How to switch from a call by IP address to a call by Device name on a home network?

Question

On my home network, I can log into the other two from my computer. In the first one I go by the command CD \ <Device name> \ <Folder>, and in the second - CD \ <IP address> \ <Folder>. Addressing the IP address is very inconvenient, since when the modem is restarted, IP address changes and each time after that I need to change the command. How to switch from a call by IP address to a call by Device name? What needs to be changed and where?

Answer 1

If you can't find any DNS settings in your router, or your ISP can't help you, here is one more thing that you can try.

http://winrollup.com/enable-network-discovery-in-windows-10-creator-edition-without-using-the-netsh-command-in-powershell

I consolidated the commands from that web site. Run Powershell_ISE as an administrator, and paste these commands into a script window and run it. Do this on the machines that can't see each other.

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  

Then in explorer open up Network and press F5 to refresh. See if your PC's show up then.

Answer 2

I sent you a picture of my server.
Today I checked services UPnP Device Host, SSDP Discovery, Feature Discovery Resource Publishing, DNS Client and found that UPnP Device Host is not running on ANN-14-19. This is the computer with which the call by Device name works successfully. On all three computers, I did not find Function Discovery Resource Publication in the Servises (Local) list.

Answer 3

So you cannot access NATHA-PC by name? From a command prompt run an nslookup on both IP's, 192.168.1.104 and 108. What do you get back? Try some of the wireless IP's too.

I installed Win10 on my laptop back when 10 used Homegroups. Somewhere along the way the "Home" name got added to the DNS suffix. All of my pc's register IP's as PCNAME.HOME. Too many tears have passed since I first set this up. I can't find "Home" anywhere in my router settings, so I am assuming that that came form Homegroup, but I'm not positive.

Are all of your pc's using DHCP or did you manually assign a name to an IP? Does DNS register all pc's as PCNAME or are some registered with a suffix like PCNAME.HOME?

You may need to adjust DNS Suffix settings on some machines.

Try running the troubleshooter too.

Answer 4

Maybe I was running the NSLOOKUP command incorrectly somehow?

I don't know, You have not shared the commands that you are entering and the output it produces. I can only guess as to what you are doing.

Did you run the troubleshooter that I pointed out?

In the image from your router that you posted 4 days ago, it shows 3 pc names and their IP addresses. Are you doing something to modify the DNS servers that you use? Those names should resolve. Are there DNS related settings in your router? Are there any troubleshooting options in the router?

Please run these commands from one pc and paste the output back here. Maybe someone will see something wrong with your setup.

nslookup DESKTOP-EBP1DDA
nslookup NATHA-PC
nslookup ANN-14-19
nslookup 192.168.100
nslookup 192.168.108
nslookup 192.168.104
ipconfig /all
type c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Are you using DHCP or did you assign the IP addresses in the router for these pc's? If you assigned the IP's, just create an entry for them in the hosts file.

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/etc-hosts-file-windows/

Answer 5

I was never using DHCP and did not assign the IP addresses in the router for these pc's.

For some reason, I cannot send you a screenshot. I am sending you experiments with the NSLOOKUP command in text form from two of my computers. Everything is absolutely the same on the third computer.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19042.844]
(c) 2020 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup DESKTOP-EBP1DDA
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
* 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find DESKTOP-EBP1DDA: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup NATHA-PC
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
* 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find NATHA-PC: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup ANN-14-19
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
*** 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find ANN-14-19: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.100
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
Name: 192-168-1-100.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.100
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.108
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
Name: 192-168-1-108.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.108
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.104
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
Name: 192-168-1-104.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.104
C:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-EBP1DDA
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : BC-5F-F4-FC-E6-88
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b42c:63d1:1194:1ebb%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, March 11, 2021 7:49:07 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 14, 2021 9:48:10 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 113008628
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-25-DA-4D-F0-BC-5F-F4-FC-E6-88
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
0.0.0.0
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
C:\WINDOWS\system32>type c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.

This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

space.

Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

For example:

102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server

38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.

127.0.0.1 localhost

::1 localhost

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19042.867]
(c) 2020 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup DESKTOP-EBP1DDA
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
* 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find DESKTOP-EBP1DDA: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup NATHA-PC
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
* 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find NATHA-PC: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup ANN-14-19
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
*** 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au can't find ANN-14-19: Non-existent domain
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.100
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
Name: 192-168-1-100.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.100
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.108
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
Name: 192-168-1-108.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.108
C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup 192.168.1.104
Server: 192-168-1-1.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.1
name: 192-168-1-104.tpgi.com.au
Address: 192.168.1.104
C:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ANN-14-19
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 40-8D-5C-1F-A0-E8
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::e930:4356:85a9:20f2%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 12, 2021 1:25:02 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 14, 2021 9:00:05 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 104893788
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-24-D2-62-97-40-8D-5C-1F-A0-E8
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
0.0.0.0
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
C:\WINDOWS\system32>type c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.

This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

space.

Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

For example:

102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server

38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.

127.0.0.1 localhost

::1 localhost

C:\WINDOWS\system32>