Can't connect 2 Windows 11 computers to home network

Barbara Lolmaugh 0 Reputation points
2025-03-10T15:27:19.4666667+00:00

I am absolutely baffled on why I am unable to get my 2 new Windows 11 Home Version computers to see each other in the home network.

Below are the steps I took to set up both PC to Connect and Share on our network. However, neither computer can see the other.

I have read through dozens of articles and posts throughout the internet, including this support board. Have watched numerous YouTube videos and I have put everything in place per all of those instructions. Both PCs are connected via Ethernet to the same router. Both PCs can see, access and print to both of the installed printers.

I called and spoke with the Modem/Router company. They checked all settings on the router and told me everything is in working order for that equipment.

What am I missing?

Connecting 2 Windows 11 to Home Network

Steps on Both PCs:

  1. Settings>Network & Internet>Ethernet>Private Network
  2. Control Panel>Network & Sharing Center>Change Advanced Sharing Settings:

A. Private Networks

  • Network Discovery On
  • Set Up Network Connected Devices Automatically Checked
  • File & Printer Sharing On

B. All Networks

Public Folder Sharing ON

File Sharing Connections – 128-bit

  • Password Protected Sharing OFF  3. Control Panel>Programs & Features>Turn Windows Features on or off>SMB 1.2/CIFS File Sharing Support ON   4. File Explorer>Find folder to share>Right Click>Properties:

Sharing>Advanced Sharing>Share this Folder ON

  • Permissions>Everyone>Allow Full Control
  • Security>Add Everyone>Full Control
Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | User experience | Other
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  1. Anonymous
    2025-03-11T01:42:41.8366667+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

    I recommend that you try the following methods to see if they can solve the problem:

    Enable the sharing service to start automatically. This problem usually occurs when one of the services is not working properly.

    Press the Windows logo key + R.

    In the Run dialog box, type "services.msc", and then select OK.

    Right-click each of the following services, select Properties, and if the service is not running, select the Start menu, and then select Automatic next to Startup type:

    Function Discovery Provider Host

    Function Discovery Resource Publishing

    SSDP Discovery

    UPnP Device Host

    I hope the information above is helpful.

    Best regards

    Zunhui

    ============================================

    If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

  2. MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points
    2025-03-15T00:04:39.84+00:00

    Password Protected Sharing OFF

    Do you log on to your PC's with local accounts or do you use a Microsoft account?

    I personally don't use the guest account. The reasoning is that if someone would manage to get on my network then they would have access to my files. What I do is to define users with the same name and password on all machines. Assuming that you log on to your desktop with an account named Barbara, then on your husbands pc, define an account named Barbara with the same password. You should then be able to authenticate to the Scott pc.

    Again, that is my personal recommendation, not necessarily the official Microsoft position.

    If it helps, I posted some Powershell scripts to help diagnose a similar problem here.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2224963/win11-home-cant-connect-to-win10-pro-shared-networ

    1 person found this answer helpful.

  3. MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points
    2025-03-19T23:36:31.6866667+00:00

    Has this solution been validated and accepted by Microsoft?

    Nope. Not tested by MS. There is no validation/acceptance process. This a free peer-to-peer support site. There are site moderators and an AI bot that reviews posts but there is no warranty expressed or implied.

    A number of the users on this site are Microsoft employees/contractors who have been given training, but I'm not sure how much real world support experience they have. Then you have retired guys like me who instead of doing Wordle or Sudoku or crossword puzzles like to write Powershell scripts and see if we can help users solve problems.

    This site does assign reputation points to give users an idea of how much they can trust the answers from other users. So if some user with zero reputation points tells you to do something, you might want to do an internet search on that function.

    If you click on my name, you'll see that I have 35,000 points and 430 accepted answers. I don't always give the correct answer, but the chances of me giving you a malicious answer are pretty slim.

    When I add your script to Windows PowerShell, I get a warning.

    That's just to prevent accidental script execution. You have a bigger problem in this line.

    $computer = 'win10proa'             #  put your computer name here. 
    

    Unless you have a computer named win10proa, that script isn't going to work well.

    This is a brand new computer that I depend on daily and I don't want to screw anything up.

    Then I would suggest the "phone a friend" solution. Do you have a neighbor, relative, co-worker who has some computer experience? Invite them over for beer and pizza (my standard support "fee"!). Explain to them your problem and show them my replies. Ask them what they think and if they can help you.

    I looked over your replies again and I've concluded that the first problem that you need to fix is the computer named BarbaraDesktop is not making itself visible on the network.

    On BarbaraDesktop open Powershell_ISE with "run as administrator" and run this script.

    Get-Service  -name "UPnP Device Host" | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic  
    Get-Service  -name "Function Discovery Resource Publication" | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic  
    Get-Service  -name "Function Discovery Provider Host" | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic  
    Get-Service  -name "SSDP Discovery" | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic  
      
       
    Get-Service  -name "DNS Client" | Start-Service  
    Get-Service  -name "UPnP Device Host" | Start-Service  
    Get-Service  -name "Function Discovery Resource Publication" | Start-Service  
    Get-Service  -name "Function Discovery Provider Host" | Start-Service   
    Get-Service  -name "SSDP Discovery" | Start-Service  
      
    Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private -PassThru  
    Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Network Discovery'|Set-NetFirewallRule -Profile 'Private, Domain' -Enabled true -PassThru|select Name,DisplayName,Enabled,Profile|ft -a
    

    Like this.

    User's image

    User's image

    Next you need to fix authentication. That depends on how you log on to these pc's. Do you use Microsoft accounts, or do you use local accounts? Do you know the difference?

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-user-accounts-in-windows-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32

    If you are using Microsoft accounts, add both yours and your husbands account to each pc. If you use local accounts, define an account with the same ID and password for both you and Scott.

    https://www.bing.com/search?q=windows%20add%20local%20account

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