Home Network Troubleshooting Tips

Contributed by seamonkey420 August 12, 2004  
Tagged: Windows networking

This is another of my ongoing recipes. This recipe contains useful ingredients and methods to troubleshoot network problems. We all have them. :-)

Wireless Networks

I run a 802.11G wifi at home and know the pains at times of using wireless. A few tips and general practices:

-ALWAYS secure your wifi using WEP (64 or 128 bit) or some form of security. However, also remember too that the more security/encryption you put on it the more bandwidth the security will consume thus slow down your wifi network. I recommend 128bit to be on the safe side.

-Another good security tip to avoid being wardriven.. turn mac address authentication on in your wireless access point/router. This option allows only the specified MAC address to be allowed on the wireless network (MAC = physical address of the network card/pc card).

-The windows wireless network connection is pretty good. i tried to use third party ones but they were just fluff mostly. In the network setup, be sure to use the exact WEP key you used in your wifi access point/router. If your not concerned about saving power or running a batteries (ie laptop w/pc card), i’d change the power management setting for the network card to be CAM (always on) vs having it power off when there is no network traffic….

-if you have a laptop and your buddy/co-worker has one too, use your infrared ports! They transfer pretty decent speeds these days and are plug and play if you are running windows xp. you can send files back and forth with ease.
Instant File Sharing! No wires. just aligning of ports

LAN/Routers (wired)
-If you have problems connecting to a shared folder on the network and are using a router. Try a good ole reboot on both machines if its possible.

-Also, remember that NTFS shares cannot be viewed on Windows 95/98 computers. A thirdparty program might allow for this, but not without it.

-Also, permission levels on folders can also come into play on shared network folders. By default, Windows XP hides the permission setttings in windows explorer. To turn on these options, open WIndows Explorer, go to Tools > Folder Options > View (tab) and at the very bottom, uncheck “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)”.
Once you do this, you can control and easily modify the permissions, owner or files and folders. BE WARNED! read about how this all works before you do some work.. just in case… Also, deny’s will override allows for permissions always.

-Use a crossover cable if you want to network two pc’s directly to each other

-If you have two routers (like me) and want to use them both on the network, you can use a setup like this to have one act as a switch:
This a diagram (or wanna be one):
I have a cable modem, 4 port router, 4 port router with wifi AP and about 6 pcs in our network

…..CABLE MODEM
…. |
…. | (WAN port )
… R O U T E R 1
……. | | | ……. |
……. | | | ……. | (connected to normal port, like as if its a pc)
……..3 PCs … ROUTER2 w/802.11g AP 3 PCS via WIFI
…………………. |.. |.. |
…………………. |.. |.. |
………………… 3 Other PC s

The key here is to disable the DHCP server on router2 and if it has the option, have it act as a switch/hub. Router1 will still dishout IPs to the 3 PCS connected to Router2. The connection from the Router1 to Router 2 is like the Router1 to PC, just plug the cable into router1’s port, and then plug the other in to the router2’s port (not the WAN, no need)
NOTE: You will want to configure the settings for router2 before you hook it up. once its on the network and all, it can be hard to get to the ip to set it up (at least i had a few problems)

Hope the ills of my network have helped a few out..