Weird Networking quirk

[tk421]

got a simple 2 computer network... ip's assigned by a cable modem, modem and 2 computers attached to a hub.

both running xp, and zone alarm pro 3.0. setups are identical.

computer 1 can access computer 2, but computer 2 cannot access computer 1.

when i try to ping computer 1 from computer2 by computer name, it is trying to ping the wrong ip address.

is there a problem with the modem (which is acting as the gateway), or is there a wins table somewhere giving the wrong information, or what?

[myramp]

set ip address on both computers, EX.
comp1 192.168.1.30
comp2 192.168.1.31

[Ahcoraj]

Most cable modems only allow 1 IP address you then have to share that connection with others on your network. Some ISP's do allow you to purchase extra IPs, if yours is one of them, call your tech support and explain your problem. If not,i recommend you get a second NIC for one of the machines, put the cable modem into it then use the free NIC to connect to the hub. You will still need some sort of internet connection sharing but win982e or newer has that built in. Pleas post again if you require further instruction....

[tk421]

i think i had posted this problem when it first started happening, several months ago. i had some time this weekend so i started working on it again, and found that i could get one computer to see each other, but not the other. that's when i posted.

since then, here's what i found:

i am using zonealarm on both computers, so i figured that was a hot suspect. but after a lot of troubleshooting, i decided zonealarm wasn't stopping the traffic. after i posted, and i mentioned the wins / lmhosts possibility, a light went off and i decided to check up on that.

sure enough, i found that, way back when i first discovered the problem i must have edited the lmhosts file and entered the (back then) current ip address for the other machine. I deleted it, rebooted, and the two computers can see each other now.

however, because of something to do with the fact that the cable modem is the gateway, i cannot get high speed network transfers on my LAN. not sure why. i figure at some point i will just get a router.

by the way, i DO subscribe to multiple IP addresses from my provider (roadrunner / timewarner).

thanks.