Networked PCs can access Internet, but stopped communicating with each other. Why?

Question

Hi,

I have two PCs running Windows XP. They are connected by wireless network using a Netgear router I got from Time Warner Cable as the wireless gateway.

The LAN and Internet worked on both machines until I added AT&T's VoIP telephone adapter to the host machine. The cables are plugged in exactly like AT&T recommended, but now my PCs can't communicate with each other - even though both can still access the Internet over my wireless network.

This is beyond my networking capabilities. Can someone please tell me why my Internet works but my LAN doesn't? And how do I get the PCs to talk to each other again?

Thanks!! :)

Janna

Answer 1

By plugged into host machine, i assume you mean that one of the machines is plugged via ethernet cable into the VoIP box. (and the voip box is plugged into the router)

If that's the case, what could be happening is that the VoiP box is giving one PC an IP address, and the router is giving the other PC a different address. These two ip's could be on a different subnets and that's why they can't see each other.

Technically you shouldn't need to plug a PC into the VoIP box unless you want to log into it and access the settings. It should work on it's own plugged into the router without anything else.

Unplug the ethernet cable from the PC to the voip adaptor and release/renew your PC.

That way both PC's will have the router assigning the addresses.

In the event you need to access the VoiP adaptor with your computer, just temporarily plug the ethernet cable back in to it and again release/renew your ip address.