[Peter3648]

We had our home network set up successfully for file and printer sharing. The network has both XP and Vista computers. The patch has been installed on the XP machines to allow for the Vista network discovery protocol. The Microsoft tool (name forgotten) has been run to verify that our router supports all of the functions required for Vista networking. It does.

My wife went to her universities IT Support for help accessing the University wireless network. The SecureW2 software was installed and configured for her, so she can access that network now.

Since then, from her laptop, she can access the Internet, and the other Vista computers, but she can no longer access the XP computers and connected printers on our network, and the XP computers cannot access the shared folders on her machine. They report the "Network path is not found". The Vista machines are functioning completely normally with each other. The only computer failing to network is her laptop.

Her Vista laptop is able to draw a map of the network showing all of the network's computers with their IP addresses, but Windows Explorer will not connect to the XP machines. They will sometimes show up in the left pane under networks after I do a "view" "refresh", but an attempt to view the computer's contents brings up an error message asking me to check my spelling.

Our other Vista laptop has no problems accessing all computers on the network, including my wife's laptop.

I have tried both a wireless connection, and a wired connection to our router with the same result.

I can ping the XP machines from her laptop using IP addresses but not using the computer names. The same is true for pings of her machine from the XP machines. They report the host could not be found.

There appears to be some change made by the SecureW2 software that is preventing this machine from using the computer names when trying to network with the XP machines, but I cannot find it.

Would it block response to computer names even when it she is not connected to the universities network?

The SecureW2 software runs at bootup. There does not appear to be any way to disable it when it is not needed.

Can that be changed, so that my wife would only run it when she wants to connect to their network?

Would that fix the problem?

Any other ideas?

Peter

 

[johnwill]

Let's see this when she's connected to the network.


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.

 

[Peter3648]

Sorry for the delay. Its exam and papers time.

The info you requested is pasted below. At the end, I also did a nbtstat-c. What I find strange is that the local dns cache shows the names and addresses of the XP computers, but nbtstat -a capricorn reports host not found?? They also don't show up in Windows Explorer.

Peter


Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Rachelle>nbtstat -n

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

No names in cache

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.102] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
RACHELLE-PC <00> UNIQUE Registered
PERIPATOS <00> GROUP Registered
PERIPATOS <1E> GROUP Registered
RACHELLE-PC <20> UNIQUE Registered

C:\Users\Rachelle>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Rachelle-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethern
et Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-8B-F6-8D-AD
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-FA-25-73-A0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b067:e978:c3c6:dfa3%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.102(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : December-10-09 8:41:31 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : December-17-09 8:41:32 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 285221626
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-25-A4-30-00-23-8B-F6-8D-AD

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{41E30D80-1D4A-4EB6-881F-74D6EEBA6
621}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

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. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e50:8c3:3f22:3f57:ff99(Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8c3:3f22:3f57:ff99%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

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* 13:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 14:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 16:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #5
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 17:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #6
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 18:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #7
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 19:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{A4828AF8-10BD-4056-8720-882AC6EA9
E12}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Rachelle>nbtstat -c

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

No names in cache

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.102] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Remote Cache Name Table

Name Type Host Address Life [sec]
------------------------------------------------------------
CAPRICORN <20> UNIQUE 192.168.0.101 295
EPSILON <20> UNIQUE 192.168.0.100 225

C:\Users\Rachelle>nbtstat -a capricorn

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

Host not found.

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.102] Scope Id: []

Host not found.

C:\Users\Rachelle>nbtstat -a epsilon

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

Host not found.

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.102] Scope Id: []

Host not found.

C:\Users\Rachelle>

 

[johnwill]

Here's a problem that you need to address, and will probably fix the XP access issue. Vista MS-KB - Fix Node Type Peer-Peer

 

[Peter3648]

I notice the hotfix files are dated 2007. We are running Vista 64 SP2. Is the hotfix still applicable?

If I wanted to set the registry manually, which node type would I need for a home network using a D-Link DI-524 router? I don't know at this point what node type the university uses on their WINS Server.

Is the problem that SecureW2 set a node type that our router does not use? If so, how can I set a compatible node type?

 

[Peter3648]

One more question:
Does the B, P, M, H node type relate to the node type displayed in IPCONFIG (Peer to Peer)

 

[johnwill]

From this page on SecureW2 ( https://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/network/wireless/winvista.html ), it appears that is should be independent. It's a RADIUS server, and shouldn't care what the node type is. The wild card here is if you are using a WINS server and sharing files on that wireless connection, you may have a problem with node types. In that case, M-Mixed or H-Hybrid node types should still resolve correctly.

Yes, if I understand your question, the B, P, M, H node type is the same thing as we're discussing.

The Peer-Peer node type is your issue for workgroup networking.

 

[Peter3648]

SecureW2 runs on the universities computer, and ultimately uses the Radius server for authentication before granting access to their network.

There is also a SecureW2 application running on the laptop, which should ideally only mediate our wireless connection for the university network. Is it possible that the installation of this software on our laptop has set the node type to "P", so that on our home network it is looking for a wins server which does not exist? If so, where would I go to change that?

When I ran IPCONFIG and it reported node type as Peer to Peer, I assume that corresponds to node type "B" Broadcast. If so, that should work with the DHCP / DNS provided by my router, shiould it not?

As soon as my wife's paper is finished (Thursday) I should be able follow up on your suggestions above.

Thanks for your assistance !!

 

[johnwill]

Actually, Peer-Peer is node type P, and requires a WINS server, which I suspect your home network doesn't have! I'd configure for the types I suggested. I'd pick the Hybrid node type if it were me.

From: http://www.tech-faq.com/netbios-node-type.shtml

A NetBIOS node type is a method that a computer uses to resolve a NetBIOS name into an IP address. NetBIOS node type allows an administrator to configure the order and method that a client uses when resolving NetBIOS names to IP addresses.

Understanding how the various node type functions will help you to properly configure your WINS solution. Windows Server supports the following node types:

* B-node (broadcast): it uses broadcasts for name resolution and registration. In a large network, a broadcast increases the load of the network. In addition, usually routers stop all broadcasts to forward, so only computers within the local network will respond.
* P-node (peer-to-peer): it uses NetBIOS name server such as WINS to resolve names of the NetBIOS. P-node does not work with broadcasts, because it directly query with the name server, enabling computers to resolve NetBIOS name across routers. P-node requires that all computers should be configured with the NetBIOS name server IP address. If the NetBIOS name server is not functioning, computers will not be able to communicate.
* M-node (mixed): combines B-node and P-node, but functions as B-node by default. If M-node cannot resolve name using broadcast, then it uses the NetBIOS name server of P-node.
* H-node (hybrid): combines P-node and B-node, but functions as P-node by default. If H-node cannot resolve name using a NetBIOS name server, then for resolving a name broadcast is used.

Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP are configured as B-node types by default. When Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 is running on computer and configured to use WINS server addresses for name resolution, then it automatically changes to H-node as H-node node type is for NetBIOS name registration. However, other operating systems may use other node types.

You can use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) options to assign the node type. To view the node type for a computer, type ipconfig/all at a command prompt.

 

[Peter3648]

OK. My wife finally got her paper submitted. So, Just a quick update:

From the instructions on the Microsoft link you provided above, I created the NodeType registry entry, and set the node type to 8 (Hybrid), and tried to get the network to work. It did not seem to respond, though IPCONFIG showed the node type as Hybrid. I went back in and changed the type to 1 (Broadcast). This fixed the home network.

So, the as yet unresolved questions would be:

What happens when she goes to university and logs in?

Why didn't "Hybrid" work? It tries to find WINS, and falls back to broadcast if I understand correctly. What sort of time-out would there be on that? Is there anything else I need to do to get the lookup working after a change like that?

For the moment I have the home network working nicely! I will keep testing to see if it is permanently fixed.

Thank you very much for your help on this. It is a real pleasure dealing with someone who knows his stuff !!

 

[johnwill]

I can't imagine why Hybrid didn't work. FWIW, my system here has that setting right now, and it networks here just fine. I have no WINS server. Hybrid has always worked for me.

Did you try the M - Mixed setting?

 

[Peter3648]

I installed Windows 7 yesterday. It was using Hybrid mode, and connected to the entire network eventually. It seems to be really slow to recognize the XP computers; in the order of 3 - 5 minutes. I did not time it, so just a guess. Maybe I just did not wait long enough last time on Vista.

Next step will be to install teh SecuewW2 software, and go to university to log on, and check if it all works now.
Peter

 

[johnwill]

You may have to install the SecureW2 software and then change the node type.

FWIW, Hybrid or Mixed doesn't take any more time than Broadcast here.

This system networks fine and it's running Hybrid node type.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\John Will>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MAIN
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-4B-19-8A-0B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, December 12, 2009 5:10:19 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 16, 2009 1:40:04 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled