Unidentified network from 2 PC

So I have windows 7 in 2 PCs, One of them is using USB modem, and the other connect through it using ethernet cable. (Both of them connect the ethernet cable through switch).

The normal way to set this up:
- Install the program of USB modem on PC1.
- Set the Wireless adapter of the modem to be shared (in sharing settings)
- Plug the ethernet cable from PC1 to switch
- Plug the ethernet cable from PC2 to switch
- Done!

And yes it's done. But suddenly after few weeks the network of BOTH PC became "Unidentified Network".

I tried everything, resetting the switch, enable/disable LAN adapter, change the cable and such. I even disconnect the PC2, and just PC1 to switch. It's still unidentified network. In one occasion it became recognized (became Network 2 or 3 or such). I dance in rejoice, only to be bummed again after restart it back into unidentified network.

Help, please?

Hi Darkmot, welcome to sevenforums. From you post it appears that you have not set up a homegroup. Try following the instructions in this tutorial available from these forums:- Homegroup - Create
and see if that helps!

I used to do the same thing for a breif period of time and it worked well, it is similar setup to yours.

Just to confirm that the IP configurations match the following.

- On the computer with the Internet connection(set to shared), set the local area connections gateway to the IP of the wireless connection.

- On the other computer, set the gateway to the local area connection of the computer with the USB.

So the setup would look something like this:

Computer1(Internet) WIFI connection:
IP address:192.168.0.2
DNS:192.168.0.1
Gateway:192.168.0.1

Computer1 LAN connection:
IP address:192.168.0.3
DNS:192.168.0.2
Gateway:192.168.0.2

Computer2 LAN connection:
IP address:192.168.0.4
DNS:192.168.0.3
Gateway:192.168.0.3

Hopefully that makes sense, please let me know if you have any issues.

Thanks. Is there any other possibilities (I'm not in front the PCs in question, tomorrow I'll have access to it) that I can try? Because before, without setting the homegroup, everything worked fine. And suddenly on one day they decided to act up.

Clinkz said:

I used to do the same thing for a breif period of time and it worked well, it is similar setup to yours.

Just to confirm that the IP configurations match the following.

- On the computer with the Internet connection(set to shared), set the local area connections gateway to the IP of the wireless connection.

- On the other computer, set the gateway to the local area connection of the computer with the USB.

So the setup would look something like this:

Computer1(Internet) WIFI connection:
IP address:192.168.0.2
DNS:192.168.0.1
Gateway:192.168.0.1

Computer1 LAN connection:
IP address:192.168.0.3
DNS:192.168.0.2
Gateway:192.168.0.2

Computer2 LAN connection:
IP address:192.168.0.4
DNS:192.168.0.3
Gateway:192.168.0.3

Hopefully that makes sense, please let me know if you have any issues.

I do understand what you meant. Unfortunately the PC1 Wireless connection automatically set its own IP. And cannot be set otherwise. So I have no other choice than to set it for DHCP.

That is ok, all you have to do is find out what that IP address is and set the LAN default gateway of that machine accordingly, you can do this by typing ipconfig /all in command prompt.

wilywombat said:

Hi Darkmot, welcome to sevenforums. From you post it appears that you have not set up a homegroup. Try following the instructions in this tutorial available from these forums:- Homegroup - Create
and see if that helps!

I cannot do that

I don't know how to change it to home, there is no link for the unidentified network
Here's the SS

Clinkz said:

That is ok, all you have to do is find out what that IP address is and set the LAN default gateway of that machine accordingly, you can do this by typing ipconfig /all in command prompt.

And I cannot do that also , since everytime the Wireless connection connect to internet, it will have different IP. I've even tried it (set it to the current wireless IP, even though the IP is very weird) and doesn't work. It's still unidentified network.

Here's the ipconfig after I set it to automatic again:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Credoland02
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

PPP adapter Wireless Terminal:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Wireless Terminal
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.151.228.192(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.17.3.244
10.17.3.252
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR8132 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-EF-22-FD-23-10
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3d6b:6fe5:fa7:9fc8%10(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.159.200(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 242250172
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-81-5E-DA-70-71-BC-7E-E7-F7
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%2
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%2
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{49C77BC2-F915-4719-9B85-4C974E44FE67}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{770F18CC-3FC8-4E75-BE29-EA4CEED489AC}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Reusable Microsoft 6To4 Adapter:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Reusable ISATAP Interface {43526827-380B-456D-A2B3-E287CBD74CDF}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Darkmot, Sometimes you are lucky that the setup you have "works out the box" but then screws up on you. As I see it, the modem which was provided by the ISP is a basic USB modem designed for use at home. Try setting up the system so that the computer with the modem attached connects to the internet correctly then follow the instructions in the tutorial I gave earlier for setting up a homegroup for sharing purposes, then try setting up your second PC to connect to the internet via the first PC.

wilywombat said:

Darkmot, Sometimes you are lucky that the setup you have "works out the box" but then screws up on you. As I see it, the modem which was provided by the ISP is a basic USB modem designed for use at home. Try setting up the system so that the computer with the modem attached connects to the internet correctly then follow the instructions in the tutorial I gave earlier for setting up a homegroup for sharing purposes, then try setting up your second PC to connect to the internet via the first PC.

In the tutorial you've posted, the 2nd step is:

2. Make sure that the computer is set to have a home network location type. You will not be able to create a homegroup from any other network locations.

And as you can see as my previous screenshot, I cannot even do that. The link where it supposed to change the network type is black (unclickable). Thus, cannot be changed.