WinXP Networking PITA

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So I have this nice in-house network, between my system (Presario 5600N running Mandrake 10.1/XP Home dual-boot), my blind housemate (Toshiba laptop running Win98SE) and my computer-hostile housemate (Dell running XP Home). We're using a Netgear router, because we're sharing a cable connection to the ISP.

Now here's the fun part. Computer-hostile housemate's system only appears on the network randomly. It can use the internet connection, no problem. Sometimes it can talk to the 98 box. Sometimes it can SEE my box, but cannot talk to it. Ever. I can always see both other boxes, and can always access the 98 box, but can only access the Dell when the moon is the right shade of blue. And this holds true whether I'm using Linux or XP on my system. Meanwhile, the 98 box can talk to my box all the time, and talk to the XP box about as often as I can.

We're down to suspecting that maybe the problem is the network interface on the Dell motherboard, but don't want to mess up the housemate's internet connection if we're wrong.

Anyone have any ideas?

when you can access the dell box, is that the same time as the dell box can see yours?

Nope.

What happens is sometimes I can use Nautilus to get to the Dell box, using smb://machinename/folder - and sometimes it will go direct to the folder, sometimes it will go to a login screen and then let me go to the folder, and sometimes it will just say that it can't find the machine.

Meanwhile, the Dell box can sometimes see my machine name in the Network Neighborhood folder, but cannot browse to it, or use the network-accessible printer I have attached to it (which the 98 box uses pretty much exclusively for printing stuff).

But there doesn't seem to be any direct correlation as to when one box can see the other.