Connecting two computers via a router

Hi everyone,

We want to be able to share files in the public folder using our wireless router. I've followed a lot of differing instructions and now, I can see a volume for the other computer on my MacBook Pro, but the Macbook can't mount a volume for me. It can see my computer and gets as far as the connect to network stage, but the pop-up that is supposed to list mountable volumes is then empty.

In fiddling with this to start with, I may have done something daft with configuring my computer as a server - does that sound possible/likely/the question of a bobble-hat?

Forgive my ignorance, I'm only two days old in Mac world. Any suggestions?

Rebecca x

Have you enabled sharing on each of your Macs? If not, go to System Preferences --> Sharing and hit the checkbox for Personal File Sharing. If you have any Windows machines, then go ahead and check the second box as well.

Now let us know whether you can access the public folders on the Macs.

Computer to computer

Yep - personal file sharing is enabled on both computers.

In a bizarre twist - today - without (seemingly) having changed a thing, my MacBook Pro can mount the network of the other computer and drop things into its drop box, but now the Macbook (which still can't mount a network for me), can put things in the drop box in Public and I get them. I thought Macs were probably alchemical, but this is very strange all the same.

So - it seems - we can now both drop files in a folder for each other, but it seems a little rickety to me that it's not the same method in both cases and that the Macbook can't find me as a network to mount on the desktop.

Rebecca x

Welcome to Mac-Forums, rebeccadearden.

Did you enable Bonjour on both Macs? To enable Bonjour, you need to launch Directory Access.app that is nested in the Utilities folder and enable it under the Services tab. (See screenie below)

Hope this works for you. Good luck and let us know how it goes.