Internet access NOT needed...but LAN has challenges

[Citizen K]

 
Our company recently purchased a  wireless broadband router, the EDIMAX 3G-6200n for use in our farm office premises. i would first like to point out that we only need it for networking our office computers, not for Internet access. Each of our computers has it's own separate Internet access modem. our location is somewhat beyond the reach of most mobile Internet Providers, so we have only 2 choices of which internet to access. Due of the remoteness of our location, the connections are also weak and tenuous at times, so it would make no sense to hook the modem (which works on CDMA) to the router as a central access point for all the PCs.
The number of computers on the network is actually 3 desktops, 2 of which use Win7 and one that uses XP. Sometimes we also have 2 laptops in the office used by our boss who shuttles from our main office to the farm.
As the Admin and IT Manager, I was asked to hook the router to my PC (Win7). The Farm Manager (who is my immediate Boss) uses the other Win7 PC located in the inner office. We purchased and installed a wireless networking card for that computer. When I first installed the Router, his PC was immediately able to see and discern the router as "ESSID" and gave me an option to connect. I could see my PC on his network in the "Control Panel". Initially, I could also see his and even print through his PC on his laser printer - wireless. However, I cannot see the XP on the network, which is physically located on the same desk as mine. I have connected that one to the router via networking cable. The XP PC tells me the LAN is connected, however, when I ping the XP, it never reaches it (same vice versa). There is a printer connected to the XP which I want to access through the router as well as many files which I do not have on my PC.
1. Is it merely a matter of upgrading the XP to 7? can it work if I do not upgrade?
2. Why is it that I cannot see my own PC on the network on my own PC?
3. How do I avoid the Internet option on the Wizard provided since i do not need it, and how do I avoid the computer asking me to connect to the VPN when it is already connected?
Hope you can help me out.
Thanks.

[wyatt]

Let's try to address the main issue - the windows XP machine not being able to access the LAN.

You should not have to upgrade XP to Win 7 in order to make this work. Win 7 has much better plan-n-play options for networking than XP, but they can both do the same stuff.

When you say that the XP PC cannot ping the Win 7 PC - it makes me wonder what the addressing is among the various PCs. As all of these are on the same network, they should share the same IP subnet. When you added a router into the mix, it will have its own IP address as it is expecting to share the internet that it sounds like you'll not be wanting here.

According to the manual for your router, the router's subnet is as follows:

Code: [Select]

Subnet:           192.168.2.x
Mask:             255.255.255.0
Router's IP:     192.168.2.1

If you go onto one of your Windows 7 PCs, you should see something like this in the output of "ipconfig /all" in a command prompt:

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C:\Windows\System32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : <COMPUTER NAME>
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : <DNS NAME IF CONFIG'D>

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 5:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579V Gigabit Network Connectio
n - VLAN : Untagged VLAN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : AA-BB-CC-DD-EE-FF
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::28b9:30e4:effc:6c9b%38(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.3(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Verify the IP address and ensure the PC is in the subnet we think it is.

Now lets do this:

1. Verify the WinXP machine is plugged into the port 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 on the router
2. Run IPCONFIG in the Command Prompt and see what IP address the PC has - verify:
   a) it is in the same subnet (192.168.2.x)
   b) it has the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0)
   c) it has a default gateway of the router (192.168.2.1)
   d) verify DHCP enabled is YES
3. If this all checks out, make sure the XP machine can ping itself
       "ping 192.168.2.xxx"  where xxx is the IP from the ipconfig output
4. See if the XP machine can ping the router
       "ping 192.168.2.1"


If anything fails... Try to setup a static IP on the XP machine

1. My Computer
2. My Network Places
3. View Network Connections
4. Right-Click NIC (Local Area Connection)
5. Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
6. Click Properties

NOTE:  This section should currently all be setup to "Obtain automatically"

7. Tell it to use the following IP address
     a) IP Address... Same subnet (192.168.2.x) with the last octet being a number from 1 > 254 that doesn't conflict with anything
     b) Subnet Mask (255.255.255.0)
     c) Default Gateway (Router's IP - 192.168.2.1)

8. Tell to use the following DNS Servers
     Router's IP address again 192.168.2.1

9. Try a different port on the router.

10. Try a different physical cable.

11. Try to do a "repair" on the Local Area Connection" in My Network Places" > Network Connections

Note: All of these options in 7 & 8 should match the Win 7 Machine except the last octet in the ip address

Repeat the ping test.

If you still can't get anywhere. Post the output of "arp -a" from the XP machine AND the Win 7 machine.