Networked games?

Prior to installing the router, I was able to play multi-player Age of Empires over the LAN. Now, the same two PCs can still share files, but don't seem to see each other within the gamespace.
Could it be because one of them is using a new NIC to access the LAN? More to the point, how do I get them to play together again? Is there something I can tweak in the program, or do I have to reinstall the game completely?

1. RE: Networked games?
BBATES Dec-13-01 04:36 PM
In response to message 0

What router???? Give us the details of your network before and after the hardware upgrades and/or additions.

2. RE: Networked games?
Viking Ed Dec-13-01 06:16 PM
In response to message 1

Pre-router. An 8-port Linksys 10/100 switch, to which was attached: Workstation Pulsar, a P-133 based PC with a D-Link 100baseT NIC. Workstation Voyager, an AMD K6-350MX workstation with a Linksys 100baseT NIC. Voyager also contained a 3Com 100BaseT NIC attached to a cable modem. Both IPX/SPX and TCP/IP installed on both workstations.
Post-router. Pulsar is configured as before, but now connects to the SMC Barricade 4-port router. Voyager is also connected to the router, via the 3Com NIC. And a new workstation, Polaris, an AMD 1600+XP PC is connected via the Linksys NIC.
When I removed the Linksys NIC from Voyager, I also removed all the bindings to that card, and I think I might have just answered my question. I bet I didn't have IPX/SPX bound to the 3Com card, since it wasn't being used for gaming, so I probably removed IPX/SPX entirely, which would prevent the game software from seeing that node, right?

3. RE: Networked games?
Viking Ed Dec-14-01 02:58 PM
In response to message 2

Yes and no...
I found that IPX/SPX was indeed missing on Voyager, so I reinstalled it. Then fired up the game, but still no connection with Pulsar. Closer examination of Pulsar revealed that there's actually a dialog to select which protocal to use for gaming: IPX/SPX, TCP/IP over Internet, or TCP/IP over a LAN. Voyager was set for IPX/SPX, while Pulsar (apparently accidentally) was set for TCP/IP, so even if I left IPX/SPX uninstalled, I could still have connected the two, simply by making sure they were both set for TCP/IP.