Windows 7 Wireless/Wired computer network issue & OneNote sync corruption :(

[Dayanim]

Hi guys,
Id be so thankful if anyone can help me with this issue because I am stumped. From my ISP I have a Netgear DG834GUv5 DSL Wifi router connecting:

My desktop (wired) Win7 32
My lappy (wireless) Win7 64
My housemates 2 mac lappys (wireless)

My laptop and desktop are connected via Homegroup (even that plays up and cant get normal networked shared folders even that stable)

No probs for my housemates, all computers have no trouble getting on the internet. I have serious issues with networking my computers together. Shared Files and especially OneNote sync which is my greatest need for it. Connection wireless to wired seems to drop in and out (mostly out, about 25% on). For example rarely i can sync wireless to wired, usually i need to go to our router and plug my lappy into a wired connection to sync OneNote (When wired->wired connection, OneNote is able to sync 100% of the time)

OneNote:
Lappy connects to network, OneNote Sync says not connected until for a short period its connected
OneNote sections are often getting corrupted requiring me to go and manually go through them/fix them

Shared Folders:
permissions issues (any useful links for learning how to get this setup easily?)
often cannot see each other or one computer can see the other but not the other way around.

Investigations:
Win7 network troubleshooters all made no difference
Friend suggested disabling IPv6 which didnt help.

Just tried start -> cmd -> net view
both desktop and laptop came up on the desktop instantly
on the lappy, only the laptop was visible and it took 10 seconds to come to that decision.

Any help would be fantastic, i tried upgrading my routers software but couldnt find the right package for my router on their site (saw a DG834Gv5 but not a DG834GUv5, was worreid it might be the wrong software)

My issues in rank of importance:
1. OneNote section/notebook corruption Im so scared of losing stuff (i do backup v. often but its a pain/short term work loss etc)
2. OneNote not being able to sync via wireless
3. Just being able to use shared folders and transfer files.

Thanks so muhc to anyone with suggestions/help, id really appreciate anything you have!

Cheers!

Day

 

[Dayanim]

woops btw running OneNote 2010!

 

[CommonTater]

Ok, thing is you can't use "Home Network" when you have mixed operating systems on your net. This whole "Home Network" is a win7 contraption and only windows 7 will recognize it.

You need to switch over to "Work Network", enable Username/password sharing and turn off password protected sharing.

From there you create your own shares on a folder by folder basis...

On the MAC machines make sure your friends set up for "Windows Networking".

All machines will need at least one passworded account. You'll have to enter the credentials once and from there it should be remembered.

A little extra fiddling with things and you should be off an going.

 

[Dayanim]

Hey so my housemates (who run macs) have no problems at all with our setup, its only my laptop talking to my desktop which is a problem. When the laptop is plugged into a wired connection the issue goes away mostly (there is still the corruption of OneNote sections)

do you think by setting ournetwork to work network it will be ablet o transfer via wireless and stop corrupting OneNote? I definately dont have the technical understanding to say either way!

thanks very much!!

Day

 

[CommonTater]

I do mostly home theatre setups these days. Generally I network every computer in the house and all the "visiting" laptops into the system, so I get some real dog's breakfast setups going. In my experience "Home Networking" is a complete bust. Even with all Win7 systems I've never seen it settle in and "just work"... In contrast with XP I very seldom got networking calls and when I did it was more likely to be a router problem than XP... Now that I more or less automatically "back grade" Win7 to XP style sharing, I'm starting to have that same experience with the new OS...

Give the "Work Network" setup a try, tinker with the settings a little to get it smoothed out... use it for a while and see what happens.

 

[Dayanim]

ok great ill give it a shot. So changing to work, no problem. turn off password protected sharing is in advanced sharing settings. Where do I enable Username/password sharing?

also using work, will that affect gaming over the net/VPN connections?

also any recommendations for resources to learn about networking? its really the area im completely lacking in!

thanks for your help!

Day

 

[CommonTater]

ok great ill give it a shot. So changing to work, no problem. turn off password protected sharing is in advanced sharing settings. Where do I enable Username/password sharing?

That's in advanced sharing too, last item if I recall.

also using work, will that affect gaming over the net/VPN connections?

It shouldn't.... (Yea, I know, famous last words).

All you're really doing is reconfiguring Win7 to network like XP did... these are protocals understood by almost every machine out there.

also any recommendations for resources to learn about networking? its really the area im completely lacking in!

I've always found that tutorials, even books, that help one person can simply confuse another. My very best suggestion for this is that Google is your friend... There are a good number of tutorials out there, grab a couple of the free ones and see how it goes.

This is as good a place to start as any... Home Networking Bible 2nd Edition : Cisco Networking ebooks download for free books

 

[Dayanim]

under HomeGroup Connections: Use User accounts and passwords to connect to other computers

is that the one?

As a side note, if i have the same user/pass on my desktop & lappy will that allo wthem to network like this? at the moment i always get "not authorised" even though the login is exactly the same.

Third (hehe sorry) is about my housemates. Im not playing with the router at all, and we dont share files so any need for them to change any settings? its really my desktop->laptop talking to each other im trying to get running properly!

Thanks so much for your help! ill check out thatsite now!

Day

 

[CommonTater]

Yes it's the one under "homegroup connections" at the very bottom of the section.

Yes having the same username and password on both machines should allow them to connect seamlessly. You may have to enter it once but from there it should be remembered.

And third If your housemates are not sharing files with you there's nothing for them to change at all. However, you should note that any shares between your two machines will now be visible to them with the XP style sharing.

 

[Dayanim]

Hey so i decided to give it a go for a few days and see how it went. At first it seemed like the answer! It was all connected no problems. But it doesnt seem to be a lasting solution. Like before, sometimes the two are connected (at least now when they are connected folder sharing works easily!) but connection between them is still intermittent

any suggestions for getting consistent connection between the two computers?

right now I cant see the other computer in homegroups, networking and OneNote cannot sync. Both are maintaining normal connection to the internet though! Any thoughts? could it be router related? (my two housemates also having no internet problems if thats of any relevance?)

thanks for your help!

Day

 

[CommonTater]

At this point, because it's obvious you've got something of a complex situation there, my best suggestion is that you find someone locally who can sit down at your computers and set them up properly for you... Is there a "go to guy" in your area?