Problem with Homegroup

[ownedandout]

Hi,
Ive recently just installed windows 7 on both our computers and we are using a linksys wrt54g router. I created an homegroup on computer A but then when I go to the homegroup section on computer B instead of asking me to join the already existing homegroup it asks me to create one and says thier is no homegroup on the network.

At one stage when i left a homegroup on computer B it recognised it and asked me to join. I entered the password and for about 5 minuets I could access the other computer, but then it just said that no other computers were available even when they were both on?

Any help would be appracated.

Thanks.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,
Ive recently just installed windows 7 on both our computers and we are using a linksys wrt54g router. I created an homegroup on computer A but then when I go to the homegroup section on computer B instead of asking me to join the already existing homegroup it asks me to create one and says thier is no homegroup on the network.

At one stage when i left a homegroup on computer B it recognised it and asked me to join. I entered the password and for about 5 minuets I could access the other computer, but then it just said that no other computers were available even when they were both on?

Any help would be appracated.

Thanks.

there is a really easy way to fix that. Use workgroup model instead oh homegroup. Homegroup has been shown to cause connectivity problems on some system.


Ken J+

 

[ownedandout]

Thanks for reply.
When you say work group model do you mean change my network from 'home network' to 'work network', because home groups are only allowed when it is set to 'home network'.

Thanks.

 

[zigzag3143]

Thanks for reply.
When you say work group model do you mean change my network from 'home network' to 'work network', because home groups are only allowed when it is set to 'home network'.

Thanks.

Hi

homegroup is just a name. you can use either. Is there a specific reason you need homegroup?

home group is for win 7 machines only uses IPv6 and is sometimes prob;ematic

Workgroup can be all win 7 or mixed. It uses IPv4 and is not probelmatic

to use workroup model create a new network using the workgroup model.

then when its up and running cou can disable IPv6 and kill homegroup


Ken J+

 

[chev65]

There are firmware updates available for your WRT54G that may fix the problem depending on the version you have. Some versions have updates while other do not. If you can find the version number I can tell you if you can update the firmware or not.

I have already been there and done that many times with the WRT54G, the version number will determine if there will be Windows 7 support or not. I have fixed a few by updating the firmware but if the version number isn't supported it will not work with Windows 7.

Disabling Ipv6 or killing Homegroup is nothing more than a work around for using incompatible hardware. Homegroup works perfectly for me and many others.

 

[ownedandout]

Thanks for the replies.
chev65, I actually just updated my firmware from the official site to version 1.02.7.

zigzag3143, Ive just realised what you mean by workgroup. When I open win explorer and click network both the computers show up, when I try to connect to the other PC it asks for a user name and password, what are these?

My other question is their any way to get homegroup working? Its not as if its finding the other computers and not letting me view the files, it just not finding the existing group. When I go on the network map and hover over both computers it gives each computer an IPv6, but when I hover over the gateway it just says IPv4, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

As you can tell I'm new to sharing.

Thanks.

 

[chev65]

That doesn't mean much unless your version is fully supported. I can't help without the version number though unfortunately.


The reason you see Ipv4 is because that is going to the WAN and is showing you are connected. IPv6 runs on the LAN only.

You can always try to leave the Homegroup from the first machine and start a new Homegroup on the other and try to join from there.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43980-homegroup-leave.html?filter
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43972-homegroup-add-computer-join.html?filter

 

[ownedandout]

ah ok.

I've tried that many times and all that happens is I end up creating two homegroup's on the same network.

Each computer cant find the existing homegroup.

 

[chev65]

I have a list for the WRT54G's there are many many versions of that same router like I said before, some work with Win 7 while others will not. Linksys does not make this easy at all by having so many versions of the same router. In order to figure out if the router is the problem I need to know the version number is all. There are only two versions of the WRT54G that will work, the 54GS2 and the 54G2 version 1.5

 

[ownedandout]

its version 5.

When downloading the new firmware of the website it asked which version i had

 

[chev65]

Unfortunately the version 5 has no support. I just went through this with someone else the other day who had the version 5. The release notes for the recent firmware update would show Windows 7 support if it had it.

 

[ownedandout]

ok, guess I wont be using homegroup.

the only thing puzzling me is why it worked for 5 minuets and then stopped, surely it either works fully or not at all?

 

[chev65]

Yes that firmware supports both the version 5 and 6 but it won't work with Windows 7. I have already been here a few times with the WRT54G, only two versions have Windows 7 support.

 

[ownedandout]

So my WRT54G v5 allows me to do everything else with windows 7, except homegroups?

 

[chev65]

Well the call is yours but many people have been here with that same router and similar complaints. Homegroup networking needs IPv6 to function correctly. They changed the network stack with Windows 7 so it's causing endless problems with IPv6 and older hardware. And believe me, I don't like having to purchase something unless I know for sure that I need it so I feel your pain.

 

[ownedandout]

I think we've got our wires crossed.

I'm currently using the WRT54G v5.

 

[chev65]

Yep I'am well aware and that version isn't supported. I just helped a guy the other day with the same router and version, there was no way it would work until he replaced it with a compatible model. IPv6 is referring to the new network standard currently being used on the LAN by Windows 7 for Homegroup networking.

Here is the list, this list shows which ones are supported. It looks like to me that only the newer versions are getting support. Part of it is upgradablity, the other is that they want you to purchase new hardware instead of supporting the old stuff.
Routers
- WRT54G2 v1.5
- WRT120N v1
- WRT160N v3
- WRT310N v1
- WRT310N v2
- WRT320N v1
- WRT400N v1
- WRT610N v2
- WRT160NL
- WRT54GS2

 

[ownedandout]

I do have a spare router, but I think its even worse.
Its a netgear WGR614 (version 9 I think). Would that be compatible?

 

[chev65]

Hmm let me check. Ok there is support for that one right on the Win 7 compatibilty page so it should work, not sure if it might need a firmware update or not though.

Ok it says no action required so it should work right out of the box. It's worth a try I'd say.

See here compatiblity page for your Netgear router> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=Netgear%20802.11g%2054Mbps%20Wireless%20Router&v=Netgear&uid=WGR614&pf=0&pi=3&s=netgear%20WGR614&os=32-bit

 

[ownedandout]

Ill give it ago.

Thanks for your time, much appreciated.