Ok, I'm pretty sure this has been aked in some sort of way but I still have yet to find an actual answer to how to make this work.

I have two computers, one is connected to the internet through a zyxel router and through it an adsl connection.

The other computer is connected through the same router via wirless connection using an 802.11g WLAN USB Adapter.

Now, the problem is the small fact that however the interent is functioning perfectly between the two computers, and that the second pc CAN connect to the net through the wirless lan, I have been unable to make the two pc's find each other under the same workgroup.

the specs on the two pc's is as follows:

1st pc: Winxp P4 1.8ghz connected to a zyxel prestige 660hw61 router and an adsl connection.

2nd pc: win98se P2 233mhz connected to an 802.11g WLAN USB 2.0 adapter.

If anyone could give me a hand it'd be great and please try not to just refer me to another place, I know its tough but I'd really appriciate a straightforward answer.

With thanks and regards,
Mori.
P.S.
I have found out that both pc use the 192.168.1.1 gateway, and that the first pc uses an ip of 192.168.1.33 and the second 192.168.1.34 and yet neither of them can "find" each other under the command "ping", only the router and themselves.

Can they ping each other by IP address?

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraqi insurgency."

How about the subnet mask on each PC? They are probably both set as 255.255.255.0, but it's worth a look just to make sure.

Also, what about a firewall? If you are running XP SP2 on the one PC, it will have an active firewall by default. You will either have to disable it or configure it to allow it to find the other PC.

Subnet mask? How would that interfere with the connection between the two?

Also, as I said, Neither of them can ping each other, however, the wirless pc IS connected to the internet through the first computer, so it's strange they cannot find each other.

And I have allowed the firewall to "find" the other pc but that didn't help either.

How did you ping them though? By computer name or IP address? This is very important because if you're doing it by computer name, and it's not working, this could be a name resolution problem, yet basic connectivity is working.

Secondly, you should disable Windows Firewall altogether while troubleshooting this. Your router will block all unsolicited connection attempts while you're fixing this. Just be sure to enable it again once this is resolved.

Subnet mask not set right could interfere with this, depending on how it's set wrong. For example, should the subnet mask be set on both to 255.255.255.254, when attempting to communicate with each other, both would send traffic to your router, which obviously wouldn't work correctly. However, I doubt that's the issue since I'm guessing these computers are being configured via DHCP. Worth checking though, I suppose.

"Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and G. Gordon Liddy don't like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man."

Well, firewall's completly shutdown on this pc (xp sp2), and the other computer is using dhcp as you mentioned via 192.168.1.1 (the router's ip).

I have tried pinging both with these commands:
"ping 192.168.1.34"(otherpc)
&
"ping shiri"(comp name)

and neither of them worked.

I am totaly at a loss as to how the other pc can use the internet connection to surf the web, and yet not "find" the computer it uses to connect to. Perhaps it believes it is connected directly to the router and simply "ignores" the presence of its host computer?

"Well, firewall's completly shutdown on this pc (xp sp2), and the other computer is using dhcp as you mentioned via 192.168.1.1 (the router's ip)."

Is the firewall shut down on both PC's?

Are both configured via DHCP?

Process of elimination here. Possibilities of why this is happening:

1. Something is blocking ICMP traffic on the machine that is doing the pinging to the target of the ping.

2. Something is blocking ICMP traffic in route to the target of the ping.

3. Something is blocking ICMP traffic on the target of the ping.

4. Something is blocking ALL traffic between the two computers.

Shutting down any software firewalls on both machines helps to rule out 1 and 3, but still not entirely. I would also run the Network Config Wizard on both computers. You should select your computer connects to a residential gateway.

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

Ok, I have disabled the firewall and enabled icmp traffic on the XP-sp2 machine, and on the other pc (win98se) there is no firewall 3rd-side program or built-in firewalls. As to icmp traffic on that machine, it doesn't seem to even "know" what icmp is. (tried looking for it anywhere inside the control panel).

And yet, still not working. They can not ping each other, yet they can still share the internet connection.

I really have no idea what seems to be the problem.

And yes, both use DHCP for WINS configuration.

You're not using WINS. You're using NetBIOS broadcasting for name resolution on your LAN.

If you've done all this, and pings don't go through using IP addresses, it's safe to assume at that point no traffic is flowing between the two computers, and it's not anything firewall related.

This leaves two possibilities.

1. Misconfig of networking options.

Run ipconfig on the XP machine, and winipcfg on the 98 machine. Post back ip addresses, subnet masks, default gateways of each.

2. The router itself isn't allowing traffic between the two computers.

To troubleshoot this, run a cat5 crossover cable between the two computers, and try pinging each other. If they can ping each other, it's gotta be the router.

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraqi insurgency."

Your router might be blocking icmp packets if there's a build in firewall..
also, try to run a "create home network" wizard on both computers with the same parameters.

Ok, here are the IP-specs on the pc's:

XP-sp2 "ipconfig":
CONNECTION SPECIFIC DNS SUFFIX: (not shown)
IP ADDRESS: 192.168.1.33
SUBNET MASK: 255.255.255.0
DEFAULT GATEWAY: 192.168.1.1

Win98 "winipcfg":
.....

ok...
um... i'll stop right here where I was about to run the ip check on my sisters' pc in order to report that, for some unknown reason, for which i have absolutly no explenation, it works. It just, appeared. I turned on my sis's pc, and there it showed up in network neighbourhood, my pc. I don't know and have absolutly no explenation as to how it happend, but it just did.

freaky. anyway, thank you all so very much for assisting me, i probably somehow fixed it and didn't realise till I gave up trying. :-\ thanks alot again!!

I'm really sorry to have troubled you with this but it works now, so thanks again for the last time and i'll be sure to come back with any other problems.!

Thanks again!
Mori