Can't connect Macbook and Windows 7 in network

[Gil]

Hi.
I have 3 computers.
2 of them have Win7.
The main computer has Edimax wireless router.
The 2nd computer has Edimax wireless USB dongle. They can share internet and files without a problem.

The 3rd computer is a Macbook and this computer can only access the 2nd computer.
The main computer can see the macbook and the macbook can't see the main computer.
As if the main computer with the router blocks it or something... but it is able to connect to the 2nd computer with the dongle.


can someone help me please?

Thanks

 

[osholt]

Go to the Finder.

Click Go in the menu bar.

Connect to Server.

Type in SMB://<IP address or PC name here>

Enter any relevant login passwords when prompted (it can be easier just to disable password protected sharing on the Windows PC).

You're in.

Oli

 

[Gil]

Go to the Finder.

Click Go in the menu bar.

Connect to Server.

Type in SMB://<IP address or PC name here>

Enter any relevant login passwords when prompted (it can be easier just to disable password protected sharing on the Windows PC).

You're in.

Oli

Ok, I got access from the Macbook to my main computer.
However, there's something I don't understand.

Why didn't both computer simply see each other automatically as they should rather then manually configuring it? When I go to Network, I only see my computer (GIL-PC) and (NETUSER-PC) which I have no idea what's that. Shouldn't I see MACBOOK as well, since I'm able to ping it by IP and name and also when I write \\macbook I see the shared folders.

 

[osholt]

Go to the Finder.

Click Go in the menu bar.

Connect to Server.

Type in SMB://<IP address or PC name here>

Enter any relevant login passwords when prompted (it can be easier just to disable password protected sharing on the Windows PC).

You're in.

Oli

Ok, I got access from the Macbook to my main computer.
However, there's something I don't understand.

Why didn't both computer simply see each other automatically as they should rather then manually configuring it? When I go to Network, I only see my computer (GIL-PC) and (NETUSER-PC) which I have no idea what's that. Shouldn't I see MACBOOK as well, since I'm able to ping it by IP and name and also when I write \\macbook I see the shared folders.

This largely depends on if they are in the same workgroup or not and whether UPnP is working properly; is has a rather bad record on WiFi networks and an even worse record when working across platforms for some reason.

If you have any more questions please ask.

Oli

 

[Gil]

all computers are in WORKGROUP workgroup. The WiFi connection is excellent, since we are very close to the router. How can I check if UPnP is working properly on all computers?

 

[osholt]

It's not a matter of it 'working' which I'm sure it's; it's more of a settings issue with UPnP.

To be honest I've used both platforms on various networks and just find it hit and miss most of the time too, although the tutorial at How to access a Mac's files on your PC - File Sharing - Lifehacker usually will do the job for connecting to Macs from PCs and the guide I gave in my previous post works for connecting PCs to Macs.

Oh and you may find that if you plug all your computers in via ethernet to your router they'll all find each other with no problems and no tinkering required.

There is no sure fire solution to this problem as far as I am aware, only the work arounds I mentioned above.

Oli

 

[Gil]

Alright thank you! I'll try some workarounds. I simply wish it could be easy as it should...

 

[osholt]

Alright thank you! I'll try some workarounds. I simply wish it could be easy as it should...

Cross platform networking is just one of those things which never seams to work properly.

The other big thing is 64bit backward compatibility (which I've been finding out about this week... eugh ), but it's just one of those things you've got to live with.

Oli