Help Please! I'll try to be detailed on this. I've worked on it and read on it for almost 2 days and I'm stuck. I'm using a Win 7 Pro desktop that is hardwired and a Win 7 Home Premium laptop wireless. Both current on all updates.
My Comcast modem is hooked into a WRT160N that is hardwired to the desktop PC and to a WRT400N which is being used as an access point. Both routers have the latest firmware. Both routers have the same SSID, security and password but use different channels. (2 & 6) Internet works perfect both wired and wireless through both routers.
The homegroup has been set up through the desktop but I've removed and added homegroups on both machines multiple times. My problem doesn't go away. The homegroup works when the laptop is either wired or wireless using the WRT160N. It will not work at all through the WRT400N. I can be in the room with the WRT160N hooked to the homegroup, when I move to the other router so the wireless switches to the WRT400N, it drops the homegroup. The internet stays connected just fine as I move back in forth so the IDs and security has to be correct. Once the laptop drops the homegroup, it can't find it until I go back and connect to the main router.
Both machines have IPv6 addresses, auto discovery is on.
I also have an XP machine hooked to the main router. The desktop can see it but it also is invisible to anything using the WRT400N router. I also made sure all PCs are using the same Network ID with no password.
It seems to me that neither Homegroup or Home Network are passing between the two routers since everything works fine using just one router.
Anyone have an idea? Thanks for the help!
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Win 7 Homegroup won't work with access point (2nd router)
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Thanks to Bob's insistence that it had to be a set up issue I reset the router to default and started again. I set it up exactly like this link and my issues went away. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/30338-how-to-convert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point
There are some subtle differences between the setup link Bob posted and this one. Having spent way to much time trying to resolve myself, I know one issue with the other post. When you're setting up an access point with different SSIDs it can cause some network hand off issues. Some PCs will not drop one SSID to pick up another unless the signal starts to fail. On smart phones, that is the case in spades. We messed with both and I-phone and Droid and neither liked two different SSIDs on the same network.
Bob, thanks for the push to start over!
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