I have 3 PCs and a PS3 which i have tried several times to connect to each other but I've never even managed to get any of them to show that the others exist. I'm guessing theres something I need to change in my router, but it has lots of options and I don't really know what any of them are. Is there some sort of test I can do to see if networking is possible?

What model is the router? Also what operating systems are the pc's running?

The PCs are all running Windows XP and I'm using this Linksys router. My wireless card is also Linksys.

I've recently been trying to to connect my PS3 to my PC to watch videos on my TV which is surposed to be pretty easy if you have a working network.

The first thing you need is make sure that all PC's are on the same Workgroup.

Click Start > Control Panel > System > On the Computer Name tab - make sure all pc's have the same Workgroup listed. E.g. WORKGROUP - if they are different - click change button and change the workgroup name.

Next you'll need to configure the IP Addresses of the PC's. As you want to watch video's on the PS3 it's easier if you assign static ip's to the pc's to avoid any problems with changing IP's.
To setup the ip addreses please do the following on each PC:
Click Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Highlight the Local Area Connection - select Properties. Scroll through the list until you get to Internet Protocol [TCP/IP] - highlight it and click Properties. Select Use the following IP Address:

Enter the following information into the corresponding fields:
IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mast: 255.255.255.0 (This should autocomplete for you)
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

Preferred DNS Server: 192.168.1.1
Click OK, Click OK.
Repeat above on all PC's but make the ip address of the next PC 192.168.1.3 and the one after that 192.168.1.4 and so on, use the same default gateway and dns entries as above though. You will also need to change the IP address on the PS3 to be 192.168.1.5 for example. Don't worry about the wireless setup yet just use a cable to connect that PC to the router for now. We are just trying to get the network setup and working correctly, then i'll take you through getting the wireless working.

Now check if you can access the internet. If not power off the modem, the router and your PC. Power on the modem wait roughly 30 seconds until it has powered up completely, then switch on the router. Wait until router has completed powering up, then turn on the PC's. Test internet connectivity again.

Now to check if all the pc's can communicate with each other:
On one of the PC's click Start > Run > type: cmd > Click OK
at the prompt type: ping 192.168.1.2 (whatever the ip address is of one of the other pc's)
You will 4 reply from lines if everything is working correctly. Repeat for other PC.

You should now be able to see all pc's from windows explorer. Right Click My Network Places > Click Explore. Click Entire Network > Microsoft Windows Network > then the name of your workgroup. All the pc's should be listed here.

Please post after you have completed the above or if you encounter any problems.

OK cool.

I've managed to get a ping response from my PS3 and my other PC, the other PC also shows up on my network (not the PS3) and I've managed to look at a few files on it remotely.

I also tried to scan for media servers with the PS3, with Media Player and media sharing switched on on my PC. The PS3 is apparently surposed to be able to find this but it hasn't worked for me.

Did you follow the instructions as per this guide?

http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...nnectdlna.html

If so - then try disabling the Windows Firewall on the PC you want to access.

If you are using a different Firewall or have Antivirus installed you will need to add the PS3 to the allowed list.

I tried setting the firewall to allow the PS3s IP, and just turning it off, but it still doesn't work. Also the next day I had to set all the machines IPs back to the way they were because some programs couldn't access the internet.

I think I'll probably give up on it now unless anyone thinks they know what might be wrong.