Basic connectivity problem on WLAN

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windows.networking.wireless (More info?)

Please note: my grasp of the relevant terminology is very suspect, so that
what follows may not be very elegant.

At the MS site, I found two documents suggesting the combining of an ad hoc
WLAN and Internet Connection Sharing. One was
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expert [...] ril08.asp; the
other was a .pdf document dated October 2003, entitled Ad Hoc Internet
Sharing with Microsoft Windows XP.

I have two computers; one uses the XP Professional OS and the other the ME
OS. The XP computer has an ADSL modem attached through an Ethernet adaptor
and I can access the Internet from it with no problem. I bought two WLAN USB
adaptors of the 802.11b type and installed one of them on each computer.
However, far from having ICS working, I haven't even been able to get the
two computers to talk to one another yet. Following is information I think
is relevant, judging from the document I mention in the next paragraph.

The Device Manager on each computer says its device is running properly.
Also, following the advice in a document called Troubleshooting home
networking in Windows XP (308007), I have used the ping command locally on
each computer, using both its IP address and its computer name. Those
commands returned the "correct" answer in each case. I inserted the IP
addresses myself. For the XP computer, it's 192.168.0.1 and for the ME
computer, it's 192.168.0.2.

Further, when I click on the Network icon in the Control Panel of the ME
computer, it says that "TCP/IP ->NP7042 Wireless USB Adaptor" is installed.
(The adaptor is Australian, so the model details are unlikely to be familiar
to most readers.)

Each computer has a WLAN utility program installed, which came with the
adaptors.

Each utility shows me regarding that computer's adaptor that the operating
mode is ad-hoc. The channel numbers and SSIDs shown are identical. Each says
that the status is "Ready" and shows a BBSID identical to that on the other.
The connection is said to be "excellent".

Each computer has Zonealarm installed. The XP Pro computer does not have ICF
installed. In Zonealarm, the wireless adaptor is said to be in the "trusted"
(XP) or "local" (ME) zone.

I'd be very grateful for suggestions as to how to establish basic
connectivity.

Thank you,

Leslie