Hi there,
We see this problem in all versions of Windows 7-10 quite often. Homegroups can be tricky, especially with all the devices you have hooked up. 4 of the 6 devices are on Wi-Fi, and that can cause a lot of variables to enter into the troubleshooting adventure. I have some Customers with as many as 27 Wi-Fi devices on their home network using Homegroups. This can be quite a challenge to troubleshoot, and I charge $100 per device to sort out Customer Wi-Fi issues. There are many things you can do, but here is a list of the things in order I would suggest you try if you want to fix it yourself and not have to pay an expert Network Engineer to come out to your home and fix (like me!).
1. Apply the
KISS principle (
Keep
It
Stupid
Simple) and remove all your devices from your Wi-Fi router and keep them off. Troubleshooting math will tell you that with 2 devices (your 2 laptops) you only have 2! chances to work on or 2x2=4. With 6 devices that number explodes to 6! or 6x6x6x6x6x6=46,656 chances to make it work. Way too many variables there!
Unplug all your devices; start with your Lenovo if it's the computer you setup Homegroups on first (per your post). Rip out your existing Homegroup setup, and power off the laptop for 15 min., then reboot and enter W10 and reset up your Homegroup on that 1st laptop from scratch again.
Print out or write down the new Homegroup password so you can connect your other devices to the Lenovo laptop homegroup one at a time.
2. Next, connect your Acer laptop, the 2nd Wi-Fi device to your Wi-Fi network. Go into Homegroup settings and rip out whatever Homegroup is there. Tell W10 you want to join a new Homegroup, it should ask for the new password from #1 above you just setup on the Lenovo laptop. You should now have 2 laptops (Wi-Fi devices) connected to W10 Homegroups with your Lenovo laptop as your Master device for Homegroups.
3. Test all your settings and folder shares to make sure they are working properly. If your shared folders and printers are all gone, you'll have to set them all up again between those 2 laptops. Hopefully, you read this post before jumping in and trying to fix it, as you should have all of that documented somewhere on one of your laptops or on paper hardcopy. If not, you're going to lose stuff such as shares and network drives for example! If everything is now working between the 2 laptops properly and you've setup all your shares again (NOT THE PRINTER YET!), you're well on the way to getting it all fixed!
4. Let's assume that you've been successful up to and including #3 above. From here, it's quite simple really, add 1 more Wi-Fi device such as one of your 3 tablets. Repeat the Homegroup removal process on the 1st table, rip it out, and add the tablet into the newly created Homegroup as above. Check and re-enter your shares between the 2 laptops and test. If all is Ok, continue repeating the process 1 tablet at a time. Do not add the
SMART TV or FIRESTICK or PRINTER YET!!); these get added at the end. Most people are not aware of this, but it's not too big a secret, but Microsoft networking (and all other networking LAN protocols) treat peripherals such as wireless printers, firesticks, SmartTVs, etc. as peripherals, and therefore they are second-class citizens on your LAN compared to primary devices such as Desktop PCs, Laptops, Tablets, etc. Therefore, adding any of these devices out of order can scramble your entire Homegroup network as is most likely what you did when building your existing setup!
5. Uninstall your printer from both Laptops, and reinstall the printer in order using their disc or install program you downloaded from the manufacturer's website (making sure the new driver is for W10 for both laptops). Start with the Lenovo laptop first, (obvious), as it's the Homegroup Master computer. Once your printer is working from the Lenovo and enrolled into the Homegroup network, you can repeat the process on the 2nd laptop, the Acer.
6. Now proceed to each of the 3 tablet computers, and repeat the above process, getting this tablet working with your printer, repeat on the 2nd tablet, etc. Once that's done on all 3 tablets, proceed to #7.
7. Now that all the laptops, and tablets are working with their shares and printers in all directions (you'll need to carefully check this is true), you can proceed to adding the last 2 devices, which are hardwired (SmartTV & Firestick). I recommend you get the SmartTV working on your Wi-Fi network first, enroll it into your Homegoup network and test. If Ok, proceed to installing the Firestick, and get that working on the Homegroup network, and then checking your TV capability to get channels and so on. After that all works, test your Firestick is properly capable of streaming your services to your SmartTV such a Amazon, GooglePlay, Netflix, Hulu, etc. If all this works, you've got your Entertainment peripherals properly working and enrolled into your new Homegroup network where your computers (laptops & tablets) all live and you are good to go!
Of course, there are like 6 million things that could trip you up on any of these steps, and you have a better chance of winning the State Lottery than getting this all working without any issues!
However, following this steps should produce a fix about 75% of the time if you follow my recommendations. And you can save hundreds of dollars or more to have an expert like me come out and fix it.
Oh, and don't expect to get this fixed in like 10 min. or anything.
Typically, a network of this size takes me 1-3 weeks to fix with many multiple onsite visits to the Customer's home. You should be aware of this fact. So, patience is key here if you intend to do this yourself.
On the downside, here are some things that you might have to do if you still encounter problems:
1. One or more of your devices might be infected with viruses/malware and causing your Homegroup network to fail to work correctly. Scan/remove all found viruses from all 5 devices (the 2 laptops & 3 tablets). You won't be able to scan your SmartTV or Firestick. Next, visit
malwarebytes.org and download the free antispyware program, and scan/remove all found spyware viruses. Retest your network.
2. You may have
Windows registry corruption on either or both laptops, causing windows networking files, specifically the files associated with Homegroups not to operate correctly. You can google the 3 windows repairs utilities, CHKDSK, SFC, and DISM and run these repairs on each of your 5 devices (2 laptops & 3 tablets). You can search here within the WF forum using our handy search tool, simply enter my username,
BIGBEARJEDI, or
KEMICAL, who is one of our Admins. We've both posted the necessary procedures here on the forum many many times. Repair as necessary.
3. Finally, you may have a combination of 1 or both of these two items on your various 5 devices. It could take some time to fix. Don't be surprised if you have to perform Windows resets or factory reinstallation from media or partition on one or even all of these devices. If you get to this step, and you say to yourself, this guy is out of his mind if he expects me to reinstall W10 on all 5 computers! Unfortunately, this is what separates the men from the boys in advanced networking troubleshooting, which is exactly what this exercise is going to be if you get this far. I've had Customers fire me for just suggesting this, accusing me of running up their bill, etc. etc. However, I must tell you, that a couple of those Customers hired me back after going through 5 or 6 other computer techs who had no idea what they were doing, or who have never fixed a complex Wi-Fi and wired LAN network with Homegroups such as you have. This step is really the step of last resort, and only a small handful of people will ever actually do this! Keep in mind that whatever you do, before you do begin resetting all 5 of your W10 devices, please,
PLEASE MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU BACKUP ALL YOUR PERSONAL DATA--YOUR LIBRARY FOLDERS--TO EXTERNAL MEDIA IN ORDER TO AVOID IRRETRIEVABLE DATA LOSS FIRST!!!
4. If you can't do a W10 reinstall on either of your laptops, and they were upgraded from an ealier version of windows such as W7/W8x, it's rather likely you suffered a partial or total failure of the hard drive or RAM stick(s) on either or both of those devices. If you wish to fix that particular problem, and don't want to pay a repair shop to do for you, take a look at my excellent and free
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE available here:
Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar
If you get errors on your hard drives or RAM sticks, they have failed and must be replaced before reattempting W10 OS resets or reinstall, otherwise the problem will simply continue.
Just remember that no Software on the planet can repair Broken Hardware!!!
Please don't freak out when you read this if you think I just wrote this post for you. I see about 2-3 of these same problems every month, so I'm writing this for you, but also for all the other people with Wi-Fi networking problems with or without Homegroups involved; as the troubleshooting methodologies I am presenting here are tried and true.
I have been using them for 37 years now, and they produce really good results; about 99% of the time.
I hope it provides some insight to you.
Best of luck going forward, and if you get stuck don't forget to post back any questions you have along the way; we are here 24x7x365!
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>> 
And best of luck with your surgery. Hope you have a speedy recovery and we'll chat when you get better.
