Networking Assistance

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Right now in my fire station we have 6 pcs connected to a switch and route with a peer to peer network (Mainly just for file and printer sharing and network access)

I do not have any of the computers setup with any passwords at all. Lately I have found that there have been times I had to provide wireless access for visitors to our building with laptops by providing them with our network key but then I noticed they were able to access our network files.

I am guessing that my main solution to this problem is to have usernames setup with permissions and everything. But since I am running a peer to peer network I am assuming these usernames and passwords would have to be manually setup on all PCs. Mostly all employees use all of the PCs in the station but I want to restrict access to specific files and folders while sometimes giving access to all personnel for specific folders but not guests.

I am guessing our best course of action is with a server but with budget restraints we are unable to make such a purchase.

Can anyone give me any guidance on where I can start and what my best course of action is? All of our computers use Vista except 2 which are using XP.

[cash_site]

Not exactly sure of the exact scenario you've described, but I think you might be able to use Folder Permissions (should work by username's and not dependent on passwords)... however, you might have to change the folder options from Simple File Sharing to NTFS Protection... Again, unsure if this works in P2P set-ups compared to default ActiveDirectory Services.

Let us know how you go.

[Big Booger]

[phishhead]

since there is no way to authenticate you will have to have the same username on each of the boxes. then just do as cash said and use folder permissions.

[efc]

There are several ways to accomplish this. With a limited budget and no dedicated IT department, I recommend using a NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive. You can provide everyone their own backup storage on the NAS and provide security via passwords. You can also create a public folder which you can provide access to the occasional visitor. To prevent the visitor from gaining access to private material you will need to kill file sharing on every computer on the lan.

A NAS used to be expensive. You can now purchase a NAS for less than $150. If you have an extra hard drive laying around, you can buy an inexpensive NAS capable enclosure and use your own drive.