Member Avatar for Panovictory

Well here's my case.
I have two pcs connected in a WLAN. PC1 has its wireless connection bridged with a ethernet connection to a dsl router so as to have internet on PC2.
However, even if Internet works fine there's no way to ping PC2 from PC1 or PC1 from PC2(100% packets lost). As a matter of fact, I cannot even share its resources (It gives me the network path not found error and you dont have the sufficient rights) Anyway, I can see from PC2 the Pc1 from mshome workgroup whereas from pc1 i cannot even access the workgroup. I have disabled all kind of router or desktop firewalls. It's also mentionable that when I disable the bridge and connect only with wireless networks everything works fine (sharing etc.) but when i disable ethernet connection with router in my bridged connection (which seems pretty much the same thing) i get the same error.
p.s. all ips seems fine and router configuration is flawlessly set.

Thanks in advance.

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Bridging a wireless client interface to another NIC is a common point of failure. Many wireless adapters and consumer APs do not support forwarding Ethernet frames for other MAC addresses (the 4‑address/WDS behavior needed for a true layer‑2 bridge). That limitation explains why services that rely on local layer‑2 connectivity (ping, NetBIOS/SMB) can break when a Windows Network Bridge is used, even though IP routing/Internet access still works. This is the issue was hinting at.

Quick diagnostics to confirm the bridge is the problem:

  • On each PC run ipconfig /all and arp -a to see whether the MACs for the other host appear on the expected interface.
  • Capture packets on PC1’s wireless and Ethernet interfaces (Wireshark) and look for PC2 traffic appearing on both sides. If PC2 frames never leave the wireless side, the bridge isn’t forwarding them.
  • Temporarily connect PC2 to the router by wire (or directly to PC1) and retest sharing—if it works, the wireless bridge is the cause.

Workarounds and fixes:

  • Best: let the router/AP handle connectivity (connect both machines to the router) or enable an AP-level bridge/WDS/repeater if the hardware supports it.
  • If the router can’t, use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) or a software router on PC1. Note ICS does NAT, so some inbound services and simple NetBIOS discovery may require extra configuration.
  • Update the wireless driver or swap in an adapter known to support bridging.
  • Check the AP for “client/AP isolation” features and disable them for testing.

Also follow ’ reminder: confirm File & Printer Sharing and matching workgroup names and re-enable firewall rules selectively after testing.

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Member Avatar for ballies

just a thought try running File & print sharing on both PC's again (mainly PC1 & be shure of correct Workgroup Name).
MORE info needed, what model router are you using config of LAN access could be restricting sharing.

Member Avatar for Spriggan

I've always found it impossible to file share accross a bridged connection. Something about not being able to fileshare accross Internet Conection Sharing going all the way back to win 9x.

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