this point, I will suspect of a bad router. You may try replacing it and see what happens, if it doesn't work return it. If you by directly from Amazon they give you a full refund.