determine computer name thats sharing out wireless

Hi all. If I connect to someone elses wireless network, how can I
determine the computer name of the machine thats sharing out their
connection?

<emebohw2@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:1124402088.161201.17960@z14g2000cwz.googlegro ups.com...
> Hi all. If I connect to someone elses wireless network, how can I
> determine the computer name of the machine thats sharing out their
> connection?
>

Why would you want to know.

On 18 Aug 2005 14:54:48 -0700, emebohw2@netscape.net wrote:

>Hi all. If I connect to someone elses wireless network, how can I
>determine the computer name of the machine thats sharing out their
>connection?

I'll assume Windoze XP Home. If you're using something different, it
would be helpful if you would supply enough information to supply a
reasonable answer.

There's really no reason to need that info but if you insist, try
running:
Start -> run -> <enter>
net view
That should list all machines on the LAN with sharing enabled like
this:

C:\junk> view
Server Name Remark
--------------------------------------------------
\\BLITHER PII-266
\\CHOLESTEROL PIII-933
\\MICRON PII-600
\\AVARICE Bookkeeping
The command completed successfully.

If that fails, run:
nbtstat -n
which should give a bunch of NETBIOS machine names and workgroups.


C:\junk> nbtstat -n
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.11] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Local Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
CHOLESTEROL <00> UNIQUE Registered
CHOLESTEROL <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered


C:\junk> nbtstat -r
NetBIOS Names Resolution and Registration Stat
----------------------------------------------
Resolved By Broadcast = 3
Resolved By Name Server = 0
Registered By Broadcast = 4
Registered By Name Server = 0

NetBIOS Names Resolved By Broadcast
---------------------------------------------
MICRON
MICRON
MICRON

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

> Hi all. If I connect to someone elses wireless network, how can I
> determine the computer name of the machine thats sharing out their
> connection?

It might not be a computer, it could be a router, in fact it's most
likely a router and besides, why would you want to know that?

Easier to do:-

ipconfig /all

Then nbtstat -A <ip address of the default gateway address retrieved
from above>

Then just pick out the entry with the <00>

The problem with NET VIEW is that it relies on the browser service which
through it's basic operation is unreliable, particularly in a
multiworkgroup/domain environment in the absence of WINS or cross
related entries in LMHOSTS.

Therefore it's far easier to just query the other machines netbios name
table.

David.

In the router control panel :

- admin area > local network > dhcp client table may tell you which
computers have been assigned on the lan with active leases
- wireless mac address > wireless client mac mac list will show you the
current wireless clients

emebohw2@netscape.net wrote:
> Hi all. If I connect to someone elses wireless network, how can I
> determine the computer name of the machine thats sharing out their
> connection?

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 06:54:32 GMT, David Taylor <djtaylor@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>Easier to do:-
>
>ipconfig /all
>
>Then nbtstat -A <ip address of the default gateway address retrieved
>from above>
>
>Then just pick out the entry with the <00>

That only works if the gateway is a Windoze machine. The original
question implied that he's connecting to a computer, but it's more
likely that it's really a router. I just tried it point to my
BEFW11S4v4 gateway/router and got:

C:\junk> nbtstat -A 192.168.1.1
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.11] Scope Id: []
Host not found.

>The problem with NET VIEW is that it relies on the browser service which
>through it's basic operation is unreliable, particularly in a
>multiworkgroup/domain environment in the absence of WINS or cross
>related entries in LMHOSTS.

True. Windoze browser service is marginal at best. I just love
waiting 12 minutes for updates. You can bypass the browser service by
simply pointing directly at the IP addresses. If sharing is enabled,
even if there are no open shares, it will show the machine name. Of
course, one needs to know the IP address of the target machine first.
Start -> run -> \\192.168.1.1
or
Start -> run -> \\Netbios_name

>Therefore it's far easier to just query the other machines netbios name
>table.

Yep, if it's a Windoze machine and not a router.

Incidentally, I use a program called NBTSCAN to search blocks of IP's
for machines.
http://www.inetcat.org/software/nbtscan.html
NMAP works, but it far more complex than I need for simply identifying
machines.

C:\blah> nbtscan 192.168.1.0/24
>Doing NBT name scan for addresses from 192.168.1.0/24
>
>IP address NetBIOS Name Server User MAC address
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>192.168.1.0 Sendto failed: Cannot assign requested address
>192.168.1.1 Recvfrom failed: Connection reset by peer
>192.168.1.11 CHOLESTEROL <server> <unknown> 00-02-b3-1e-39-ed

Well, not very interesting because I tore apart my network last night
and only have one machine online. Some of the other machines that
have firewalls running appear invisible, which is good.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
AE6KS 831-336-2558

> That only works if the gateway is a Windoze machine. The original
> question implied that he's connecting to a computer, but it's more
> likely that it's really a router. I just tried it point to my

Certainly and I also stated in my first post that the machine sharing
was most likely to be a router.

I suspect the original question was one with malicous intent.

David.