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SMB scanning seems to work great when the network is clean and neat, but more and more this doesn't seem to be the case.

I normally use Smart Device Monitor for Admin because it is easy to browse to the folders without having to know the exact syntax of the path.

But, I'm having problems when there are several workgroups. It never fails, 3 people in MSHOME, 3 in WORKGROUP and 3 in a workgroup/domain with the company name.

Can anyone tell me how they deal with these issues?

Also, how do you deal with several routers or wireless and Ethernet connectivity on the same network.

Thanks for the input!
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I have installed several MFP's w/ SMB Scanning on networks that have multiple workstations/domains and routers w/ wireless or no wireless. Of course you have to have one of the workgroup/domain names listed in the SMB workgroup setting on the MFP. This is the first step for ANY SMB installation. The default from Ricoh is WORKGROUP. Which fits to about 90% of the existing networks. But, occasionlly you will have to change this if there is no WORKGROUP located on the LAN. If you have 5 workgroup/domains, all you have to do in the MFP is set it to a matching one. All the other workgroups/domains should work too, by proxy of the one matching one.

Next be sure that the end-user has the correct securities setup for there scan folder. You must have full rights in order to scan to that folder, read only WILL NOT WORK!
Also, you must be sure that the end-user has no or made exceptions to his or her firewall to allow access to that workstation.
With all that said...on to the main issue.

The BIGGEST HICCUP is that the DNS naming resolution is your kicker. DNS means Domain Naming System. The MFP looks for NAMES not IP addresses. For example, You can't browse or see a particular workgroup or workstation. This is because 90% of the time the routers or DHCP servers are not setup with the correct DNS settings. That means when I look for workstation "JDOE" DNS should resolve that name IP Address 192.168.1.205. Well, if there is no or an incorrect DNS then the MFP WILL flag as unable to find or no name found. The work around is to go to the workstation and locate the ip addess. (ipconfig /all) Then go to the MFP click "Enter Destination" on the Scanner function. Now this time DO NOT SELECT BROWSE! But, instead type in the path, "\\192.168.1.205". Then select browse. You should see a login prompt for that workstation. Thats IT! Login and scan to that PC. Save your that entry into the address book of course that way you don't have to go back and do the steps again.

By doing it this way, you bypass the workgroup/domain search and look directly at a particular workstation. You just COMPLETELY took DNS out of the loop.

However there is a limitation to this. If that workstation is setup for DHCP, it could possibly change its IP address. The work around for this is 2 things, make an IP reservation on the DHCP server, or manually assign the current IP address as static. That way it will never change. This is probably the main way I do it.
Because MOST of my customers like me to setup scanning to their local server share, and then the end users have to go through the server to access. That way the server backup software is also backing up there scan data. But, every customer is different.

Well, you repeat this procedure for each end-user you are setting up. This will not fix the "Browse Network" issue. But as long as the customer can scan to folder and all is working correctly, WHO CARES if you can't browse the network! As long as I get scans from A to B.
You not there to fix a customers network, your there to setup an MFP.

I hope this information has been helpful.
Slim463 Big Grin
Slim:

Thanks for the help! I think you're right, a router is blocking the DNS so the browsing is not possbile.

I usually try to set up a scan server also, which should have a static IP address like you said. However, I've been having problems when for some reason clients cannot access it because they are unable to browse to it. Now I understand that if I put the IP address into Windows Explorer or a browser I should be able to find it.

Thanks, you taught me something and probably saved me a lot of time and Tylenol.

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