Strange Problem needs answer?

[Plex2020]

I have 3 Systems on my Network
System 1 Windows 10 Pro with updates
System 2 Windows 11 Pro with updates
System 3 is a synology NAS 1520+
Here is the issue, System 1 and System 2 can both see and share files with System 3 NAS But.. System 1 and 2 can not see or share files Why is this in order to share my files I have to go through my NAS System?

 

[Chriggel]

Well, depending on who you ask, you'll get two very different answers:

The more deeply enfranchised Windows folks will tell you: You're doing it wrong and have some sort of misconfiguration. SMB shares between two Windows clients are not a problem.

Everybody else will tell you: Don't worry about it, SMB server implementation in client versions of Windows is just broken.

I'm in the second group. For the last 20 years, I've NEVER been able to get SMB reliably working between two Windows clients. That's why I just stopped bothering about it a long time ago and I'd say that what you're experiencing is normal. Since then, whenever I needed to share files between two Windows clients, I've used a SMB share on a third machine and my quality of life became much better.

 

[Tech Junky]

First thing is Pro+
Second is SMB versions need to match
Third FW needs to be private on both sides
Fourth would be the permissions / accounts need to match for authentication

Windows makes life difficult in general if you wan to do much more than surf the internet but, it's engrained in how most people use their "PC". Everything that's popular is geared towards use in W because that's where the $$$ is. If i didn't have a couple of programs that I use daily I wouldn't bother with it and switch to Linux full time long ago.

 

[Plex2020]

You know it's weird sometimes both window systems can see one another and the rest of the time they don't see each other that's why am thinking. Is this a Windows issue because I know damn well that my Synology uses an embedded version of windows and it works fine.

 

[Tech Junky]

Windows issue

It is and if the stars don't align you get what you have.

 

[louie1961]

But.. System 1 and 2 can not see or share files Why is this in order to share my files I have to go through my NAS System?

Are either system 1 or system 2 hosting a shared folder? or is only the Synology hosting a shared folder? Just because you have SMB running doesn't mean you have configured a folder to share.

 

[nabsltd]

Here is the issue, System 1 and System 2 can both see and share files with System 3 NAS But.. System 1 and 2 can not see or share files

This can often be a name-to-IP issue. Historically, LMHOSTS and NetBIOS over TCP/IP was used for Windows networking. Today, nobody ever edits their LMHOSTS file (which is only useful for static IPs), and DNS is the primary way to map names to IP addresses. The issue today is often that the DNS server doesn't have the information needed to map the name to the IP address.

1. Make sure that the Windows PCs have "network discovery" and "file and printer sharing" enabled.
2. Make sure that the Windows PCs have "register this connection's addresses in DNS" enabled.
3. Make sure the DNS server can accept dynamic registration of addresses.
4. Make sure the DHCP server is configured to update the DNS server when a DHCP client gets an address.

A good rule of thumb is that if you can't "ping" the machine by name, you won't be able to view shares using something like "\\MACHINE\Share". If something like "\\123.123.123.123\Share" works, then it's a DNS issue.

My situation is very similar (Windows 10 that I sit in front of, and other Windows 10 and Windows 11 workstations on the network, along with various servers) and I can access shares on every Windows machine where #1 and #2 above are done. #3 and #4 have been set up long ago, when I first set up DHCP and DNS.