Hi, We have a domain with a DHCP server. Wins is not used. There are also some non-domain computers. From any client getting an IP from the DHCP I can ping the non-domain computer by name. When I ping the non-domain computers from a client or server with a fixed address, the name is not resolved. Netbios over TCP/IP is already enabled. any idea why it is not working from a client/server with a fixed address?

When a client recieves it's ip address from a DHCP server it is also assigned a dns suffix. Have you verified that this is also set on the computers and servers with static ip addresses?

Yes, that is correct. It looks like that the computers with a static address don't do a broadcast to find out the corresponding IP-address.

I did some network sniffing, and I can see there is a NtbNs query send out after I give the ping command from a non DHCP client to a workgroup computer. But I don't know why there is no response.

If you are pinging the computers using a fully qualified domain name, such as server1.domain.com, then your computer will use DNS for name resolution. If you are just trying to ping via NetBIOS name "server1" the computer will attempt to resolve this NetBIOS name using a variety of methods. Since you are not using WINS, it will try broadcasts and LMHOSTS. For broadcasts to work, the target system must be in the same subnet as routers do not foward broadcasts. Make sure that the computers with static configurations also have a primary DNS suffix configured (as Eirik Hamer recommended). This way if you ping a NetBIOS name, the computer will attempt to append the DNS suffix and use DNS. here is some more info to help you. Microsoft Windows TCP/IP NetBIOS and Host Name Resolution http://www.anitkb.com/2010/08/microsoft-windows-tcpip-netbios-and.htmlVisit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Thanks for the info, but it is still not working. All computers are in the same subnet. When I do a ping to a workgroup computer from a domain member, there is also a broadcast, and an ARP request, which is the response (I assume). Strange enough there is no response when I ping from a domain computer with a fixed address.

Could it be that the computers with a fixed address have something else in common such as their Windows Firewall settings. When you see the ARP request, the reason for that is because when computer A needs to communicate with computer B, computer A will send an ARP request to get computer B's MAC address. For packets to be delivered on a network segment, the destination MAC is required (layer 2 addressing). For computers within the same subnet, the destination MAC will be the target computer...if the target computer is not on the same segment, computer A will ARP for the gateway's MAC. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Hi, Please make sure the client PC or Server can ping the gateway successfully. Also the non-domain computer can ping the gateway. After that, use the tracert command to catch the route. Regarding how to use Tracert Command, you can refer to the following article. It also can be applied to Windows 7. http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/tracert.mspx?mfr=true In addition, I suggest contacting Server Networking Forum to check the issue since the domain environment is involved. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverPN/threads Best Regards, NikiPlease remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks all for the reply. I will dig into this later on. For the moment the non-domain members are also joined to the domain. Regards, Panjo