Laptop sharing it's wifi via ethernet to a desktop, unable to change ethernet connections network location!?!
My laptop is connected via wireless to the router upstairs, I have the wifi connection shared to a desktop in the basement via ethernet.. Problem: I am unable to change the "Network Location" of the ethernet connection to anything other than Public, therefor I cannot connect a homegroup between the laptop and the desktop. I've tried a number of things I thought might work, even editing the All Networks setting in the security portion of group policy to allow me to change everything about it.. Still no luck. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
March 7th, 2010 2:00am

Hi, Here are some suggestions you can try: 1. Upgrade the network adapter driver and assign a static IP address to the Desktop. 2. Temporarily turn off firewall for a test. 3. Refer to the following article to modify relevant Security settings. Change "Unidentified Network" networ location from public to private 4. Assure the machines are in the same Workgroup and subnet. Thanks, Novak
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March 9th, 2010 4:31am

Rather than try to change the connection type, you can change the policy so that it is not set to public in the first place. Here is a posting from a previous discussion on this topic which shows you how to change the default policy.To do this on your local server , follow these steps: 1. Start --> run --> MMC --> press enter 2. In MMC console , from menu file select Add/Remove Snap-in 3. Select Group Policy Object editor --> Press Add --> select Local computer --> press OK -->press OK 4. Open Computer configration -->Windows Settings -->Security Settings -->select Network list manager policieson the right Side you will see options for : double click -->Unidentified networks Then you can select the option to consider the Unidentified networks as private and if user can change the location. I hope that is will help you and is clear . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hikmat Kanaan Amman-Jordan MCSEBill
March 9th, 2010 6:57pm

That's a possible workaround. Windows network indentification service would come up with an identification when you e.g. went to a hotel or WiFi hotspot, so new public networks wouldn't fall into the "Unidentified Network" category. Though, it's possible you might be exposed for a few seconds on connecting, until a network id was made. But, still, it's a bug that Windows can't come up with a network identification for the LAN connection on a computer that is sharing its Internet connection, and it's persisted into Windows 8. And is it reasonable to have to talk consumers through GPEDIT to make a "convenience" feature work correctly?
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June 30th, 2012 5:48pm

No, it is not a bug. It is a deliberate action by Microsoft to increase the security of machines connecting to public hotspots. If you don't want the extra security you can turn it off, but that is the default setting. Bill
June 30th, 2012 7:16pm

Yes, it's a bug. There is a difference between "public" and "unidentified." We're not talking about public networks here; nobody should enable file sharing on a public network. We're talking about private networks under two specific circumstances: (1) an ad-hoc wired or wireless LAN without a router, or (2) the LAN-side (private side) adapter on a computer that is sharing its Internet connection to a home or office using the Windows ICS service. In both cases, the LANs are private and file sharing is usually highly desirable. But in both cases, Windows deems these "Unidentified" networks, and locks them as public, and does not make it possible to enable file sharing and network discovery, without doing what you (and I) warn against, which is enabling file sharing on Public networks. This needs to be addressed, because enabling sharing on all public networks is a very bad idea. The issue is network identification. The LAN adapter of a computer that is sharing its connection through ICS is not unidentified, it is its own gateway, and network location should be seeing that. That's one bug. On an ad-hoc LAN with no gateway, it's harder to deal with. But Microsoft certainly can address it. At the very least the Network Metro panel should respect the Unidentified Network policy setting discussed above. That is a different bug. (By the way, there is a fourth network location characterization: "Identifying Networks," which are networks that are still in the process of being identified. These are rightly treated the same as Public. The problems begin only when network location gives up and calls a network "Unidentified". And in a public Internet hotspot, the network location will not be "unidentified." A network ID will be obtained because there is a gateway IP and MAC address).
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July 8th, 2012 10:43pm

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