If I am at a public library on a wireless network, should I be able to see the computers in my network?

Cedric Grimstead: Unless you gave up your computer nobody at the library went into your computer.Depending on the sophistication of the library network it would be possible to allow a computer on to get internet access, and at the same time deny them permission to see other computers on the network.It's always a good idea to run a personal firewall, particularly when you're joining a public network. You don't say what your OS is, but if you're using Windows you probably have a firewall built in. It's not particularly good, but would suffice to keep other people out of your computer while you're connected at the library. However, if you're already using a third-party firewall do not turn on the Windows firewall.As for why you only sometimes get blocked, you haven't provided enough information to hazard a guess. It could be permissions based, like maybe you're using different accounts. /...Show more