File sharing with PCs on Airport Extreme

Question

I have two Mac (one Tiger, one Leopard) and one PC connected wirelessly and two PCs and printer connected via ethernet to a new AirPort Extreme which is connected to a DSL modem. All computers connect to the Internet and the printer with no problem. File sharing works between the two Macs but not between the PCs or between the PCs and the Macs. The PCs are on a Windows XP network called "Workgroup", file sharing is turned on and a number of folders are set for sharing. However, the PCs don't recognize each other or the Macs. In fact, the individual PCs don't even recognize themselves as being on a network! When I open Network Places, no folders show up and when I try to open Workgroup, instead of seeing any of the computers, I get an error message: "Workgroup not accessible. You may not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator...." With respect to the wireless connections, WEP/WAP are disabled, so encryption should not be a problem.
The PCs and Macs networked OK on an older Linksys router, so I suspect the problem is with the AirPort Extreme setup. I've searched the Forum and tried everything I can think of to no avail. Any help on this will be much appreciated - thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Thanks mredma; you noted your solution is for Norton Personal Firewall which is apparently different from the firewall in Norton 360. Following is the response that I got Symantec Support for Norton 360. I am happy to say that it worked for me!
Thank you for contacting Symantec Online Technical Support.
I understand from your e-mail that you are unable to access network computer after installing Norton 360.
Brian, please note that this issue can occur if Norton 360 firewall is blocking the connection to the other computer. Please disable Norton 360 firewall and see if you are able to access the other computer. To disable firewall, please do the following:
1. Start Norton 360.
2. Click on Tasks & Settings.
3. Click on Change Advanced Settings.
4. Click on Firewall Protection Settings.
5. Select Off under Firewall and then click Apply.
6. Select until I turn it back on from the drop-down menu and click OK.
7. Click Apply, then click Close.
8. Exit Norton 360 and try to access the other computer.
If you are able to access the network computer, please reenable firewall and create a General Rule to add the IP address of the other computer in Norton 360. To do so, please follow the steps given below:
1. Start Norton 360.
2. Click Task and Settings.
3. Click Change Advanced Settings.
4. Click on Firewall Protection Settings.
5. Click on the tab, Firewall General Rules.
6. Click on the button, Add. This will open up Add a Rule window.
7. Check the option Allow, then click on Next button.
8. Select 'Connections to and from Other Computers', then click on Next.
9. Select 'Only Computers and Sites listed below', then click on 'Add' button.
10. Select 'Individually' and type in the IP address of the other computer and click OK.
11. Click Next.
12. Select 'All' from the drop down menu, then select 'All types of Communications....'
13. Click Next.
14. Click Next, and enter a name, as per your choice, for this rule. Click Next.
15. Click Finish.
16. You will be able to see the new Rule. Click on the button 'Move Up' until the new rule reaches on top of the whole list. This is very important. Otherwise, the new rule will not come in effect.
17. Click Apply, then click Close.
18. Exit Norton 360.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. It will be a pleasure to help you.
Please note that in step #10 you can use a range of IP addresses rather than listing each one separately. I used the same range I set up in the AirPort Utility for DCHP IP address assignment. I also added 10.0.1.1 as individual permitted address, because I believe that is the AirPort Extreme Base Station adderess. I don't know if that last step is necessary. - Brian