Windows 10: Networking issues: Two of my Three devices can't see any other device

Ok, I have 3 devices, all running Windows 10 64 bit. Two are older laptops (2 and 4 years old respectively) and one is a Surface Pro 4.
I recently moved into a new place here in Thailand and have decent internet wifi in my apartment. When I set up my computers, all of them can connect to the internet with no problem, but only the Surface Pro 4 can see any other devices on the network. Neither of the laptops can see either the Surface Pro, each other, or any homegroups started by other devices. All of the devices are fully updated.

I have each identifying my network as private and I have discovery and sharing turned on for each device. I’ve also tried rebooting the router (a suggestion on some forum), all with no luck.

Any suggestions are welcome.. pretty frustrating stuff. Please bear in mind that I’m not technical, so rooting around in the registry or other system resources is pretty undesirable.

Thanks

:)

 

Networking: wifi devices can see wired and vice versa

I have a system including one wired PC and two wireless PCs. I also have a NAS connected to the wired network. The wifi devices can see each other, the wired devices can see each other, but wired devices can't see the wifi devices and vice versa. Not
sure where to start to solve the problem (the main issue is I want my wifi devices to see the NAS..

 

WiFi and Ethernet not seeing each other

I have three wired Ethernet devices ( a desktop, and two media servers). I have five Wi-Fi devices: a tablet, a laptop, and three printers) The wired devices can see each other, but cannot see any Wi-Fi devices, including the Home group created by the
laptop). The Wi-Fi devices can see each other, but none of the Ethernet devices. How can I get them talking to each other?

 

Hi – This has really caused me some agro so I list my events so they may be a help to others.
I have 3 old desktops running Win 7 connected to a WiFi LAN through a NETGEAR router/modem and set out to connect 2 laptops running Win 10.
1) One old laptop was running a "freebie" Win 10 which was "Pro" and the second was a new laptop with Win 10 "Home" pre-installed. All 5 had internet access and had all required share and discovery boxes ticked. The old laptop could see and access the HD of the new laptop but on trying the reverse I was asked for "Credentials" and the instruction was to enter the "user name & password" of the old one that the new one was trying to access. This didn't work and no amount of alternatives did any better. I finally discovered that the "User Name" actually had to be the "Computer Name\User Name". So if the Computer was "Robert-PC", the User "Bob" and Password, "password" then the entry is "Robert-PC\Bob" and "password". I don't recall if Robert was preceded by \\ or if Case made a difference but I'm not going back to find out. Possibly it has to be the "Share Name" you set up as in my case this would be "Robert-PC\Bob"
2) Another problem was that when I Installed Win 10 on the old laptop it automatically did the connection to the LAN but unbeknown to me it used the "User & Password" of my Microsoft account and not my LAN "U & P". When I got the new laptop with Win 10 pre-installed I had to do the LAN setup manually and used my local "U & P". So while both had internet access they were on different networks. On the old laptop I used Start>Settings>Network and Internet> and on one of the options it offered, "Connect using Local Network" which I accepted and setup which solved the problem. Sorry I can't recall exactly.
3) A further problem with this mix of 7's and 10's was the network type. With Win 7 you get an option to select the network type, "Home, Work or Public". When I did the old computers in a small office it was logical to select "Work". With Win 10 the options are only, "Private and Public" so I chose "Private". So While I had the 10's talking to each other they couldn't talk to the 7's. Being adventurous and throwing caution to the winds I changed to 7"s to "Home" which evidently is the new "Private" and now they are all talking.
4) One more thing. With my setup I have the NETGEAR Router software on one computer on which I connect to the Router and have to use "Advanced>Setup>LAN setup" to list details of the devices on the LAN. For this you need the "MAC address" and the "Sub-set". With Win 10 do Start>Settings>Network and Internet> Advanced Options and scroll down. IPv4 is the "Mac Address" and Physical Address is the "Sub-set". For some reason my New Laptop showed the last group in the Mac Address as "10" and I entered this in the NETGEAR Setup. It refused to accept this and insisted it was "8". Not being one to argue I did a search to get instructions on changing the Mac Address which I followed to change my Laptop to "8" and finally had the whole rotten thing is working.

 

OP,

Galeola gives some great advise to anyone experiencing connectivity issues. In your case it appears to be not that of connectivity but that of device discovery which is plaguing throngs of users whom have upgraded or installed Win 10. Microsoft has heard the pleas but has yet to release a fix. It is assumed that the next release of Win 10 version update due in March will address the issue.

Apparently the problem is that the current releases of Windows 10 are not using or broadcasting NetBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) or RAP (Route Access Protocol) when searching for locally attached devices. Instead Windows 10 is only broadcasting WSD (Web Services for Devices) which does not accept all return acknowledgments from some devices in which case they do not appear in views of Network or File Explorer.

There are many workarounds posted in this Forums pages and elsewhere on the NET. Some work for some users and not others. Some disable or revert protocols to older versions which can bring new issues as well as lower security levels for the network. All of these suggestions are just workarounds and do not address or fix the real issue. That fix or solution must come from Microsoft itself. If you wish to apply any of these temporary measures make sure that you can undue the changes made so that when a fix does become available you can restore your network to a properly configured order.