I have about 4 computers in my home network all Windows 11 PRO with latest updates, no driver issues, and for the past 5 years they have been working totally ok with what I have setup. I have a plex server and an SMB that I use to save my iPhone pictures almost everyday when I get home. I have the SMB address on my iPhone and I upload photos to it using the File manager app. Has worked always without fault. I recently disconnected the computer with the SMB and Plex server and moved it to a more suitable location away from kids. Keep in mind this setup has been working forever, well, until I moved the computer to a different locaton it worked.
I have a netgear MR60 with 4 satellites and I have full control over it. I have everything enabled so that SMB worked fine with network discovery as well. Since I did not want to deal with IP headaches I also had enabled 3 DHCP reserved addresses, 192.168.1.100 for the SMB/Plex computer then .101 and .102 for 2 3D printers I have as well. My DHCP range is .2 to .90 (I changed this recently from .2 to .254 as someone recommended to do this to avoid IP ghosting). I have also turned the firewall off on that computer. I have activated every single service that is related to file and printer sharing and still I cannot ping or connect to my SMB. I have taken the SMB down and re-made it, remapped it on the other computers and still no luck. Weird thing, it will work one day, then the next day it quits, then the next day works then the day after that it quits again. I can ping other devices in the network and I get replies.
Again, this was working before without fault then it just started acting like this after I moved the computer. I do not use ethernet for anything, everything is wifi and wifi range is full bars within the entire house.
I am an IT person and this issue is eating me alive man, it hurts to be beat up by it LOL!
When pinging the host computer this is all I get:
Pinging 192.168.1.100 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.5: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.5: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.5: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.5: Destination host unreachable.
Things I have tried and keep on trying:
Switch network to Private – Settings > Network > Properties > set to Private.
Turn on sharing – Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced sharing >enable Network discovery and File & printer sharing.
Recheck permissions – Right-click the shared folder > Properties > Sharing > make sure the right users (or “Everyone”) are added.
Firewall – Allow “File and Printer Sharing” through Windows Defender Firewall for Private networks.
Guest access fix – If your shares don’t require login, enable insecure guest logons:
Group Policy: Computer Config > Admin Templates > Network > Lanman Workstation > Enable insecure guest logons.
Or Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation → AllowInsecureGuestAuth=1
Duplicate SID issue – If the PCs are cloned, create a new local user or re-sysprep; it fixes SID conflicts blocking shares.
Enable following services:
DNS Client
Function Discovery Provider Host
Function Discovery Resource Publication
Server
SSDP Discovery
TCP/IP NetBios Helper
UPnP Device Host
Workstation
SMB signing – Run PowerShell:
Set-SmbServerConfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $false -Force