Hi,

I have a desktop running Vista Home Premium x64 and a laptop running Vista Business x64.

- Both machines are part of the same workgroup
- Both machines connect wirelessly to my D-Link DI-624 router (the laptop connects using a built-in Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 card, the desktop connects using a D-Link WDA-2320 desktop adapter)
- Both machines have working internet access
- Both machines have Network Discovery and File Sharing turned on
- Both machines are running AVG Free anti-virus software
- Both machines have the Vista Firewall turned on (I tried turning it off on both machines but it made no difference).

For some reason, I can't get the two machines to share files. I believe the problem is with the desktop machine. Here are my observations so far...

- The desktop can reliably see the laptop under Network
- The laptop can only see the desktop under Network approximately 30% of the time
- The desktop can reliably ping the laptop
- The laptop can ping the desktop maybe 30% of the time
- If I try to access one of the laptop's shared folders from the desktop, I can do so successfully maybe 30% of the time.
- I've only been able to successfully access the desktop's shared folders from the laptop once.
- The results posted above are marginally improved if I use an IP address instead of the computer's name.
- Whenever I'm unable to access a folder, it's always for the same reason. I get the "0x80070035 network path not found" error message.

I tried disabling the desktop's wireless network adapter and plugging the desktop into the router via ethernet, and all of my problems go away. The desktop and laptop see each other and are able to share files without any problems.



The thing is... my desktop is nowhere near the router, and I have run a 75ft. ethernet cable down the hall and into my roommate's room... so it's not a good solution. Does anyone know why I'm not able to network the two machines wirelessly?

Thanks.

Ok... I think I solved the problem.

I had enabled a feature on my router that discards WAN pings (as a security precaution), and I guess this was preventing the two machines from reliably pinging and seeing one another.

After disabling this feature in the router's admin page, I've been able to network the two machines wirelessly without any issues.

I take that back... I continued to have issues UNTIL I started to use each machine's local IP address (as opposed to its network name). So try using the local IP address, and add a shortcut to your desktop or quick launch bar so you don't have to type it in each time. Clicking on the machine's network name in Network doesn't seem to work reliably.

Hope this helps someone else!

Did a little more research about discarding pings. My understanding was that the router would differentiate between pings coming from local IPs and pings coming from external IPs. Here is the description that accompanies the feature from the router admin page...

"When you "Block WAN Ping", you are causing the public WAN IP address on the DI-624 to not respond to ping commands. Pinging public WAN IP addresses is a common method used by hackers to test whether your WAN IP address is valid."

So, in theory, disabling or enabling the "Block WAN Ping" feature should make no difference insofar as wireless local networking is concerned. And yet, it seems to fix my problem. I'm completely confused...!

I did a google search to see if anyone else might have had to turn off the discard ping feature in order to fix their wireless networking problems, but I found absolutely nothing. It seems no one has had this issue because their router was discarding pings. You'd think I'd find a few other cases....?

All I can say is... it fixed my problem. But now I'd like to know if the solution makes sense. Can someone with networking experience tell me whether something like the "Block WAN Ping" feature on my wireless router could interfere with wireless file sharing??