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Gretta0214's avatar
Gretta0214
Copper Contributor
Dec 09, 2021

Microsoft Windows 10 Home Networking

Merry Xmas All,

   New to this forum and joined because having an issue with attempting to setup a home network between 2 computers in my home.  I'm retired and spend a few hours a day on the computer in my shop using Adobe Lightroom/PhotoShop. Anyway, getting down to the problem, wanting to network 2 Windows10 computers via WiFi for file and print sharing.  I have print sharing already because my Epson printer is WiFi enabled but want to be able to copy files from my computer to my wife's computer.  She's the painter and I'm the photographer.  I take landscapes, city scenes, etc., then want to copy to a folder on her computer via network instead of carrying a zip drive back and forth.

    I thought this would be easy.  I've followed directions I've read online.  In network status I have the network connection setup with my WiFi network name and connected on both computers.  In Network & Sharing Center  I've setup a public then changed it to Private network named the WiFi network name, both computers see this WiFi network. In Advanced Sharing Settings turned on network discovery, checked Turn on automatic setup network connected devices and Turned on File and Printer Sharing.  Guest or Public is setup the same and under All Networks, Use 128-bit encryption, etc and Turned on password protected sharing.  So, I think that's all that's needed for a home network.

   But, if I go to File Explorer, I can't see the other computer and also, if I drill down for files let say:  C:\Users\NCDGK\Pictures\Camera Downloads\Biltmore\2016-04-19 and highlight 4-5 *.jpg files and go above and click the Share tab, on choices in top left corner are Email and Zip and that's it.  Also, under Network I just see my computer's name and not the wife's. If I right-click a file and click Properties -> Security I don't see my wife's computer and the wife's computer users.

   I assume from reading that this should be possible to share files and network via WiFi without running an Ethernet cable from the shop computer (about 60 feet) to the router in the house and run a short Ethernet cable from the wife's computer to the router.  Shouldn't I be able to do this via WiFi?

   Under Settings -> Network & Internet -> Status I see my private network.  Going into Status, Network profile I set to Private and Random hardware addresses, set to Change Daily.  Below is my network properties:

SSID: Ridl
Protocol: Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)
Security type: WPA2-Personal
Network band: 2.4 GHz
Network channel: 8
Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 72/72 (Mbps)
Link-local IPv6 address: fe80::4076:f5e:da88:83e0%6
IPv6 DNS servers: 2620:fe::254
2620:fe::fe:254
IPv4 address: 192.168.1.8
IPv4 DNS servers: 149.112.112.254
149.112.149.254
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Description: Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
Driver version: 19.51.37.2
Physical address (MAC): 76-F9-AD-0E-FC-FE

 

Is there anywhere else to set things up.  I can't share files at all which is the whole purpose and the 2 computers can't see each other unless I wave at the wife thru the shop window which makes her feel a bit better!

Thanks and advise,

Donald

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