Product Support

F-Secure Internet Security 2009 - Back to FAQ list

Internet Shield Firewall

Q10. I have a home office or home network. How can I get two computers to see each other’s files?

You need to create a new firewall rule for Windows file sharing to share files between computers on your home network. To open the product, double-click the product icon at the bottom right corner of your screen.

If you use a router on your network, check the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) settings of your router to find out the IP address range allocated to your home network. For more information, consult the router documentation.

The most usual IP address range for home networks is 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.254. If you want to share files between all your computers, you have to create the same rule on all of the computers.

To create the rule:

1. Click the Internet Shield tab.
2. Click Advanced.
3. Select Internet Shield > Firewall.
4. Click the Rules tab.
5. Click Add.
6. Enter a name and select the rule type:
   
   

   Step	Example
   Enter a name for the rule	FileSharing
   Select the rule type	Allow



7. Select the IP addresses:
   
   

   Step	Example
   Click Custom. Click Edit. Select IP range and enter the addresses of your computers in the field. Click Add To List.	192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.254



8. Select the services and direction:
   
   

   Step	Example
   Select the services that Windows file sharing uses	SMB over TCP/IP (TCP) SMB over TCP/IP (UDP) Windows file sharing and network printers Windows network browsing
   Select the direction for both services	(from the Internet to your computer)



9. Select the alerting type:
   
   

   Step	Example
   Select the alerting type	No alert



10. Check the summary of the rule and click Finish. Your new rule is now shown on the rules list on the Rules tab, and it is automatically turned on.
11. Test that the rule works. To do this, use Windows file sharing to share a folder or file and check whether you can access the folder or file from all of your computers.
    
    Tip: If you want to share the printer on your home network, create a similar rule. In this case, you have to only create an inbound "allow" rule on the computer to which the printer is connected.