The networking features in Windows 8 include:
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Network Explorer
Provides a central console for browsing computers and devices on the network
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Network And Sharing Center Provides a central console for viewing and managing a computer’s networking and sharing configurations
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Network Diagnostics
Provides automated diagnostics to help resolve networking problems
Before discussing how these networking tools are used, I’ll look at the Windows
8 features on which these tools rely: network discovery, which controls
the ability to see other computers and devices, and network awareness,
which reports changes in network connectivity and configuration.
Understanding Network Discovery and Network Categories
The network discovery settings of the computer you are working with
determine the computers and devices you can browse or view in Windows
8 networking tools. Network discovery settings work in conjunction with
a computer’s Windows Firewall settings to block or allow the following:
Network discovery settings are meant to provide the appropriate level
of security for each type of network to which a computer can connect.
Three categories of networks are defined:
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Domain network
Intended as a designation for a network in which computers are connected to a corporate domain they belong to
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Private network
Intended as a
designation for a network in which computers are being used in a
workgroup or homegroup and are not connected directly to the public Internet
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Public network Intended as a designation for a network in a public place, such as a coffee shop or airport, rather than an internal network
Note
By default, network discovery and file
sharing are not enabled, but they can be enabled on domain, work, and
home networks. By using the Network window or Change Advanced Sharing
Settings option in Network And Sharing Center, you can enable network
discovery and file sharing. This step reduces restrictions and permits
computers on the network to discover other computers and devices on that
network and share files. However, by default, network discovery and
file sharing are blocked on a public network. This enhances security by
preventing computers on the public network from discovering other
computers and devices on that network. When network discovery and file
sharing are disabled, files and printers that you have shared from the
computer cannot be accessed from the network. Additionally, some
programs might not be able to access the network.
Because a computer saves settings separately for each category of
network, you can specify different settings for blocking and allowing
network traffic for each category. The first time you connect your
computer to a network, Windows 8 attempts to determine whether you are
at home, at work, or in a public location. The selection sets the
network category. If you change your network connection or connect to a
new network, Windows 8 will try to determine the category for that
network. If Windows 8 is unable to determine the network category, it
uses the public network category. If you join a computer to a domain,
the network to which the computer is connected changes to a domain
network.
Based on the network category, Windows 8 configures settings that
either turn network discovery on or off. The On (enabled) state means
that this computer can discover other computers and devices on the
network and that other computers on the network can discover this
computer. The Off (disabled) state means that this computer cannot
discover other computers and devices on the network and that other
computers on the network cannot discover this computer.
Sometimes Windows 8 assigns the public network category when a computer actually is in a private network
and part of a workgroup (or prior to joining a homegroup). Typically,
this problem occurs because the TCP/IP settings are improperly
configured. However, even when the TCP/IP settings and the computer are
properly configured, you may see this problem as well.
For networking to work properly, you will need to change the network
category. Otherwise, the computer may not connect to and work with other
resources on the network. Why? Windows Firewall and Windows Firewall
With Advanced Security both use the network category to determine how to
secure the computer. Computers have separate Windows Firewall profiles
for each network category, and the strictest firewall profile is the
Public profile.
One way to resolve this problem is to use the HomeGroup Troubleshooter to change the network category from Public to Private. To do this, follow these steps:
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In Control Panel, under Network And Internet, select Choose HomeGroup
And Sharing Options. Tap or click Start The HomeGroup Troubleshooter.
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When the troubleshooter starts, tap or click Next.
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On the Troubleshoot Network Problems page, you should see a message
stating that some networking problems are HomeGroup-related. Choose Skip
This Step.
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The troubleshooter should detect that the network location is
incorrectly set. When prompted to change the network location to
private, select Apply This Fix.
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If you are trying to create or join a HomeGroup, follow the prompts. Otherwise, tap or click Cancel to exit the troubleshooter.
Note
Sometimes a computer
with the network category set as public will have problems joining a
domain. Although the computer’s TCP/IP settings can be the source of the
problem, so can the firewall profile being applied. As the Public
firewall profile is the strictest by default, the settings could block
connections required to join the domain. You can work around this by
temporarily disabling Windows Firewall or by following the steps in the
previous procedure to force Windows to change the network category from
public to private.
Working with Network Explorer
Network Explorer
displays a list of discovered computers and devices on the network. You
can access Network Explorer in several ways:
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Tap or click File Explorer on the Start screen. In File Explorer, tap
or click the location path selection button and then tap or click
Network.
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In Control Panel, tap or click Network And Internet. Under the
Network And Sharing Center heading, tap or click View Network Computers
And Devices.
Note
In File Explorer, the Address Path has four interface elements: a
Location Indicator icon, a Location Path Selection list button, Location
Path entries, and a Previous Locations button. Be sure to tap or click
the Location Path Selection list button and not the Location Indicator
icon.
The network discovery settings for the computer determine which computers and devices are listed in Network Explorer. If network discovery is enabled, you’ll see other computers on the network, as shown in Figure 1. If network discovery is blocked, you’ll see a note about this in the notification area of Network
Explorer. Tapping or clicking this warning message and then selecting
Turn On Network Discovery enables network discovery and opens the
appropriate Windows
Firewall ports so that network discovery is allowed. If no other changes
have been made with regard to network discovery, the computer will be
in the discovery-only state.
Provided that you have appropriate permissions, you can browse any
computer or device listed in Network Explorer. Double-tap or
double-click the icon for the computer to access its shared resources.
Double-tap or double-click the icon for a device to access its
management interface or browse its resources.
Network Explorer’s toolbar provides several options:
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Network And Sharing Center
When you want to view network status or manage network settings, tap or
click Network And Sharing Center.
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Add Printers And Devices
Starts the Add A Device Wizard. Use the wizard to add a local, network,
wireless, or Bluetooth printer as well as wireless devices that were
detected but not configured.
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Search Active Directory
Opens the Find dialog box, which you can use to search for users,
contacts, groups, computers, printers, shared folders and more in Active
Directory (domain only).
Working with Network And Sharing Center
Network And Sharing Center, as shown in Figure 2, provides the current network status as well as an overview
of the current network configuration. In Control Panel, you can access
Network And Sharing Center by tapping or clicking View Network Status
And Tasks under the Network And Internet heading.
Network And Sharing Center lists the currently active networks by
name and provides an overview of the networks. Network names are listed
in bold. The value below the network name shows the category of the
current network as Domain Network, Private Network, or Public Network.
The Access Type specifies whether and how the computer is connected to
its current network. Values for the Access Type are No Network Access,
No Internet Access, or Internet. If you tap or click the name of a
network connection, you can display the related status dialog box.
Tapping or clicking Change Adapter Settings displays the Network
Connections page, which you can use to manage network connections. To
configure sharing, tap or click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. You’ll
then see options for configuring the computer’s sharing and network
discovery settings for each network profile. To manage a profile, expand
the profile’s view panel by tapping or clicking the Expand button
(showing a down arrow), tap or click the setting you want to work with,
and then tap or click Save Changes. To turn on or off network discovery,
tap or click Turn On Network Discovery or Turn Off Network Discovery as
appropriate, and then tap or click Save Changes.
From Network And Sharing Center, you can attempt to diagnose a
networking problem. To do this, tap or click Troubleshoot Problems, tap
or click a troubleshooter to run, such as Incoming Connections or
Network Adapter, and then follow the prompts. Windows Network Diagnostics then attempts to identify the network problem and provide a possible solution.
