Accessing files on a Win11 PC connected by Wi-Fi to a vlan subnet

Senario

1. PC ‘A’ is connected to a 192.168.0.0/24 subnet.
2. PC ‘B’ is connected to a 192.168.10.0/24 subnet.
3. PC ‘B’ has a number of shared folders setup.
4. PC ‘B’ is using a Wi-Fi interface and has it’s firewall on, with ‘File and Printer Sharing‘ enabled.
5. PC ‘A’ requires access to files on PC ‘B’.
6. Both PC’s are routed through pfSense with firewall rules set to allow PC ‘A’ access to PC ‘B’.

Symptoms

Although PC ‘B’ has ‘File and Printer Sharing’ enabled, PC ‘A’ is unable to ping or access file shares on PC ‘B’.

Cause

Normally a Wi-Fi connection is made a ‘Public’ network with ‘File and Printer Sharing’ disabled. Even after setting the network type to ‘Private’ and enabling ‘File and Printer Sharing’ shares cannot be accessed via Wi-Fi from anywhere other than on the same subnet.

Fix

1. Add a custom inbound firewall rule on PC ‘B’ which allows remote IP address access.
2. From Settings, select Privacy & Security.

3. Select Windows Security.

4. Select Firewall & Network Protection.

5. Select Advanced Settings.

6. Select Inbound Rule and then New Rule.

7. Select Custom and click Next.

8. Select All Programs and click Next and Next again in response to Protocol and Ports .

9. Select These IP addresses under Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to and Add 192.168.0.0/24 which represents the whole of the 192.168.0.0 subnet. Of course if security is a concern then simple use the IP address of PC ‘A’. The import thing is that the subnet hosting PC ‘A’ is treated as remote. Click Next and Next again for Action.

10. Enable only the Private profile and click Next.

11. Give your rule a Name and click Finish.