Wireless network questions

[Donnyj]

I just installed a Linksys wireless router model # WRT54G. The home computer that it is attached to is a Windows XP SP2 system. My notebook is a Windows 2000 unit with a Belkin 802.11B card. I got the notebook to connect to the internet through the wireless router. I want to use the printer that is attached to the home computer for printing with the notebook. For the life of me, I can not figure out how. I have shared the printer on my XP system, still no help. Matter of fact I do not see any network installed showing the notebook on my home system. What have I done wrong? Networking is all new to me, so any and all help will greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[5030]

Go into system attributes and check the 1394 connection status. I have the exact same setup as you withy a NetGear G router.

 

[TresCrows]

There is always the Geek Squad.
My notebook which is Windows XP is wireless to the router. The desktop is hardwired to the router. The HP printer which is network capable with an ethernet cable to the router can print from both the desktop and my laptop. This is highly usefull for printing something I find on the web while surfing. J

 

[Donnyj]

The only connector I have on the back of my printer is a USB port and power cable port. The USB cable is hooked directly to my home computer. It sounds like maybe the printer won't print off of the network unless it is a network capable printer?

 

[Donnyj]

When I click on My Network Places it is blank. When I click on View Network Connections it shows a 1394 connection and a Local Area Connection. I believe both of those were added when I switched to DSL a while back. I may be wrong though. Both connections are working fine. No name for either connections. I thought the network connection should have a name. Such as my home name. Just tossing out some things here. Thanks for the replies. Hopefully I can figure this out before I lose all of my hair. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[beagdog]

Be sure that the laptop and the PC are in the same workgroup. Share the printer on the PC, then search for the PC either by name or IP address from the laptop. When you see it you'll see the shared printer, you can then install the printer on the laptop. The PC must be on for the printer to work. Working with Win2K and XP this should be a simple process.

 

[ejtaylor822]

Hey DonnyJ.
Can you see the wireless network from your notebook? If you can great. If you cannot see the wireless network at all, here are some thoughts:

1. Are you using the defaults on the wireless router? (don't answer directly, could get hacked - MAKE SURE the password is changed if nothing else).
2. Do you have another LinkSys router/gateway on you network using the defaults? If so, you have a conflict.
3. Are you connected to a DSL or High-speed connection? May have DHCP enabled on these devices causing conflict.
4. Do you have another DHCP server on your network? If so, you will need to disable one. I made the wireless router a DHCP client on the WAN side and a master on the LAN side.
5. Is the firewall enabled?
6. Using MAC address filtering?
7. What security mode are you using?
8. What mode are you using? (ad hoc, computer-to-computer, etc.)

Try plugging a network cable into your laptop - or another computer if you have a port and make sure you can see the network. Believe your wrt54g has (4) port hard connections on the back. Doing this will verify that the router is good and the issue is related to the wireless.

If you can see the network from your wireless on the laptop, and you are sure the printer is shared from your computer where the printer is attached you need to add the printer on the laptop. Got to settings->printers->add printers-> and select "add a printer". You will have to add it as a directory on the printer in the form of \\PC name\printer name.

Hope this will help or get you started. Let us know how it goes.

Eddie

 

[TresCrows]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The only connector I have on the back of my printer is a USB port and power cable port. The USB cable is hooked directly to my home computer. It sounds like maybe the printer won't print off of the network unless it is a network capable printer? )</font>

I think if it plugs into the USB port on the computer then your desktop must be on. You will have to then set up some type of print sharing. Have you loaded the printer driver onto the laptop. My printer goes into the router, not the desktop and my desktop can be fully shut down and I can still print to the printer from the laptop. However, we have a second printer which is USB to the computer. This one I have not used but if I look for available printers it shows up on my laptop. I suspect that if I selected it to print it would allow me to do so from the laptop but only if the desktop is up and running. Our new printer uses an ethernet hook up and it is NETWORK CAPABLE. The older printer does not have this feature it seems. At the prices of printers now it might be easiest to buy a newer machine since the things are dirt cheap now and go into your router. J

 

[Volfandt]

On the computer that has the printer connected to it turn on file and printer shareing. You'll also have to turn on file shareing for the C drive also.
On the other computer go to the add a printer app and add a networked computer. In the wizard you should see the networked computer and the printer. You may need the printer driver CD if Windows doesn't have a compatable one.

Remember to add security, such as enableing a security code to access once you've connected and successfully printed.
Good luck
Volfandt

 

[Donnyj]

How do I view the network? I can not seem to find it. Excuse my ignorance, but the networking is all new to me. If it helps, the laptop was used at work with the network they have there. Could this be causing some problems? Do I have to delete the network that is on the laptop? File sharing and print sharing are on in the desktop unit. C drive has not been shared. Do I need to share C drive. Actually my C and D drive are on the same hard drive, just split into 2 drives. Maybe I 'm not looking correctly, but I can't seem to find the network on either computer.