Question : My PC doesn't like 2 of the 3 networks it connects to...

I connect my home desktop PC to 3 different networks and sometimes none at all.

If I connect to a switch (25m away) to access internet and Dad's main PC (and what ever else is connected to the switch) i need to set TCIP/IP settings to Automatically assign network address

If I connect via crossover cable to my brothers PC to send him files or play network games the notification icon says Limited or No Connectivity - yet i can still connect to the PC but cannot play network games (IP addresses are in similar range (168.192.0.xxx)

If I connect to my Laptop (which has a manually set IP address of 169.254.105.45) i get the LAN connected 100mbps but cannot connect via explorer unless i change my IP address to 169.254.105.42

Background info:
I originally only connected to my Laptop for last few years or so using the 169.254... address. Recently my brother upgraded his PC and i set his IP address manually to a 169.254.... address too - no probs connecting to each PC or playing games over TCP/IP. Recently purchased a 100mbps 8 port switch to share the broadband at higher speeds at a temp basis - plug in when you need it and then plug out again. Upon installing this i reset the IP addresses to automatically assign themselves IP addresses that supposedly would be remembered by the switch. i never changed the IP address of my laptop since it connected fine and i also occasionally connect it to another network alltogether.
the problem described above is the result.

How can i use the auto config of IP addresses and connect to each PC first time every time with no probs? Thanks for all opinions/suggestions in advance.

Ryan R

Answer : My PC doesn't like 2 of the 3 networks it connects to...

If the masks aren't setup the same for all the PC then even if the IP address are the same the computers are on different networks.  If you don't set the Gateway you will never get out to the Internet  The Gateway is usually points to the router.  If you don't set the DNS up properly names like yahoo.com never get resolved to IP address.  Which means if the DNS is incorrect you can only goto web sites by IP address and not by name.  The bottom line is, it all needs to be setup correctly.

Here is a picture example:
http://www.kelloggmarine.com/IPSettings.gif

Setup all the computers statically using the below address.  Notice all the information is exactly the same except the last octet in the IP address.

\\Home (PC)
    IP:   192.168.1.201
    Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gatway: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 4.2.2.1
\\Toshiba (laptop)
    IP:   192.168.1.202
    Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gatway: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 4.2.2.1    
\\Ryan (PC)
    IP:   192.168.1.203
    Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gatway: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 4.2.2.1
\\Laptop (laptop)
    IP:   192.168.1.204
    Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gatway: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 4.2.2.1
\\Todd (PC)
    IP:   192.168.1.205
    Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gatway: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 192.168.1.1
    DNS: 4.2.2.1
   
Once everybody is static you can take your crossover cable and connect any two computer without making any changes to the network settings.