Windows 7: Laptop won't connect to HomeGroup over wifi

Hello--

I have a desktop PC running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and a Netgear WPN824 v3 wireless router. I also have a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium x64. The laptop is connected to the Internet via the wifi network, but I can not for the life of me connect it to the HomeGroup, which I created on the desktop. I have read every forum and Internet tutorial on fixing this issue to no avail.

The weird thing is, it was previously working -- until about a month ago, when I had to to a hard reset on the router because it was having issues. I changed the name of the wireless network and updated all my devices to connect to it, and everything is connected, but the laptop just won't see the HomeGroup. The PC, on the other hand, CAN see the laptop, but it can not actually connect to it or see any of its files.



Any suggestions to fix this problem would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hello Mister Clemens, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Since this is only happening over WiFi, double check using step 3 in the tutorial below to make sure that you have Enable Wireless Isolation unchecked in your Netgear router settings. If checked, it blocks wireless connections from seeing any other connection on the router.

Homegroup - Add Computer or Join




Hope this helps,
Shawn

Hi there -- thanks for the reply. I actually don't seem to have that setting in my router setup. Here's a screenshot:

I just searched the router manual and the term "wireless isolation" doesn't appear in it. Is there another term for it?

It could be worded different since it will vary per router model, but I would think that it would be similar since it's a Netgear router as well.

D-Link calls it WLAN Partition, but you might look through each and every setting you have on the router to see if something similar to either one may be listed somewhere.

In case Brink's suggestion doesn't work, you should leave the Homegroup from all machines in your network then create a new one. This will clear out the Homegroup credential cache.

Homegroups tends to be a little spotty through wireless connections but it can usually be made to work.

Create a new Homegroup then try rejoining this new Homegroup from the laptop through a wired connection, after you are joined up go back to using wireless and check to see if you can still access the other Homegroup machines.

This procedure will usually fix Homegroup wireless connection problems.

I couldn't find any settings that seemed to fit the description. I've tried toggling pretty much everything at this point. The router is ~4 years old, so maybe I just need to get a new one. Any other suggestions? This is driving me crazy!

Thanks for the reply.

When I connect the laptop to the wired connection it sees the homegroup immediately, but as soon as I unplug it and it reverts to wifi, the homegroup disappears. Leaving/recreating/re-joining the homegroup doesn't fix the problem. Any other thoughts?

It appears that your Netgear wpn824v3 router doesn't have a "Wireless isolation" feature, so you don't have to worry about that setting anymore.

Do you have the latest 1.0.8_1.0.7 firmware version installed for your router in case that may be part of the issue?

Global Download Center

Updating now (the auto-update feature said there was no upgrade available).

In an act of desperation, I changed the network location to "work" on both computers. Now I can at least print from the laptop (it wouldn't see my wireless printer before), and the computers can see each other, but I still can't transfer files between the two over the wifi. Can this only be done using homegroup?