Ok, the other day the LAN network between my 3 PC's failed. None of the PC's can see each other, nor can I print from the 2 PC's that are not directly connected to the network printer. Strangely, however, the Internet still works from all 3 PC's (I connect through a residential gateway, ex: All 3 PC's connect to router, which connects to DSL modem.) I've tried the network troubleshooter, and also the printing troubleshooter, and nothing seems to work. Any help?

Diagram of home network:

I like your Diagram. What type of router and cable modem? If it is a good type (IE: linksys) you could jump in there, enable Remote Administration on port:8080 and then email me what your internet IP is, i could connect and check settings. That or do a butt load of Print Screens lol

Ok this is what we need to find out, no need to open the connection to a stranger yet.
First:
Check if the router is set for DHCP.
If yes, see what is the IP for the gateway and what is the range for the DHCP IP addresses.
In a schema like this I would prefer Static IP addresses, as there are only 3 PC's involved here.
Check your router, disable the DHCP, get the IP range, the default is 192.168.1.xxx, with 192.168.1.1 being the gateway for the network.
In the status screen of the Router, note down the DNS server addresses(2 addresses)
Get the Default gateway IP address from the status screen as well. This is the routers default gateway and not the networks.

After you have all this information, log on to each PC in the Admin mode, open the Network properties, double click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click the radio button for assigning the IP addresses to the PC, and fill in the IP addresses.
Default scenerio example:
Machine 1: IP address: 192.168.1.101, SubnetMask 255.255.255.0, Default gateway : (What you got from the Status screen for the router)

Then in the DNS Servers 1 & 2, put in the DNS server IP addresses from the Router Status screen.

Once you are done with this, reboot...
On the other 2 machines do the same with IP addresses 192.168.102 and 192.168.1.103 keeping all the other values the same.

For added advantage, you can keep the PC with the printer with the 101 address, that way you can install and direct the printer installations easily in the future.

Reboot all the PC's and see if this works....
If not, then give us some more information on the router and the PC configurations and we can try other things...


919263

Sorry for butting in, but how do you check for DHCP? I'm having a similar problem. I have two desktops hooked to my Linksys router via Ethernet and a desktop and laptop via wireless. At one time I had each of the pc's listed in the shared section, then along came a problem getting on the net and everything went to hell. I want to follow your steps.

On the PC, look at the Network properties, follow the steps I gave above to enter the Static IP address, make sure that the option "Obtain IP Addres automatically" is selected.

On the router front, log on to the router and on the main index page there you will see the DHCP option with ther network gateway, the IP address range and all that fun stuff....
You stated tht you have a linksys router, let me know the model, so that I can give you specific information.....

You stated that something happened to the network... please explain what happened??


919263

Ok, new information. The "router" is actually a switch. How stupid of me. I also believe that the problem started after I got back from vacation, at which time all of the pc's and the modem and switch were powered down. As our ISP does not provide a static IP address, we believe that is the source of the problem.

I also followed your advice, which did not work. I either screwed up somewhere (simplify it a little?), or I need a new course of action.