No screen sharing after installing new WiFi router?

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply. Let me fill in the details.

Do you still have the original home router connected to your ISP broadband connection? If this is the case, then you have 2 subnets and that is most likely the problem.

Nope, the original gateway router is dead. I moved my previous access-point router (a Cisco E4200v1) to fill in that gap, and purchased the Netgear R6300 to serve as the new access point. Everything is on the 192.168.0.x subnet.

If I am guessing correctly, then you need to configure the NegGear so that is is no longer a router. How this is done is different for each router make and model. However, the common approaches are, turn off the NetGear DHCP server. If there is mention of NAT server, turn that off (sometimes both NAT and DHCP are controlled by the DHCP server on/off). Some routers may have an explicit "Bridge" setting. If you find that set it to Bridge mode.

Yep, I've done that. DHCP has been turned off on the R6300, and it has been assigned a static IP by the gateway router. There wasn't any mention of a NAT server in the config screens, so nothing to turn off there. There are both "Bridge" and "AP" modes available on the router, but neither are well documented (AP isn't documented at all, in fact), and I have not been able to get them to function properly.

You may also find that you cannot see network printers across the NetGear router, nor file servers across the NetGear router.

I can connect to all of my systems across the router, and copy files to/from, etc. I have not tried printer sharing yet, as I rarely want to print over the network.

If you do not have multiple routers, please describe your network starting with the ISP connection and working out.

Might help to do that anyway! Here goes:

Modem -> Cisco E4200v1 (as gateway, 4 ports in use; 3 computers, one run of Cat6e to downstairs) -> (cable to downstairs) -> DLink 8-port switch (most ports in use) -> R6300

You may also want to use "Bonjour Browser" and WakeOnLan to get information about your subnet (run them from system on the NetGear as well as Systems attached to the original router (assuming you still have that router in your setup). What you expect is to see all the same IP addresses and Bonjour services displayed regardless of which Mac is running the programs. If you do not see the same services, then chances are you have 2 isolated subnets with a router in the middle not passing local subnet only protocols (such as Bonjour).

That I haven't tried yet. I can do that later today once I'm back in front of my system(s). What I can tell you now, is that I can see (in Finder sidebar) and connect to all of my devices through Finder, and see which systems have Screen Sharing available (as the "Share Screen" button appears in the Finder window). What I cannot do is actually connect to those systems; I get the "Connecting to <system name>" window with the barberpole progress bar, and the eventual timeout. So, something is making it across the router, but not everything that it needs to make the connection.

I should note that under the old setup (D-Link wired router acting as gateway, E4200 as access point), everything worked brilliantly. It's a shame the D-Link bit the dust, as getting the new equipment up and running has been an exercise in frustration.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Jeff

So the mystery deepens.

I looked through Bonjour Browser, and I can see that the Screen Sharing services are working across the network (port 5900, RBP). I still can't access the other systems by clicking on the "Share Screen" button in Finder. BUT, if I use the vnc:// address of the systems, I can connect through Screen Sharing (nearly instantly, in fact).

While testing something else out, I left the "Connecting to..." progress up, and I did eventually (after several minutes) get a login for that particular computer. I entered in the password, and it's still trying to connect... This is just bizarre.

Thanks,

Jeff

I've seen other folks on the forum referencing the "Share Screen" button ceasing to work correctly, but I've never seen a resolution of the issue. I've tried connecting to other machines from all points on the network, so I think it's something with the E4200 not playing nicely with NetAuthAgent.

So, unless I go crazy and decide to try to flash that router with one of the open-source firmware packages available, I guess it's just part of the new world order. (I will say, however, that it's kinda nice to just be able to do a Command-K from Finder, select the right IP and go).

Thanks again for your help, Bob.

Best,

Jeff