Network printer connection issues with different subnet on Win 7 Pro?

Question

So we have a mixed node set on our network with Win XP Pro, Win 7 Pro, Ubuntu 11.04, Win 2k3 Server Std, etc all within in an Active Directory Environment. We also have network printers that are shared out via servers at each site where ultimately each site has a different subnet (Site 1: 132.98.1.x/24, Site 2: 132.98.2.x/24, etc with a subnet mask if 255.255.255.0). However, the few Win 7 Pro machines we have error out when trying to connect. With our Win XP machines in site 1, there are no issues connecting to the printers at site 2. The error reads exactly as follows:

"Windows couldn't connect to the printer. Check the printer name and try again. If this is a network printer, make sure the printer is turned on, and what the printer address is correct."

Other Important Details

• Windows firewall is turned off
• The network location is set to Work for Win 7 machines
• Other network related programs (WinVNC, FTP, Etc) do work between sites
• Back-door access to remote directories does not work (ex: \\132.98.2.100\C$) in differeing subnets
• Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 is installed on ALL machines
• Connection to network printers does work within the same subnet.
• Subnets connected via Cisco routers on 192.168.0/24
• Routers are unrestricted between sites

My hunch is that theres an authentication issue, but not sure where to start. How can I get connected to a network printer in a different subnet with Windows 7 Professional?

Solution

Turns out the person that setup the machines used a our bidirectional firewall as the default gateway and almost definately has port 445 blocked. This would explain why just those machines were unable to communicate domain related objects, but could still ping back and forth.

Comments

[Chad Harrison]

We have a network guy that sets up the routers and IP configuration. The best guess I have on the Subnet Class C to an IP Class B is that the bandwidth between sites is significatly slower than the network within each site (10/100 vs T1). There are layer 3 devices at each site, thats what I meant when I said that the "Routers are unrestriced between sites". Aside from that, our Win XP machines have no issues in this matter, only Win 7.