The vagaries of networking

x509 · 29 Sep 2019

Tranas said:

You are beating a dead horse...SMBv1.
So they give you 2 choices you can theoretically use, neither of which works well.

Microsoft evidently does not want you to have a local network that functions easily and simply. They want you to use their cloud as your network and pay for the 'privilege'.

I have been using Windows networking since Windows 3.1 Windows for Workgroups. And before that DOS with Lantastic.

if there is one area where I think that Windows horribly fails the user, it is home LAN networking.

(If you can afford to have a server with a domain controller and Active Directory, then you don't feel the pain and frustration that the rest of us have.) Many, many times I have had my home LAN stop working for "some reason," so I do a workaround, like type in system names in Explorer, like this:
\\SystemName1\drive-C\file.txt

Then, just as mysteriously, the problem goes away, and not because I did anything to change configs.

Windows networking is like that: difficult to set up, not very robust, etc., etc. Just look at the hundreds of threads in this forum where the OP can't get networking to work right.

I wish I could add some magic fairy dust that would fix everyone's networks, forever, but I can't find the source of that dust.

I'll just say this. Do not use SMB v1.

Sigurd · 30 Sep 2019

I haven't had time to do anything as yet, but guess what? It's working again! I guess I'll have to live with it and fall back on pen drives and walking between rooms when it decides to go on strike. Not a major problem, though a reliable LAN would be nice.

Thanks to all for the help.

PS - Haven't marked it as solved as it seems unsolvable!

snickie · 30 Sep 2019

Sigurd said:

I am not sure if I really expect an answer to this as I am not providing any useful information to help someone do so! Call it a frustration post!

Can anyone explain why I can get the three PC/laptops to talk to each other one day, yet another day one or other has the sulks and hides, and today, none of them can see a network at all. I haven't touched anything - honest!

WiFi works, internet works, individual PCs/laptops work, I work, even the dog does.

It's just this B.....y network that doesn't.

I think I need Harry Potter. Networking is a black art

Hello Sigurd!

You are right! Windows networking on the local network is very flaky. Sometimes it works, other times not. The most curios thing is there are seldom problems reaching other computers on the internet!

Browsing the local network often not seeing other computers using explorer, but if I ping (using command line) my other boxes Windows will eventually also find them with explorer. And also using it's netbios name and not only by ip number.
I have a local network with mixed operating systems; Windows 10, Linux and a mac mini with Mojave.
Since Microsoft deprecated the use of SMBv1 I uninstalled it a long time ago. You don't need it. Networking should work without it!

To get it local networking to work, be sure you have the same user and passwords on all your computers you want to reach. On Windows 10 I find it useful to add my other computers in Control Panel-Credential Manager-Windows Credentials.

Sigurd · 30 Sep 2019

Hi Snickie
As you will have seen from my last post, my network has decided to start working again ..... until it decides to stop again!
Thanks for the comments.