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If the Vista pc's are getting an IP address from the router.

If they are working fine now - you should be able to set static ip addresses and they should be able to see each other and access the internet. You need to set the network as private though and make sure you have file sharing enabled.

Also in the Network and Sharing Center select Manage Wireless Networks. Select your wireless network > right click - select Properties.

Select the wireless networks tab > highlight your network - click properties.
Make sure there is no tick in Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network. Click OK.

Then click advanced > make sure Access point (infrastructure) networks only is selected and that there is no tick in Automatically connect to non-preferred networks.
Click close.

If there are any other networks listed in the preferred network list aside from your own - highlight them and click Remove.

The computers can "sometimes" get IP addresses from the DHCP with broadcast flag enabled. However, more often than not, they will fail to connect. When they DO connect, they will be visible to each other.

They are not visible when i either:
- disable the broadcast flag or make it toggle
- or set static IPs

Can i just clarify with the setting of IPs, i may be doing something stupid:
"IP address" should be the IP for the computer in question (192.168.1.100)
"Subnet mask" should be 255.255.255.0
"Default gateway" should be the IP of the router (192.168.1.1)
"Preferred DNS server" should also be the IP of the router.

Is that all right?

There are no other networks on our computers, so they can't be getting in the way...

EDIT:

This is what happens when i try and ping another vista PC on the network:

C:\Users\Tom>ping 192.168.1.105

Pinging 192.168.1.105 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.100: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.100: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.100: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.100: Destination host unreachable.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.105:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

I thought this might be useful. The settings from my router, with a few obvious ones left out (passwords, etc). Can anyone see any problems?

Network Setup (WAN)

-

Encapsulation: PPPoA
Multiplexing: VC
QoS type: UBR
PCR: /blank
SCR: /blank
autodetect: disable
Virtual circuit: (VPI: 0, VCI: 38)

-

Network Setup (LAN)

-

Local IP Address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP Server: Enable
DHCP Relay Server IP: /blank
Starting IP Address: 192.168.1.100
Maximum Number of DHCP Users: 50
Client Lease Time: 0 (0 means one day)
Static DNS 1: /blank
Static DNS 2: /blank
Static DNS 3: /blank
WINS:/blank

-

DDNS Service: disable

-

ADVANCED ROUTING:

-

NAT: Enable
RIP: Disable
RIP Send Packet Version: RIPV1
RIP Received Packet Version: RIPV1

-

Static Routing

Select Set Number: ///all disabled

-

WIRELESS SETTINGS

-

Wireless Configuration: Manual
Network Mode: Mixed
Network Name (SSID): #network name
Radio Band: Wide (40Mhz channel)
Wide Channel: 9
Standard Channel: 11
SSID Broadcast: Enable

Security Mode: WPA-2 personal
Encryption: TKIP or AES
Pre-Shared Key: #password
Key Renewal: 3600

AP Isolation: Disable
Authentication Type: Auto
Basic Rate: Default
Transmission Rate: Auto
N Transmission Rate: Auto
CTS Protection Mode: Disable


Beacon Interval: 100
DTIM Interval: 1
Fragmentation Threshold: 2346
RTS Threshold: 2346

-

SECURITY

-

SPI Firewall Protection: Enable
Filters
Filter Proxy Filter Cookies
Filter Java Applets Filter ActiveX //ALL UNCHECKED

Block WAN Requests
Block Anonymous Internet Requests: CHECKED

IPSec Passthrough: Enable
PPTP Passthrough: Enable
L2TP Passthrough: Enable

Well, i'm confused. I've fixed the problem, but i've no idea why the fix worked.

I was browsing the linksys forums, and spotted someone who said they had the same problem as me, and fixed it by just changing the wireless channel from the default. I can't see even one reason why that would work, but it did, the computers can now access each other with static IPs set!

Hurrah!

Anyway, useful thing to know if anyone else has the same problem with a WAG180N.

If the mods could mark this resolved, i would appreciate it. Cheers.

...and thank YOU for coming back and taking the time to post up the solution, it's appreciated

[Resolved]

Glad you got it fixed - interference from another wireless network or device can cause that problem, normally they'd show in available wireless networks. Someone must have a wireless network near you that was running on the same channel with SSID broadcast disabled.

Hello again,

The problem has not been as solved as i thought. It seems that every time i change the wireless channel, sharing will work for about 48 hours before breaking again, whereupon i have to change the channel again.

Is there some kind of program where i can scan the airwaves to see where there is a completely empty channel?

Other than that, any ideas?

Can a mod un-mark this as resolved please, cheers