Access single homegroup from LAN AND WLAN

[Mindphreaker]

Hello everyone!

I've searched on this now for several days, but couldn't solve my problem.

What I want:
I want to put all my machines into one single homegroup so they can see each other and share things

My setup:
1 PC, connected to router via ETHERNET
2 Notebooks, connected to router via WIRELESS LAN

Problem:
I created the first homegroup on my PC, let's call it ETHERNET_GROUP. Then I connected to my wireless lan with one of my notebooks and couldn't see the homegroup. So I created another group, let's call it WIRELESS_GROUP. After this I connected with my second notebook via WLAN and was able to join the WIRELESS_GROUP. Now the notebooks are in one homegroup but I'm not able to connect to this group from ethernet or vice versa.

Additional info:
I haven't installed any AV software or firewalls. All systems are fresh setups.

I've found a hint somewhere which says that homegroups are connection bound, is that true? Is there a possibility to create one group for every of my machines??

Any hints appriciated!

Thanks in advance,
Alex

 

[evildave]

Homegroups are realized via ipv6 link-local addressing, which is specific to the interface.

To enable a single homegroup across wired and wireless network, your router would have to be capable of bridging the two interfaces together.

 

[Barman58]

Are we talking about HomeGroup or workgroup - Both should be available to connected machines as long as the criteria are met - but of course the actual criteria may be different.

The workgroup is dependent on the workgroup name and the IP subnet being compatible the method of connection should not preclude connection.

If you can provide more details of the actual Devices/connections (no private data required ) we should be able to provide more help

 

[not so gray matter]

If all of your machines are windows 7 then keep searching for an answer, if not you need to use workgroups.

 

[Mindphreaker]

Wow, what a fast forum.

@Evildave:
Puh, I don't think it is possible for my router to do this. I did this some time ago with a huge router via cli but my little router at home has few options :/

@Barman58 and notsograymatter:
The router is a thomson device. All machines are running Windows 7 64 bit.

If evildave is right, the homegroup system is crap. I mean, which standard router is capable to bridge networks. None of my routers which I got from my internet provider was able to do this.

Any other ideas how this could be fixed? If I use a workgroup, are there any disadvantages?

 

[chev65]

You don't need to bridge networks for Homegroups to work with eithernet and wlan. I'm running Homegroups with wlan and eithernet and I never needed to do any of that. If your router is capible it can do that automatically.

Do not create more than one Homegroup. You will need to leave the extra Homegroup you created.

Use this Homegroup trouble shooting guide to help you fix the problem.
Ultimate Troubleshooting Guide for Windows 7 HomeGroup Connection Issues

 

[Mindphreaker]

Okay, I think I've traced the problem to its root. I even can't ping the notebooks from the PC or vice versa (although they share the same network and subnet mask). If I connect my PC via wlan I'm able to ping each other.

The problem must be this crap router from my ISP. It seems that it really isn't able to bridge the wireless switch with the ethernet switch.

I've hoped that I've misconfiugred something but now I can buy a better router I think... ^^

 

[chev65]

Those older Tompson modem/routers have been known to have problems with Windows 7 in the past.

 

[Mindphreaker]

Hmm, it's not a compatibility problem. It discovered it's a known bug in the Thomson software which causes the bridging problem between wireless and ethernet. Unfortunately there is no firmware upgrade option. >.<

Never the less, thank you all for your support!

 

[CommonTater]

Okay, I think I've traced the problem to its root. I even can't ping the notebooks from the PC or vice versa (although they share the same network and subnet mask). If I connect my PC via wlan I'm able to ping each other.

The problem must be this crap router from my ISP. It seems that it really isn't able to bridge the wireless switch with the ethernet switch.

I've hoped that I've misconfiugred something but now I can buy a better router I think... ^^

Try this as an experiment... no promises.

In your NIC setup dialogs where you see the various connection protocals, uncheck the Internet Protocal TCP/IP v6 ... of course leave the V4 active.

Now put all your machines on one homegroup (limit 11 characters, btw) and restart your system...

The problem may well be that your Router is puking on the IPV6 addressing.

 

[burtie]

I have the same problem with my PC on cable and laptop on wireless...just cannot get the homegroup feature to work

I have given up.

 

[Mindphreaker]

Well, as far as the Thomson router is concerned it is a known bug of the router which exists for 3 years or longer now. They've never released an update or anything. ISP support says that there is an update in production but they don't know the release... saying: they're not even trying to roll out an update... ^^