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Netgear wireless range extender file sharing problems
Hi, I have a dell dimension 8250 downstairs in my living room with a 3comm cable modem which is attached to my dell truemobile wireless router which is wired into my desktop ethernet port. The wireless signal does not travel very far, so I bought a Netgear 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Wireless Range Extender Kit. Model # WGXB102. I set everything up very easily and I now get wireless on my laptop in my bedroom upstairs. Before the range extender, I was able to print wirelessly and share files back and fourth between my desktop but I had to be in range of the wireless router. The printer is wired into my desktop downstairs. The network name or SSID of the router is "wireless" and the network name or SSID of the Netgear extender is "NETGEAR". I have a problem printing while using the "NETGEAR" wireless signal, when in my room upstairs away from the router, the only way i can get internet is through this "NETGEAR" wireless extender signal. My problem is when I use this "NETGEAR" signal, I am unable to print wirelessly or share files with my desktop. When I get in range of my router downstairs, and use the routers signal named "wireless" I can print wirelessly and share files. I have called Netgear tech support and asked about having the same SSID name but they said it makes no difference. They told me that the "NETGEAR" signal that I am recieving in my room upstairs is the exact same signal the router is sending so there should not be a problem printing or sharing files. When I am in my room upstairs, I click on my network places and click show workgroup computers. My laptop shows up and my desktop shows up (computer name is Family), but when I click on my desktop computer a message shows up,
"Famiy is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found" The weird thing is that I can print/share files downstairs when I am in range of the router, but when i am upstairs in range of the wireless extender, I am unable to print/share files. So can anybody please help me out, does anybody have any suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
volcano11
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July 25th, 2005 15:00
Just to be sure the different SSIDs are not causing the problem, have you tried changing the SSID on one of the devices so that they are the same?
Steve
volcano11
28K Posts
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July 25th, 2005 20:00
I've never used the range extender, so forgive me if I'm shooting in the dark here. Is there any kind of firewall built into the range extender that would need to be configured to allow file and printer sharing? Can you get internet connectivity from upstairs using the range extender (assuming that you are sharing an internet connection through the router)? Do you have MAC address filtering enabled on the router, and if so, have you entered the MAC address of the range extender in the table of allowed MAC addresses on the router? Are all WEP or WPA encryption settings conformable on the range extender and the router? Can you ping the router's IP address from upstairs when connection through the range extender?
Steve
GSchept180
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July 25th, 2005 20:00
GSchept180
20 Posts
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July 27th, 2005 02:00
volcano11
28K Posts
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July 27th, 2005 03:00
Please explain what you mean by the following:
"Yes I can get internet service through the range extender upstairs, but not through the router itself"
Does the router downstairs connect to the internet? If so, then if you can connect to the internet from upstairs through the range extender, then aren't you also connecting to the internet through the router? Can you connect to the internet through the router downstairs? These are critical questions. If you can connect to the internet through the range extender, then it says that the range extender is working and eliminates some troubleshooting steps.
If you don't know what MAC address filtering is and you haven't set any security options on either the range extender or the router, then I doubt that MAC address filtering is the problem. A MAC address is the physical address of a networking device. All network cards, routers, broadband modems, etc. have a MAC address. MAC address filtering is a security measure wherein you enter the MAC addresses in a table in the router set up of all devices that will be allowed to connect through the router. If a device tries to connect, but its MAC address has not been entered into the table of allowable MAC addresses, then that device is not allowed access.
Steve