Setting up a LAN. Having problems

Hi,

I am trying to network 3 computers together for LAN parties at my house (mostly RTS games like Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, etc.). I have been having some issues. Right now I am using a simple switch with each computer connected to by a cat6 ethernet cable. I tried numerous tests by creating network games on age of empires to see if they could recognize each other.

For ease of explanation, we'll call them computer A, computer B, and computer C. Here is what I determined by creating a network game on each computer:


Computer A
Will not recognize computer B
Will recognize computer C

Computer B
Will recognize computer A
Will not recognize computer C

Computer C
Will recognize computer A
Will not recognize computer B


So, computer B is not recognizable, but computer C is not recognizable only by computer B, and computer A is fully recognizable. This is very strange to me. I have tried this with firewalls off and that didn't matter.

Also, the IP addresses on each computer (for TCP/IP v4) are 192.168.1.102, 192.168.1.103, and 192.168.1.104 The computers all have different names and belong to the same workgroup. I have administrator privileges on all of them. All computers are running windows 7 ultimate x86. Computer A is a desktop with up-to-date hardware, Computer B is a 1 year old laptop, and computer C is a ~6 year old desktop.

Any help would be appreciated...thanks

I just go to dos command window and type ping 192.168.1.xxx Right?

If the following is what you are looking for, then I'll go ahead and do it for all connections. Here's what I got from computer A:

C:\USER\RYANP~1>ping 192.169.1.103

Pinging 192.168.1.103 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.103: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.103: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.103: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.103: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.103:
Packets:Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 11ms

Computer C, pinging computer A

C:\USERS\RYAN>ping 192.168.1.102

Pinging 192.168.1.102 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.102:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

computer C, pinging computer B

C:\USERS\RYAN>ping 192.168.1.103

Pinging 192.168.1.103 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.104: Destination host unreachable.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.103:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),